The Franklin Family Vault

The Church of St. James in Spilsby, situated just off the Market Square with its imposing statue of John Franklin, contains memorials to three Franklin brothers: Sir John, Sir Willingham and Major James Franklin. None of them are buried here, but other members of the Franklin family were buried in the churchyard, and these are listed by my great great grandmother, Catherine Rawnsley (nee Franklin, daughter of Sir Willingham) in her diary of 1873-1876: 

Willingham Franklin died April 3rd 1824 aged 84.

Hannah his wife died Nov 23rd 1810

Thomas Adams Franklin died Oct 7th 1807 aged 33

Mary Franklin died July 13th 1799 aged 23

Henry died in infancy

Elizabeth Franklin died Jan'ry 10th 1850

She writes that they are all buried in a vault, covered by a brick tomb and topped with a stone slab. This slab is inscribed with the names of Mary and Christopher Johnson, for whom the tomb was originally made. Mary Johnson was formerly Mary Weekes, the sister of Hannah Franklin (nee Weekes), mother of John Franklin and his siblings. (Another sister, Elizabeth Weekes, was the second wife of Capt Matthew Flinders father, Matthew Flinders snr). Mary Johnson would have been Catherine Rawnsley’s Great Aunt. Catherine states that her Aunt Mary Franklin (sister of John Franklin) is also inscribed on this top slab. The others, she writes, are inscribed on stones:

one the south side & the two ends of the Tomb  

She also gives the location:

It is about the centre of the Church yard to the South 

Catherine Rawnsley's Diary 1873-1876. Langney Archive LA/4/9

The original structure would have stood several feet above ground level on a brick base. A few of these still survive in the churchyard, but most have collapsed, leaving just a large stone slab at ground level, and this was what we were expecting for the Franklin tomb.

Catherine’s location seemed to fit with information from a file of papers in the vestry, which was found and examined by local Spilsby historian Stephanie (Steff) Round, who Logan Zachary put me in touch with. There was a plan of the graves in the churchyard, each one numbered, with a corresponding list of inscriptions. On this plan, the Johnson/Franklin tomb was No 182, which seemed to be roughly in the centre of the Churchyard to the south.

The description for No 182 was:

Top of chest tomb. Inscription clear : sound, not in situ.

The words  “Top of chest tomb”  inferred that the top slab of stone was all that remained of the tomb. The inscription was said to be  “clear”  and the stone was “sound”  but slightly puzzling were the words following: “not in situ” 

Steve and I searched for it in 2024, but without success. It was certainly “not in situ” in the area we considered number 182 should be.  So where was it?  There were flat stone slabs elsewhere covered in moss, and a branch of a tree had fallen over some of the graves. We didn’t want to start scraping away or clearing vegetation so we gave up. 

A visit to the Lincolnshire Record Office the following year supplied the origin of the churchyard plan. It was part of a larger survey of monumental inscriptions of churches and churchyards in Lincolnshire, which were available to view in the search room.  These surveys were carried out by volunteers in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The surveyors of St James churchyard stated that: 

This survey is incomplete as permission was not given to expose the many fallen headstones now covered over by grass

In July 2025 Steve & I met up with Steff at a café in Spilsby, a stone’s throw from the house where John Franklin was born. To our surprise she announced her discovery of the Franklin tomb!  We all walked up to the church and there it was, a large flat stone at ground level, in sound condition with a clear inscription, and somewhat further north than No 182 on the plan had led us to believe.  It had been one of the graves covered by the fallen branch in 2024, which had since been cleared. The extreme dry weather this year had caused the moss to dry up and drop off, thus revealing the inscription: 

In
MEMORY OF
Mary the Wife of
Christopher Johnson
late of Donington
died April ye 18 1776 Aged 27 
Also of
Mr  Christopher Johnson
who died Feb the 11th 1798
AGED 56 YEARS
And MARY  FRANKLIN
their Neice who died July ye 13
1799 AGED 24 YEARS
ALSO Henry Franklin
who died in his Infancy

Catherine, in her diary entry, had forgotten to add Henry Franklin’s name to the others inscribed on the top of the tomb. His birth and death were 1785.  The inscriptions for the remaining Franklins, at either end of the tomb and along one side of it, are still missing; Willingham & Hannah Franklin (John’s parents),  Thomas Adams Franklin and Elizabeth Franklin (John’s siblings).

We have a record of what two of these inscriptions would have read, from an undated typewritten page from the folder in the vestry: 

 Within this tomb be the remains of Hannah the wife of Wm. Franklin, who departed this life ????

In memory of Wm. Franklin who died April 3rd. 1824. Aged 83 yrs.

The Burial Registers for St James record the burials of all the family members mentioned by Catherine,  but provide no information as to their burial in a family tomb. 

Maybe these stones with their inscriptions are still in the churchyard somewhere, moved from their original position and covered in vegetation, who knows?

The Franklin tomb stone in St James Churchyard. Note the raised tomb in the background which it would have looked like originally.

Acknowledgements:

With grateful thanks to:

Logan Zachary

Steff Round

Kevin Best & Kathryn Jones at Lincolnshire Archives

Russell A. Potter for advice on Blogs

Richard Georgiou for setting up my Blog