This was listed as “unmarked”, but look – initials carved into the sidestones. JC, MC, KC and AC.
We know that Michael Coleman (d. 1908). Kate (Catherine) Coleman (d. 1943), and John Coleman (d.1951) are buried there…but who is AC?
Michael and Kate had a daughter named Annie, who married William Mayers and died in 1941. Michael had a sister named Annie born in 1859, who married Anthony Kelly and died in 1887. On the balance it seems likely that AC refers to Annie Mayers, as her burial record is in the Christ Church register.
The Colemans mostly lived in Lydgate while they were in Todmorden – Knotts Road and Arch View. Before that they were at Dyke Green in Heptonstall. Michael was born in Pontefract to Irish parents. Kate was born Catherine Fahey (alternately Fahy or Fay) in Warwick, also to Irish parents, and married Michael in Halifax 1887. They had six children together before Michael passed away in 1908. Everyone worked in the weaving industry in some capacity or another.
Any Colemans who live locally? We’d love to know if you know the story behind this very humble set of grave markers.