The Taylors were hard to research, quiet-living people, and as such their story is very short. Read to the end though to find out why their stone is flat. John Taylor was born in either Todmorden or Whalley in about 1813 (it would vary on the census later on), to parents we haven’t been able …
Another infant gets their name back; Mary Kay, who died in April 1878 only two weeks old. First, though, her parents. James Kay was born in Rochdale, Hopwood in fact, in 1835. His father John was a tailor and his mother Catherine was a silk hand loom weaver, and he grew up with seven siblings …
Read more “46.63 – Mary, James, Ellen, John and Elizabeth Kay”
This is the tale of two Cleggs – siblings Mary and William – and their spouses, James Fielden and Rachel Marshall. Mary was the oldest daughter and William was the youngest son of John and Hannah (Shackleton) Clegg, both hand loom weavers from Todmorden. The pair had married at Heptonstall by banns in September 1828 …
Read more “47.53 – James and Mary Fielden and Rachel and William Clegg”
Well, most of her children. Susanna had ten children all told, and four of them are here with her, but the three children of her husband and his second wife are also buried here. It’s a sad grave and the ledger which has been laid flat is easy to miss. Susanna Marshall was born in …
Read more “47.55 – Susanna Barker and her children, and Jane (Jennie) Barker”
A final Davis family post – William was another of Fred and Rachel’s sons – and one yet again featuring a tragic, sudden death. William Davis was their third son, born in 1867, and was one of the ones who deviated from the family trade. Where the other Davis boys became plumbers or gas fitters, …
This is another post about the Davis family, this time following one of Fred and Rachel’s sons with a less tragic life trajectory than his brother George, but certainly not untouched by it. And also his wife Betsy Ann, whose only presence in the newspapers was down to the curious terms of a will. Thomas …
Read more “11.24 – Bertha, Frederick, Betsy Ann and Thomas Davis”
We usually cover family graves separately from each other, but this is an exception – the Davis family unit here is very important to our group for a number of reasons. Fred and Rachel’s grave reads “Dead, Yet Speaketh” at its base, and what else are we doing here if we aren’t giving the dead …
Read more “V7.8, 31.43, and 47.60 – Frederick, Rachel, Eva and George Davis”
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”