In Douglas Borough Cemetery there is a Shimmin grave viz:-
Mary Elizabeth Shimmin d 22/3/1936 aged 73
wife of WH Shimmin the Crescent Douglas
William Henry Shimmin d 24/5/1939 aged 78
Henry Lewin Shimmin only son d 5/3/1934 aged 47
Sitting loose on the grave is a small stone obelisk commemorating
Elizabeth Callister d 25/5/1850 aged 4
Kate Callister d 5/9/1855 aged 4 mths
Henry Callister d 14/4/1853 aged 8
Samuel Callister d 23/2/1854 aged 11 mths
Elizabeth Ann Callister d 8/12/1848 aged 2 yrs
Samuel Callister d 12/8/1848? aged 1 yr
Samuel Callister d 22/5/1858 aged 35
Obviously the people commemorated on the obelisk cannot be buried in DBC (as it was not in operation in the 1850's). Indeed the obelisk is clearly much older than the grave it is now sitting on. I cannot identify them in any other Manx burial record BUT they are a very good match for the family of Samuel Callister (b1823 Liverpool of Manx parentage) and Catherine Radcliffe (b1819) Malew. This family was living in Liverpool in 1851, and have a son David in 1856 in Hulme, Manchester (David Callister photographer - see Manx Notebook). By 1861 Samuel has died (as per above) and Catherine is back in the Island. All of the births and deaths commemorated on the obelisk appear to have occured in England (Free BMD).
I have been tracking this family as part of my research into the parentage of my 2x gt grandfather Richard Edward Callister b abt 1811 in Malew. I suspect that he might be the child of Phillip Callister and Jane Gell and that the Catherine Racliffe above is a grand child of the said Phillip Callister and Jane Gell (daughter of John Radcliffe and Catherine Callister)
Despite much research I have totally failed to find any connection between the Shimmin family and the Callisters on the obelisk placed on their grave.
Has anyone got any idea what the connection might be?
Or
Can anyone confirm (or otherwise) whether the obelisk was on this grave when DBC was transcribed - or was it somewhere else?
Thank you very much for any help you can give me.