This grave holds a father and son, and moreover, a father who was part of this church and graveyard’s history – unlike other clerical graves, it might escape your notice entirely if you were idly walking through, as on the face of it it’s just another flat lancet. Even when it was upright only the …
This story was a wild ride, a tale of the dangers of drink and of one woman’s progress from Todmorden to Chester and back again. Plus there’s a cougar. First though, we start with ostler Edward Greenwood. Born in 1803, he married Ann Whiteley in 1824 by banns at St. Chad’s and Heptonstall, since she …
Read more “40.7 – Edward and Ann Greenwood, and Mary Thorpe”
Oyez, oyez, oyez! Gather round and hear the tale of the OG Tod Town Crier – or what we know of it anyway. Thomas Greenlees was born in 1783 and while his early life is a mystery, we know that he started out as a cotton spinner who made a career for himself working for …
The Closes were an interesting family – active, clever, and helpful people, even despite all their losses. Henry Close was born in 1824, the last of John and Susannah Close’s children to be born, which is no surprise since Susannah was 46 years old at his birth. They forgot to baptise him though which rather …
Read more “40.8 – Maria, John, Richard, Emma, Ann and Henry Close”
Brother and sister, the only two of Young and Ann Ashworth‘s children to survive to adulthood – this is a story about sticking together. You know about the story so far; Young and Ann suffered many losses. This might have been one of the reasons why Harriet and James stayed close, well into adulthood. Were …
“Also of five infants” always hurts a little to read, and while four of these infants have their names back, one looks to have never managed to have a name at all… Some of Young Ashworth’s story you will know from that of his parents and sisters at 40.9. He was the second youngest, the …
Read more “38.5 – Young and Ann Ashworth and their children”
This is a large section of the Ashworth family, parents and four daughters. One son is at Heptonstall and the other is also at Christ Church, but they were the ones who flew the nest…these sisters stayed put, for the most part. Thomas Ashworth was a Stansfield lad and Grace Uttley was a Langfield lass. …
Read more “40.9 – Thomas, Mary, Grace, Hannah and Ann Ashworth, and Susan Greenwood”
Three generations, a “curse” – and a question about who chooses who goes where. Betty Hirst has appeared in some of our stories before – her daughter Ann became Ann Livsey, we learned about her husband John Lord’s career via the story of her mother in law Martha, and probably there are countless other Lords …
Read more “37.2 and 40.11 – Betty, John, Priscilla, John and Annie Lord”
Another plot marker discerned, although there are many other unlocated Thorps in this graveyard which raises the question…why here? And who here? The Thorp family hailed from Heath Charnock, between Chorley and Bolton, and most of the children of James and Alice (France) Thorp were born there. The couple had a love of fancy names …
Henry was an interesting chap in his own right, but this is yet another grave where side quests are inevitable and unavoidable when you’re trying to piece things together. When we first began clearing the yard we found a saucepan near this particular grave and someone distractedly balanced it on top of the lancet, with …