This is the gravestone we took our logo from, with its still-clear willow and tomb design. In the grave lie Edmund Farrar and three of his wives. Edmund was born in 1843 to James and Grace Farrar of Howroyd Farm. Howroyd is now gone, mostly demolished but also underwater, since it was part of the …
This story introduces us to some new faces…and an old villain. John Land was born in Wirksworth, Derbyshire in 1816. His wife Mary MacDonald had been born there too, a year earlier. The Lands and MacDonalds were lead miners as were many in that area at the time, and it will have been an extremely …
Read more “53.53 – John, George, Mary, Millicent and John Land, and Hannah Elizabeth Crossley”
We got to this stone just in time. Some small details are unrecoverable, but the majority was, and we’re glad we could get what we could before it became too late. John Crabtree the elder was born in Todmorden in 1803. His future wife, Charlotte Taylor, would be born six years later in Bacup. Both …
Read more “53.54 – John, Charlotte, Betty, John, and William Crabtree”
John rests here, an offcumden who made the town his home. John was born in 1824 in Halifax to William and Hannah Helliwell of Warley. The Helliwells were regular attendees of Square Chapel Congregational. He became a wool comber and in June 1845 he married Sarah Ann Cockcroft of Ovenden, who along with her parents …
This grave is in need of adopting, since the descendants of those buried here are all abroad; in fact, one of these four isn’t buried here at all. Josiah Stott was born around 1816, and his future wife Sarah Crossley was born around 1823. No marriage certificate can be found for them, and no 1841 …
This is the story of the family of Young Helliwell, the founder of “Young Helliwell and Sons”, the picker manufacturer company based at Gauxholme. The “and Sons” part of the company name nearly didn’t happen; four of his six sons are buried here, along with his first wife and one of his two daughters. Hannah …
Read more “53.59 – Hannah, Charles, Ernest, Elizabeth, William and Frank Helliwell”
This plot marker has more than just initials, it has the plot owner’s name – W. Scholfield – on it. Detective work identified the person buried here as Ann Scholfield, who was buried here on December 19th 1885 at the age of 35. She was the wife of William Scholfield of Hanging Ditch, and she …
Ada rests here between two Nothard family graves, but she’s no relation; not that we know of, anyway. Ada Stephenson was illegitimate, and her mother Hannah never pursued the unknown father in court, so his name never appears in any other public record. Frustratingly the digital scans for both Ada’s birth and death make it …
A family of Js? Not an affectation, just a coincidence that the children buried here all share the same first initial as their father. Jeremiah Crossley was born in 1791, most likely in Halifax, the son of a Northowram ropetwister. He grew up to become an iron moulder and made his way down the valley …
Read more “39.5 – Jim, Jim, Judy, John and Jeremiah Crossley”
This little plot marker required paging through scans to find, since the older burial registers are often written out in ways that cause problems for Ancestry’s scan-to-text software. I found M.A. in the end – Mary Alty of Knowlwood, the daughter of Robert and Ruth, buried on July 28th 1842 aged 20 weeks old. Mary …