Drowned while bathing-vandalized with blue paint..

The inscription on this tragic grave says..

IN MEMORY OF
JOHN BODEN
WHO WAS DROWNED
WHILST BATHING IN
BROMFIELD POOL, MOLD
IN THE 14TH DAY OF JULY 1863
AGED 41 YEARS
IN THE MIDST OF LIFE WE ARE IN DEATH

A little research online and I can find a John Boden 1821-1863 who died by drowning in a swimming accident. This is in the "Leeming Family History". However, the date of death is 13 July 1863, not 14 July as recorded on the gravestone. These same records say he lived in Bromfield Hall.

Further records from an entry in the Clwyd Archives say John Boden tragically died during a swimming accident in the fish pond that adjoined Bromfield Hall in the evening of 13 July 1863. Apparently he worked as a clerk for the Bromfield Coal & Canal Company.

I find it slightly ironical that the grave has been vandalized with blue paint as the guy drowned in water, and we think of water usually as blue.