A Busy-body Punished

The following extract is transcribed exactly as it was written in the Weston Mercury & Somerset Herald September 7^th 1889 :-

LOXTON - Last week, an instance occurred here that should prove a warning to those who will insist on prying into affairs that do not concern them, or who endeavour to obtain information other than through the legitimate source. The funeral of a much respected lady⁽¹⁾ drew together a large number of parishioners past and present, and by one of the former the occasion was utilised for searching the parochial register in the vestry. At the conclusion of the funeral service the sacred edifice was locked up, and the mourners dispersed to their respective homes. Soon after, the solitary occupant of the vestry became aware of the fact that he was locked in, and all effort to obtain private egress proving ineffectual, he at last had recourse to the belfry, but the sonorous sound of the tenor occupant had the effect of deterring rather than inducing assistance. After waiting for more than an hour the attention of a little girl was attracted to a window, and in response to an earnest supplication and promise of handsome reward she consented to go for the sexton, who resided fully half a mile from the church. This official at once proceeded to liberate the prisoner, but on descrying the person exclaimed, "If I’d a known it had been thee; thee should have stopped there all night."

Notes:
(1) The funeral of Anne Tiarks, age 59 wife of the Rev. J.G. Tiarks took place at Loxton Church on 22 Aug 1889.

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