Fig. 58.—­At Frindsbury.

The inscription is effaced, but the date appears
to be 1751.

The overturned sheaf presumably refers metaphorically to the fate of the farmer whom the stone was set up to commemorate.  The old-fashioned plough is cut only in single profile, but is not an ineffective emblem.  I imagine that the ribbon above the plough bore at one time some inscribed words which time has obliterated.

[Illustration:  Fig. 58.  Frindsbury.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 59.  Sutton at Hone.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 60.  Bromley.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 61.  Beckenham.]

The design invented by the sculptor at Sutton at Hone, near Dartford, is less original and also less striking.

Fig. 59.—­At Sutton at Hone.

“To Richard Northfield, died Oct. 19, 1767,
aged 71 years.”

In the case of John Bone, bricklayer, of Bromley, Kent, it would probably be wrong to associate with his calling the tools engraved on his headstone.  They were probably meant with the rest of the picture to represent the emblems of mortality.

Fig. 60.—­At Bromley.

“To John Bone, Bricklayer, died Dec. 14,
1794, aged 48 years.”

There is, however, one stone which may be included in the category of trade memorials, though its subject was not a mechanic.  Mr. John Cade was a schoolmaster at Beckenham, and appears to have been well liked by his pupils, who, when he prematurely died, placed a complimentary epitaph over his grave.  The means by which he had imparted knowledge are displayed upon the stone, and below are the lines hereinafter set forth.

Fig. 61.—­At Beckenham.

  “To the memory of John Cade, of this parish,
      schoolmaster.  One skilled in his profession
      and of extensive ingenuity.  As
      he lived universally beloved, so he died
      as much lamented, August 28th, 1750, aged
      35 years.  Several of his scholars, moved
      by affection and gratitude, at their own
      expense erected this in remembrance of
      his worth and merit.

        “Virtue, good nature, learning, all combined
        To render him belov’d of human kind.”

Greenford, near Harrow-on-the-Hill, had quite recently a worthy inhabitant who was a gardener and presumably a beekeeper also.  Accordingly a beehive appropriately decorates his gravestone.

Fig. 62.—­At Greenford.

  “To William King, upwards of 60 years
      gardener of this parish, died Dec. 16th,
      1863, aged 84 years.”