The Unknown Pilgrim

I had one of those lucky moments when things suddenly fall into place. A few years ago I came across a brief reference to an unnamed woman who was buried in St Peter's church in Netherseal after her body had been found on 'the Monk's Gate'. (the Monk's Gate being Clifton Road, the road to/ past Seale Grange, owned by the monks of Merevale Abbey). At the time I was left with just that tantalising bit of story. Well, I found another reference to the same event in an undated document that I'd photographed at the record office in Matlock in 2016 (see below). This document is a transcript of an undated original by John Morewood Gresley writing in the 19th century. The entry reads as followeth:

Item Ye buryall of ye woman yt was ffound dead in Coton pke/ Ric Mansell/ Raphe Clerke/ Wm Stele/ Robt Genyms/ George Vernon of Orgreave. (In modern English- Item: The burial of the woman that was found dead in Coton Park/ Richard Mansell/ Ralph Clarke/ William Steel/ Robert Jennings?/ George Vernon). Coton Park isn’t referring to the colliery houses near Linton but the original park belonging to the Segrave family next to Grange Wood. The park itself was a medieval deer park. The ‘monk’s gate’ i.e. Clifton Road leads to the park boundary. I don’t know why those names are attached to the entry, perhaps they were poor-law overseers?

Elsewhere on the same page is a reference to Wm. Wakelin, who I happen to know was alive around 1572. Separately, last year Carole Knight (my mum) and I digitised the parish register for the years 1563-1725 (transcribed in the early 1990s by Sue Brown of Packington) and I recalled several mentions of travellers, tinkers and gypsies. Checking the parish records again revealed an entry for February 10th 1578 ‘Alice - - - [unknown surname] peregrina et ignolta’ under the burials column. (The first few decades of the register are in Latin, then it changes to a much easier on the eye English script.) Peregrina et ignolta translates as ‘an unknown pilgrim’ or ‘unknown traveller’.

Close eh?

Just a few weeks later on March 3rd, one William Steel is buried too. Ralph Clark (the same fellow?) is buried on 17th January 1589/90 (this was under the Julian calendar and under the old system of the year beginning on Lady Day in March).

I think we may have found her…. Alice the unknown pilgrim.