Charles Avison (1709 - 1770) The most important English concerto composer of the 18th century was buried alongside his wife, son and grandson:"...for he was as much loved for the goodness of his private character as for his excellent compositions". Avison's once widely popular, unusually tuneful string concertos, mentioned in John Wesley's 'Journal' and Laurence Sterne's 'Tristram Shandy', were submerged under the torrent of modern symphonies after his death. Robert Browning's poem 'Parleying with Certain People of Importance in Their Day' (1887) portrayed Avison as a once famous person then forgotten - a victim of changing musical tastes: "Hear Avison! He tenders evidence That music in his day as much absorbed Heart and soul then as Wagner's music now." In 1890 a new gravestone was placed over the old that included lines from Browning's 'Parleying'.