Stories – Page 14 – F.O.C.C.T.

15.30 – William, Thomas and Sarah Elizabeth Lord, and Joe Hirst and Mary Ann Shackleton

by admin October 30, 2024No Comments

Here’s a war grave that encompasses quite a bit more than “just” WW1; here we have wealth gained, wealth lost, new starts, domestic violence, and a little bit of Russian and Canadian intrigue. The story begins with George Hirst and Harriet Rowlandson of Knottingley, who married at Christ Church in East Knottingley in July 1851. …

15.25 -Arthur and Hannah Hirst, and Maria Hudson

by admin October 27, 2024One Comment

Following on from our story about Sarah Elizabeth and Mary Ann Hirst, enjoy another Hirst story. The story of these two is straightforward, but this grave contains a mystery: who was Maria Hudson? We’ll get to her at the end. Firstly, though, a recap on Arthur Hirst’s childhood. His parents George and Hannah Hirst came …

18.24 – Richard, Frank, John Albert and Agnes Scholfield, and Benjamin and Emma Jane Shepherd

by admin October 25, 2024October 28, 20242 Comments

The people above are buried here, under this lancet-laid-flat in the lower yard. Emma Jane is last in the title of this story but she’s the thread that ties everyone else together. This grave contains her first and third husbands and her two sons and a daughter in law, as well as four unnamed infants. …

45.59 – John, Betty and Sarah Ann Cropper

by admin October 7, 2024One Comment

Some of the Cropper family story has already been told with David Cropper under the school, but this is about how David got here – the story of his parents and of his only sister. John Cropper was born in Todmorden in 1825, the oldest child of his parents David and Nancy (Riley) Cropper. His …

46.50 – Mary Ingham, Frederick and Hannah Woodhead

by admin October 5, 2024No Comments

An only child and her parents rest here, next to the child’s grandparents and aunt and uncle. Graveyards are family affairs. Hannah Proctor’s early life story is told in the story of her parents and siblings next door, but a quick recap: Hannah was born in 1850 and became a dressmaker, living with her family …

46.51 – Ingham, Robert and Sarah Proctor, and Mary Heap

by admin October 5, 2024One Comment

You often find yourself feeling sorry for the last person into a grave, and this grave is certainly no exception. Ingham Proctor, or Procter, was born in 1815 in Worsthorne, outside Burnley, to Robert and Mary (Ingham – hence the name) Proctor. The area the family lived in was Hurstwood, where the reservoir is now, …

47.58 – John and Alice Marshall, and Albert Edward and Mary Ann Alletson

by admin September 28, 2024September 28, 2024No Comments

These four were in a grave with three Scholfields, and at first the connection wasn’t obvious. Thankfully the story of the Scholfields of Todmorden helped us figure out the missing link – William and Mary Scholfield of Church Street. This story will explain why an older stone has a more modern inscription on its lower …

38.1 – Thomas and Esther Nash

by admin September 27, 2024No Comments

This unassuming grave is linked to the rather grander Scholfield family graves, and is the resting place of a man who must have felt a lot of pressure to achieve things in his life…and almost got there. Almost. Thomas Nash was born in 1841, and would be the only surviving son of Thomas and Elizabeth …

39.27 – James, John, Elizabeth and Thomas Nash

by admin September 27, 2024One Comment

This grave has one story partly told in the story of Samuel and Susan Scholfield, as Elizabeth is their sister. She was born in 1814 to William and Mary Scholfield, ironmongers who had a shop on North Street (Burnley Road) and Church Street (Rochdale Road, opposite the gates to St. Mary’s) and so grew up …

47.58 – Samuel, Martha and Susan Scholfield

by admin September 25, 2024September 28, 20242 Comments

This story is mostly already told over on the Todmorden and Walsden website, where an entire page is devoted to the Scholfields of Todmorden. Scroll down a spell and you’ll come to Samuel and some of his story. We’ll tell the rest though, because Susan and Martha here are lost in the story there. Samuel …