HOW OFTEN DO YOU SEE AN ANCIENT TOMBSTONE PRESERVED IN THE MIDDLE OF A ROADWAY?

​Source : Angelo Bossessarsingh's 2010 historical archives.
I cannot take credit for this discovery. Chrissy and Lincoln Chinsammy, two surprisingly young people and their family of La Romaine deserve many praises for their consciousness in preserving a seemingly morbid, yet vital relic of our history. My research shows that the uninscribed tomb belongs to Mary Haynes , wife of Charles Haynes (Manager of Bien Venue Estate) and the youngest daughter of Henry Brown Esq. , a merchant of Grenada. She died in childbirth in 1871 which was a fairly common occurrence and was buried on the plantation. For many years, I have known that a tomb for Mary Haynes existed somewhere on the old estate, which has become heavily populated and developed over the years. On Friday, Chrissy told me about this grave very near to her family’s home on lands which once formed part of Bien Venue. She said that the lands had been sold to a developer who had committed under pressure to preserve the tomb intact instead of doing the Trini ting and bulldozing it. Such was the sensitivity of the Chinsammys, that when the limestone of which the tomb is composed began to dissolve and crumble, they began an annual ritual of plastering it with cement. The grave is on a gentle slope overlooking a pasture which has become the village sports ground. On the ridge opposite the grave is the old Manager’s residence which stands on the same site as the house Mary and Charles would have lived in. The royal palms line the old Concord road which was the main road for the estates of South Naparima in the 19th century. Interestingly, the indentured immigrant cemetery for the old estate is a long distance away across a valley. Mary and her unborn child were interred alone. The tomb may be seen on Boodhai Tr. Off La Fortune Rd., La Romain.