More Pughs in the graveyard; you can learn about John and Susy Pugh and some of Frederick’s early life through the story of his brother Llewellyn, but Frederick and his family will have a story of their own here too. Frederick, or Fred as he was known pretty much everywhere but his gravestone, was born …
This entry is short, partly because some of these names are very common and distinguishing them was difficult; and partly because of the all-too-common casual erasure of women from public record, unless they were distinguished or naughty enough to get columns. Amelia Dawson was born in 1812, or 1815, depending on which record you look …
Read more “51.60 – James and Amelia Fielden and Sarah Midgley”
In many graves here at Christ Church you can find children mentioned whose existence is often lost in the search for ancestors; they may or may not have been baptised, and if they were born and died between census returns then it’s easy to miss them. This grave is one such grave. Their father was …
Read more “51.62 – George, William, Nancy Ann and Anthony Whitehead”
Lots of names and surnames here, covering four generations: William and Sally, their daughter Susy, her daughters Emma and Sarah Ann, and her granddaughter Sarah Annie. We’ll try not to make it too confusing. William Crossley was a clogger, born in 1804, who set up shop at York Street (now Halifax Road). He married Sally …
The first thing you’d notice when reading this gravestone is the quick succession in which people were laid to rest here; the first three burials represent a span of less than 24 months, and all five (because there are five here, not just the four on the stone) cover 13 years from beginning to end. …
Read more “52.51 – Hannah, Samuel, Sarah, Sarah Jane and Amos Kershaw”
“Other than that, Jane seems to just vanish” – and that’s why we’re here. You could stop reading now, frankly, but you can continue if you want. This grave’s story is of a grandmother and grandson, one with a life and one whose life barely got started before it ended. Jane Kendall, or Kendell or …
Read more “52.54 – Jane Chalcraft and Frederick John Radcliffe”
Some gravestone epitaphs leap out at you and scream that there’s a story to be told here. There’s certainly one here. George Brammah was born in 1835 in Cudworth, near Barnsley. His father George was a quarryman and no doubt was working in one of the many mines or mine-adjacent industries in that part of …
For what was supposedly some sort of business dynasty, the Roberts family left little trace in public records; but this lovely, now flat, and unique gravestone reminds us that they were financially a cut above many others in this part of the graveyard. John Roberts Sr. was born outside of Yorkshire but had made his …
This story was told as part of our “Dead for the Holidays” 2023 tour. We stand here by the grave of William Helliwell, a good Todmorden name. Reading between the lines, it sounds to me as though William led a difficult life, and did not live to an old age, being only 63 when he …
Tom’s story was told as part of our “Dead for the Holidays” 2023 tour. As you’ll have heard me say before, sometimes our stories seem heavy on the tragedy. This is for two reasons: one, we are talking about people whose lives have ended, so there is always a sad ending; two, it is because …