Mrs. Peterswold died on the last day of the year 1836. Notice of her death in The Western Times of 7th January 1837 informs us that she died aged 94 and that:
"This lady had her coffin made 21 years since, and kept it under her bed, her headstone was kept at the bottom of the stairs, and her shroud was knitted and frequently given away to some poor person, and a new one provided."
The legal requirement to be buried in woollen was still in force when Mrs. Peterswold's first shroud was knitted. I like the idea of various poor persons scurrying around Newton wrapped in this lady's old shrouds but perhaps she only gave them to paupers who had someone to bury.
Mrs. P's provision for her departure from this world made me think of the many leaflets that the postman has been bringing me for the last 13 years (ever since I reached three score and ten!) asking me to consider my funeral arrangements and pay in advance. I shall continue to ignore them - after all, I might live another 21 years.
That headstone at the foot of the stairs must have proved a nuisance.
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