James Cribb, a 32 year old Cowes Shoemaker died of Typhoid Fever on the 5th November 1856 and was buried on the 8th November, becoming the very first person to be interred in Northwood Cemetery. He lies buried in Grave number 2600 in Plot 7. The ceremony was officiated by Thomas Mann. Perhaps, like me, you may wonder why he is not buried in Grave Number 1 in Plot 1. Was it because he was the 2,600th person to purchase a grave plot, but was first to pass on? I am open to suggestion on that one. So, on that cold November day James was laid to rest and the funeral party returned, possibly back to the Cribb house, for the wake. His Widow, somewhat upset by the loss of her beloved Shoemaker, suddenly gasps out a distraught cry "Oh no, I do believe that we have buried poor James, the wrong way round; he faces to the West"! The family made a plan to return to the Cemetery in the middle of the night to point James in the right direction. However, it needed to be a very cunning plan, as they did not want to be accused of grave robbing. Exhuming a body was highly illegal, even in 1856. So, after dark, some friends and family members, armed with shovels, made their way to the cemetery to secretly re-position James. How could they turn him through 180deg without exhuming his body? Quite easily, by digging a large 'round' hole around the grave, to a depth level with the bottom of the coffin. Once the hole had been dug, a couple of the men rotated James's coffin through 180deg until he faced the East. That done, the grave was filled in again. After a short prayer, the friends and family of James Cribb, slipped back to their homes; the rest of the town, none the wiser. How do we know about this remarkable event? A nonagenarian lady, who is related to James and lives in Cowes (June 2008) was told the story many times, by her Grandfather. Jon Matthews of FoNC has been very fortunate in having met the lady and learned of the tale. Her Grandfather, a young boy at the time, had been the person who had climbed a nearby tree to hold a lantern high. This was in order that the 'grave diggers' could see what they were doing.

(Barry Sowerby 17 June 2008)