Mysterious Mary – we think we know but there’s always room for uncertainty! Mary probably-Butterworth was born on the Lancashire side of Todmorden in 1811. Because of the difficulty that banns present to us (no ages, no fathers, no premarital situations or addresses or occupations) we are guessing to some extent when we say that …
This story was at times frustrating, but still fascinating – given that it spans 141 years that’s hardly a surprise! James Turner was born in Spotland in 1773. He grew up a weaver, of course, and made his way to Walsden and to Knowlwood specifically. At some point he married the first of his two …
Read more “39.3 – James and Betty Turner, and John and Sarah Ann Sunderland”
Schoolmaster – land agent – house builder – railway inspector – all in one? How?? Burnley lad Thomas Newton was born in 1812. There he grew up, and a good brain (not family financial support – his father was a carter) meant he was able to find a better job than most young men in …
Mourn not my friends, twas God’s decree, That I should leave this world of strife, From earthly danger shall I flee, To share with him eternal Life, Sudden fate so soon to sever, The tender thread of nature’s ties, From Parents, Friends, I’m hid forever, Yet we shall meet beyond the skies. But millions of …
This grave holds two sisters, the only children of their parents and another testament to how one’s presence in a particular graveyard isn’t about how much time you spend in a place but about what happens in that time. Charles Raper was from Spalding Moor, and Elizabeth Hides was from Conisbrough, but the two began …
These Crossleys would have had us well and truly stumped without the help of Bluetit1802’s Ancestry tree, which has long been a gentle prod in the right direction for us when we’ve gotten stuck. It’s fair to say that for every mystery we’ve solved without help, there have been ten or more that we wouldn’t …
If you’ve been following for a while then you’ve already met quite a few of these Fieldens, but here’s some from another generation back. Charles Fielden was born in 1842, the son of Abraham and Mary (Gibson) Fielden of Wadsworth Mill, Shade. He was their second child and second son and his time on this …
Not every grave has a long story – some are pretty short, because we have so little to work from. This is one of those graves. Maybe you know something we don’t? John Willan and Alice Eckersall were both from Whitefield in Prestwich, and their journey here was probably purely down to the Industrial Revolution. …
There is only one person named on this low, sinking gravestone – Sidney (or Sydney) Jackson – but he may not be on his own. Sidney was born in Lion Street, Todmorden on the 3rd October 1863. Only his mother, Ann Jackson, is named on his birth certificate, his father’s name is left blank. He …
This plot marker has two sets of initials, and thanks to them we can be pretty sure of who’s in here. It’s not the usual story of children whose parents moved on. Henry Smith, a cotton weaver, married Mary Stansfield in Rochdale in 1835. The couple were based at Sandhole in Walsden (later Knowlwood) and …
Read more “39.28 – Abram Smith, and James Henry and Abraham Pearson”