The patriarch in this grave outlived everyone else buried here despite his difficult and sometimes dangerous job. Young Chaffer certainly didn’t die young (see what we did there?) and his grave is a bit crooked, so enjoy this tilted photo and the story of this family. Young Chaffer was born in 1838 in Todmorden. His …
Read more “42.58 – Mary, Mary Jane, Albert and Young Chaffer, and Ethel Gill”
“I have heard you many a time afore, but you never would speak” – so ended Hannah Stott’s cryptic suicide note. Hannah is buried here with her parents, as she asked. Ogden Dawson and his wife Sarah (Kershaw) Ogden were either native or near-enough-native to Todmorden. Ogden was born in Walsden and Sarah in Littleborough. …
Read more “15.28 – Ogden and Sarah Dawson, and Hannah Stott”
As a counterweight to Thomas Greenwood in row 35, here we have someone who was responsible for helping people into the world, rather than putting them back in the ground at the end. Let’s look at this family. Charles and Mary Maria are the older generation buried in this plot. Charles Stott was born in …
Read more “11.14 – Charles, Mary Maria, John and Harriet Stott”
As of August 2023, Samuel is our first possible murder victim. Is that enough to get your attention? Samuel Butterworth was born in either 1799 or 1800 to Thomas and Sally Butterworth of Nip-Square, Walsden. Because of the dates in which this family lived, there aren’t as many primary sources of information, so we have …
“To Mrs. Dean, with kindest regards from the People’s Warden of Todmorden Church, Jn Barker, May 5th /12” This inscription was inside a copy of Ramshaw’s “Concerning Todmorden Parish” belonging to one of our researchers, and they were curious who Mrs. Dean and John Barker were. Mrs. Dean remains a mystery, but John Barker has …
This massive monument, almost a quadruple plot, was one of if not the very first grave whose overgrowth was checked and peeled back. It turned out to be a very important one, as Hannah here was the reason Christ Church had such a beautiful and well-regarded peal of bells. The bells were bought by her …
Read more “36.9 – James, Hannah, Roland, George and Sarah Howorth, and Mary King”
Vault area graves hold a lot of interments, and this is no exception. The entire Hartley family rests here along with Horace’s wife Nellie. The stone itself has a unique, elegant font on it which isn’t repeated anywhere else in the graveyard, and if there wasn’t so much knotweed plaguing the area you would want …
Read more “V12.11 – Richard, Martha, Nellie, Lilian, Sybil, Horace and Ella Hartley”
You know when sometimes you just…know? Well, we didn’t. We had no idea there were two stones side by side here. John Holt Jr. was, according to the lost sexton’s book, buried in the same plot as little Sarah Taylor just below John and Mary Ann. Actually though he was on the side of his …
Read more “40.38 and 40.39 – John, Mary Ann, and John Holt Jr.”
The grave in question is the one in the left hand foreground of this very atmospheric photo (thanks Andy!) from early spring 2023. We were very fortunate to have a relative in the group, Alec Mamwell, who has provided photos of some of the things we’re not usually able to provide in a story – …
Read more “19.21 – John, Annie and Susan Lupton, and Amy Ford”
This small ledger was upside down, and as it was only small we turned it back right side up to check that the people listed as buried here were indeed here. Cue our chair muttering darkly under his breath about Fieldens. But we love all of Christ Church graveyard’s residents so let’s find out about …