Here we have some Walsden-born publicans who left the area – but came back one way or another. This story begins with James Fielden of Inchfield Fold, who was born in 1808 and would later move up to Speak Edge, or Speke Edge, to become a stonecutter. This area was rife with Fieldens in 1841 …
This plot marker is marked W. D. for William Dawson (maybe), Mary Alice’s father and the owner of the plot…but she was buried first, and she and (probably) her sister and father are the only members of their family unit in Todmorden soil. Or even in British soil, as it turns out. And, finally, a …
Read more “47.59 – Mary Alice, Edith and William Dawson (and maybe Willie)”
Hoyle is an old name in Todmorden, and while these Hoyles weren’t the landed manufacturer sort, they still left their mark. If you live in one of the back-to-backs off of Harley Bank particularly then you owe the very fabric of your home to John and his masonry skills. Hopefully that’s a good thing! John …
Read more “47.62 – John Richard, John, Mary Ellen, Maggie and Thomas Hoyle”
“Being swallowed by a tree” is how we mark this stone as special on our transcript, and we’re lucky to be able to know as much as we do about the names on this stone. Thank you to the previous transcription efforts for helping us out here! Isaac Button was a bricklayer whose journey from …
Sometimes you’re in pursuit of one person and you stumble across another. This name was too long to miss and the location of death, the White Hart Inn, indicated a travelled or outsider to the town. How Walter came to rest here, both while alive and dead, is a mystery. Join us in a brief …
The last of our Leek graves is here, and we rejoin the story of Jeffrey Leek and his family. As you might recall, one of his children is buried with his mother and father in law, and we briefly touched on the family there; now we return and discover a story of apparently amicable separation. …
Read more “32.39 – James William, Ann, Edith and John Henry Leek”
This is the second of our Leek family graves; grandparents and a grandson, at least on the stone. John is at St. Mary’s and the Orrell story is a brief but moving one. John Orrell was born somewhere – we don’t know where – around 1808. He worked many jobs of the labourer sort but …
This is one of three linked Leek/Orrell graves, and the first we’ll cover on this website. Not our first set of brothers who married sisters and no doubt also not the last! The Leek story starts with James Leek and Ann Bartran, two Bowling residents who married in 1846 and settled in Horton. James was …
A father and son are here, and the father’s tale is particularly interesting – one of those people whose name appears regularly and whose presence we take for granted, both then and now; although these days it’s common to hear that we don’t see enough of his sort on the street! Joseph Hopkins was born …
Sometimes the connections between people in a grave are harder to work out than others. We bring you the story of the Horsfall siblings, and their cousin’s granddaughter. The story really begins with John and Mary Horsfall of Moss Hall. John was a shopkeeper, apparently, and he and his wife raised a little crop of …
Read more “48.57 – Helliwell, Elizabeth and Sarah Ann Horsfall, and Annie Hirst”