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Dashper X Files #8
X Files #8 (posted by Linda Etty on 17/4/2000 from Hamilton Ontario, Canada)
Johanna Dashper's grave at Mary Tavy
(a) "Johanna Dashper's grave is located at Mary Tavy Parish Cemetary, 3rd row from street, left of the walkway to the church. It was only by luck we found this gravestone. It had been raining off and on all day. The stone was dry and readable when we found it. Several minutes later it began to rain again and within seconds the stone became wet and the inscription was gone - illegible." (see their full story on Latest News)
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(b) The Hawkin Shop Gate story in the search for William and Agnes Dashper. "Gloria found the picture of this location in a book and photocopied it. Then we decided to find it. The building is located about a mile north of Tavistock at the bottom of a steep hill. We almost gave up looking for it. Now it is a small stucco cottage with a small room added to the north side of it, and a solarium added to the south side.This building was the address given by William and Agnes at the times of the childrens' births. We took pictures of the building and then decided to knock at the door. An elderly couple answered but knew very little about the history of the building other than the following:
The Duke of Bedford owned the roads leading to Tavistock and charged a toll for their use. Hawkin Shop Gate was the north entrance gate to Tavistock. The wagons were charged by the width of the wheels-the wider the width the less the toll (the narrow wheels tore up the road more). At that time lumber was cut in the moors and transferred to Tavistock where it was made into charcoal. The wagoneers got smart and brought the wood to the gate then transferred the wood to another wagon on the other side of the gate so did not have to pay. William gave his occupation as wheelwright and apparently there was a lumber mill behind Hawkin Shop Gate where he may have worked as well. The woman said this location was called Taviton." (more details from their recent UK genealogy trip on Latest News)