14.20 – Charles and Herbert Glasse

Herbert Ambrose Fred Glasse is named on this stone, but his father Charles is also buried here. Charles has a lot to answer for in terms of the naming of his sixteen children, and it’s tempting to suppose that the man died of exhaustion physical and mental. We’ll start with his story.

Charles Alexander Glasse was born in 1838 in Horndean, Hampshire. The 1851 Census shows he went to live with his uncle George Davey in Winchester in order to become an apprentice tailor under him. Charles took to the trade and later became a travelling master tailor.

Charles married twice, once in 1860 to Mary Ann Kimber and later in 1874 to Caroline Sandow. His marriage to Mary Ann produced six children and his marriage to Caroline produced ten children. Let us name them for you, and if you need to take a nap before reading the rest of the post, we will quite understand:

1862: Martha Anne Grace Glasse

1863: Kate Agnes Bertha Glasse

1865: Charles Alfred Henry Glasse

1866: Hugh Augustus Walter Glasse

1869: Edward Alexander Albert Glasse

1871: Sidney Arthur Heaton Glasse

(at this point, Mary Ann may have begun to have enough of all this. She died in June 1873. Charles remarried in May 1874, and so we will continue)

1875: Squire Andrew Willie Glasse

1876: Enoch Adolphus Francis Glasse

1877: Herbert Ambrose Fred Glasse

1880: Laura Adeline Frances Glasse

1881: Caroline Ada Clara Glasse

1882: Lord Charles Alfred Harry Glasse

1884: Laura Adeline Frances Glasse (the first Laura had died in 1881, they were clearly fond of this combination of names though)

1888: Major Adolphus Francis Glasse

1890: Caroline Ada Clara Glasse (again, a reused combination – the first Caroline also died in 1881)

1893: Grace Glasse

Spare a thought for Grace at the end – they had clearly run out of names.

How did Charles and family get to Todmorden? He is another resident of Cheetham Hill from 1871 who ended up in Todmorden, probably trailing behind others who made the move following Thomas Fielden’s death. Perhaps he was a tailor to the family and went along to work for John Fielden at Dobroyd, or simply saw others he knew locally making the move and thought he should go along and see what happened. Mary Ann is buried at Christ Church somewhere but her grave is unmarked; so they will have made the move between 1871 and 1873. The Sandows made a similar journey at a similar time, but from another part of the country altogether – you can read about some of them here.

Herbert became a warehouseman, working with his physical strength rather than fine motor skills like his father the tailor. He married Emily Sykes in 1907 at Bethel Chapel in Lineholme. They don’t appear to have had any children, but there were still several Glasses who had survived to adulthood and married and had children of their own. The Glasses can be found at 421 Burnley Road in 1939, still just the two of them. Herbert died in September 1940. Emily stayed in their home and died many years later, in 1958.