More members of the Anderton family, this time in a separate plot – another of Theodora’s sons, as well as his wife’s nephew. Or is it niece? Or both? Robert Sherington Anderton was the first child and first son of John and Theodora Anderton, and was born in 1861 in Todmorden. Like his father, he …
Read more “13.37 – Robert Sherington, Mary Ellen and Leonard Anderton, and Bessie Tolley Lingard”
We always get intrigued when we see different surnames in a grave – and, of course, as this stone is under the school, there’s no inscription we can see which might offer a clue as to family relationships. The answer to this particular mystery is “the usual one” – a child born out of wedlock …
Read more “S7.2 – Samuel Wood and John Greenwood, Susannah, John Willie and Law Southwell”
This was a Mother’s Day gift for “graveyard momma”, aka secretary Sarah – a stone that hadn’t been transcribed before, because it was upside down. Who were the Brewers? Martha Bottomley was born in 1857 in Walsden. Her father James was a Tod lad, and her mother Esther hailed originally from Runcorn. James abandoned the …
The stories here in this graveyard are stories mostly of ordinary people, and some could not afford grave markers. We believe the ordinary folks were (and are!) the heart of Tod, so here we remember one of them. This is the grave of Fanny Danks. It was a popular name in the time period! She …
We stand here next to the grave of Willie Crowther – not the one with the beautiful light grey granite cross, but the unmarked space to the left of it. Yes, he is related to John Crowther, whose story you heard earlier… it is in fact his son. You will recall the statistic we gave …
We stand now by the unmarked grave of Rose Gibson. She was born Rose Harlow in 1845 in Derbyshire, and the whole family were handloom silk weavers. It was not a great time to be a weaver, as you history buffs will know, but this family set up was typical. Children were set before looms …
This girl is buried at Christ Church but her burial was not recorded – not the first one from 1916 which appears in the burial register but not the sexton’s book. She was buried the day before Eleanor Hopkinson and it’s tempting to think they’re buried next to each other, but Annie’s grave isn’t marked …
Here lies John Crowther, who died in 1864 at the age of 36. He laid plates for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. He lived at Bath Street with his wife and four children. He had married Rebecca Heyworth in 1855 and they had five children; Sam was the first, and Willie the last. Not much …
This stone is for many members of the Stansfield family, and maybe anyone here who has walked past and noticed it have noticed the mention of a son who died in America at the bottom. This is the story of just two of the many on this stone, because it’s long and because it’s sad. …
“In Death Not Divided”, as the obituary for Robert and Betsey begins, and as in life so in death. The obituary tells you quite a lot about this couple. Robert was a native of Burnley, who married his wife Betsey Stephenson there in 1869. They had known each other for quite some time; in fact, …