Lucy Barlow

The headstone in Bathampton churchyard has a little message carved in the corner:
"This replacement stone was funded by the estate of Lucy Barlow."

I wondered who this kind person was, keeping the memory of poor Elsie alive so many years later.

The meagre details I've gleaned are just from Googling - so I'm well aware that the locals of Bathampton would probably make 'pfff' noises in response to my feeble efforts, and I can't tell you the truth of Ms Barlow's motivation.

But here is what I've found:

You will find in the Official Public Record at thegazette.co.uk the details of Ms Barlow's 'Deceased Estate Notice'. She lived in Bathampton and died in 1998. She is described as a 'Professional Sportswoman'. 

From this I discovered she was involved in golf and was 81 when she died. The Somerset Ladies County Golf Association has the Barlow Cup, which she donated in 1955 - it will be competed for in Bath in May.

It also seems she won the French Open badminton singles and doubles competitions in 1947 (when she was 30).

With a Lieutenant Colonel as a father, I can't imagine her family was connected directly to Elsie's. So I am assuming her generosity in funding the new headstone on her death and keeping Elsie's story alive, was a basic human impulse of compassion and sympathy for someone local, whose story she would always have known about. Maybe she saw the original headstone every week going to church?