“It was with much concern that I read the epitaph upon Mr. Roe in your last volume, page 1192.  Upon a little tour which I made in Derbyshire in 1789, I met with that worthy and very intelligent man at Bakewell, and in the course of my antiquarian researches there, derived no inconsiderable assistance from his zeal and civility.  If he did not possess the learning of his namesake, your old and valuable correspondent[45], I will venture to declare that he was not less influenced by a love and veneration for antiquity, many proofs of which he had given by his care and attention to the monuments of the church which were committed to his charge; for he united the characters of sexton, clerk, singing-master, will-maker, and schoolmaster.  Finding that I was quite alone, he requested permission to wait upon me at the inn in the evening, urging as a reason for this request that he must be exceedingly gratified by the conversation of a gentleman who could read the characters upon the monument of Vernon, the founder of Haddon House, a treat he had not met with for many years.  After a very pleasant gossip we parted, but not till my honest friend had, after some apparent struggle, begged of me to indulge him with my name.”

[Footnote 45:  T. Row stands for T_he_ R_ector_ O_f_ W_hittington_, the Rev. Samuel Pegge. cf. Curious Epitaphs, by W. Andrews, p. 124.]

To this worthy clerk’s care is due the preservation of the Vernon and other monuments in Bakewell Church.  Mr. Andrews tells us that “in some instances he placed a wooden framework to keep off the rough hands and rougher knives of the boys and young men of the congregation.  He also watched with special care the Wenderley tomb, and even took careful rubbings of the inscriptions[46].”

[Footnote 46:  W. Andrews, Curious Epitaphs, p. 124.]

The inscription on the tomb of the son of this worthy clerk proves that he inherited his father’s talents as regards musical ability: 

     Erected
     In remembrance of
     PHILIP ROE
     Who died 12th September, 1815,
     Aged 52 years.

     The vocal Powers here let us mark
     Of Philip our late Parish Clerk,
     In church none ever heard a Layman
     With a clearer voice say ‘Amen’! 
     Who now with Hallelujahs sound
     Like him can make this roof rebound? 
     The Choir lament his Choral Tones
     The Town—­so soon Here lie his Bones. 
     Sleep undisturb’d within thy peaceful shrine
     Till Angels wake thee with such notes as thine.

The last two lines are a sweet and tender tribute truly to the memory of this melodious clerk.

A writer in All the Year Round[47], who has been identified as Cuthbert Bede, the author of the immortal Verdant Green, tells of the Osbornes and Worrals, famous families of clerks, quoting instances of the hereditary nature of the office.  He wrote as follows concerning them: