On our recent visit to Cumbria we found the following inscription on an obelisk in Corney churchyard of a family we were seeking. I wonder if anyone can suggest interpretations for some of the symbolism thereon. First a short run through of the family background. HENRY FLEMING, born 1835 at St. Bees, is known to have been a keen adherent of the Masonic Order. This first came to light when he forsook the family naming patterns and called the eldest son of his second marriage, born 1870, WILLIAM ZETLAND DEGREY FLEMING. I discovered that the middle two names were successive Grand Masters in the year William was born. Henry had previously been married to Sarah ? who appears to have been eight years older than himself. At this stage he was a Wine and Spirit Merchant in Workington as stated in his father's will. Sarah died at Workington in 1866 and was interred in St. Michael's Churchyard. Henry then married ELIZABETH PEEL, daughter of John a shipwright, in 1869 at Hatton on the Hill, Liverpool though she appears to have been born in Workington along with a sister Sarah Peel who died shortly after birth and a brother Thomas Williamson Peel. Elizabeth was baptised at three years old on the same day as Thomas W. who was presumably an infant. Henry and Elizabeth then lived at High Corney where he was a yeoman farmer and where their children were born. Again they followed few traditional naming patterns, the subsequent children being MARY ELLEN 1871-1872 (Mary was Henry's mother's name but the derivation of Ellen is unknown) FRED WALKER RICHARDSON 1872. (Walker and Richardson were both family surnames) JULIAN OSCAR PEEL 1873. (Peel obviously a family surname - no idea where Julian and Oscar come from) ADRIAN B. C. c. 1876 (Other names not yet known. Again Adrian is a fairly unusual name) HAROLD R. W. c. 1871 (Again other names not yet known) MARGARET MARY 1879-79 (Combined names of mothers of Elizabeth and Henry) Elizabeth then died at Corney in 1879. Following that Henry moved with his surviving sons to Stangray Hall, St. Bees where in 1881 he is given as of "No Occupation". I have not been able to find them in 1891 or 1901 census apart from the eldest son William Z.D. Fleming who had moved to Workington by 1901 where he was a Steelworker. He had married MAGGIE STAPLES BANKS and they had two daughters there before William emigrated to Indianapolis in 1909 where he followed the same trade. Maggie and the daughters followed a year later and they had a third born there. Back to the gravestone. This records both Henry's wives, Sarah and Elizabeth and the two daughters who died as infants. Above the inscription is the Masonic symbol of a square and compasses. Around the other three sides going clockwise are symbols as follows:- A Star of David A Sheep A Shield in which are arranged capital letters which starting from the top and going clockwise are H T W S S T K S I should be glad if anyone can shed any light on what these might mean. Also if anyone has a subsequent sighting of Henry and his sons I should be glad to hear of that too. Cumbria was as beautiful as ever despite the intermittent rain which is always good for a day in the Record Office or for making the waterfalls look more dramatic. Jill Coulthard

Hi Jill....... Well, you have managed to stump my Grand Poobah (Past Master in the Masonic Order.....grin). We have both been poring over two ancient tomes (1893) which are an Encyclopedia of all things Masonic. As to the 'Star of David'.........while it may look like such, did it only have 5 points?? There is also the 'Shield of David' which has 6 points. I will explain the symbolism on that one further down. But you often see the 6-pointed Star of David on things Masonic. Remember, this fraternal organization started in the days of King Solomon......a few eons ago. Sheep.......Ron never heard of that symbol. Looked under Ram......nothing. He tried to look up the letters inscribed as these books do give several, but nothing that fit. So only got 1 out of 3. 8-(( Shield of David is commonly known as the Seal of Solomon and I won't go into all the ancient Judaic history.....but it was a 'protection or talisman against all sorts of dangers'.....so not sure if that applies. Properly constructed, it should have had a four-letter Hebrew word in the centre. There was nothing under Star of David in these books.....but there is a 5 pointed Star. On reading about it, it was not terribly common either. So......back to the drawing board!! Ron knows a lot about the historic symbolism in Masons and your questions are a mystery to him, other than the Star of David. I am thinking to myself here that perhaps he was involved in one of the more obscure branches of Masonry, yet these books do get into that. Crossing my mind (besides the obvious Scottish Rite) is the Knights Templar. No particular reason, except that they were loosely affiliated. The Knights Templar being involved in the Crusades as protection for pilgrims to the Rock in Jerusalem.....if memory serves me right. And I will have to hit the books to pin down where St. Clair (Sinclair) Castle is as they meet there annually. Northern England comes to mind. HTH and I will check in a couple of other places.......perhaps via Google. But some of the books we own have way more information. Do you happen to know if his Lodge was called "blue" or "red"??? There are two branches in the Masons. Best.......Heather > Back to the gravestone. This records both Henry's wives, Sarah and Elizabeth and the two daughters who died as infants. Above the inscription is the Masonic symbol of a square and compasses. Around the other three sides going clockwise are symbols as follows:- > > A Star of David > A Sheep > A Shield in which are arranged capital letters which starting from the top and going clockwise are > > H T W S S T K S > I should be glad if anyone can shed any light on what these might mean. Also if anyone has a subsequent sighting of Henry and his sons I should be glad to hear of that too.