The two adults in this grave share something: they’re invisible until 1871. A strange thing to say, but bear with us. We know that William Henry Greenwood was born at Blackshawhead around 1850; we know Grace Fielden was born around 1846 in Walsden. But until they’re adults, that’s all we know. In 1871 Grace and …
Read more “49.53 – Sam, Grace, Fred and William Henry Greenwood”
43 years sit between the first and second burial here; the two wives of Joseph Sonley, Betsy Forrester and Mary Ann Hollinrake. Two Tod lasses who fell for the same journeyman tailor (although fortunately not at the same time). We’ll also tell some of the wider story of the Sonley family as “how did Joseph …
This plot marker started a spiral down countless search term variations and speculative rabbit holes, as we tried to trace the lives of the people most likely buried here – James, Elizabeth, and John James Laithwaite. Many thanks to the recordkeepers of the 1800s for their many creative spellings of this surname. We appreciate it. …
Read more “49.55 – The Laithwaites (or Leithwites, or Lethwhites…)”
The story of those buried here shows some of the interconnectedness of the yard; peeling apart each grave’s story makes seeing those links possible. It’s part of why we do what we do. The story of this grave can’t be fully told without also telling the story of the Charltons at 49.58, the Buttons at …
Read more “50.57 – Maria, Eveline, William, Isabella and William Thomas Heyworth”
This plot marker labelled B. A. denotes a grave belonging to Benjamin Ashworth of Shade. In it is definitely his sister Sarah, and probably another B. A. – his wife Betty. But what of Benjamin himself? Read on… Sarah Ashworth was born in 1815 in Chadderton to William and Ann Ashworth. She was the eldest …
This plot marker confused us, and still confuses us; is C.M.P. Mary Catherine Pearson? If so, why would it be in an 1878 row? Would they really have gotten her initials wrong? Well…if you’ve seen the “aged 42 yeabs” stone in the private area, you know that all sorts of errors can be made in …
This plot marker took a while to discern, having to manually rule out all the known V surnames in the graveyard and their immediate families. We still aren’t 100% certain about who is in this plot – we have guesses – but we’re certain that F. V. refers to Fielden Varley, and it’s likely that …
These striking sidestones were tumbled over and half-buried when we arrived, and the grave itself recorded but not fully; we’ve put it back together as best we can for now, and despite its humble appearance it holds one of the town’s storytellers: Frederick Lee, of the Todmorden Advertiser and protegee of Richard and Thomas Chambers. …
Read more “51.58 – Frederick, Sarah Ann, Ann, Helen and Alice Lee”
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”