Edward Rose’s Roses

Edward Rose, a citizen of London who died in the seventeenth century, left the parish of Barnes twenty pounds a year for ever on two conditions: that the railing round his grave be kept up, and that rose trees be planted there and kept flourishing. A correspondent of Hone’s found in 1831 that the terms were faithfully kept, with rose trees trained round the tablet and the fence repaired and painted when needed. Roses are still grown at Rose’s grave by the church.