Two little girls and their sad father – this grave is yet another cautionary tale that would fit nicely into a temperance pamphlet. James Blomley was, like the Howorths and Greenwoods, part of a great Todmorden innkeeping family – but not from birth. His father Edmund would become the landlord of the Golden Lion sometime …
What a story we have here – a slew of coincidences, international travel, and a reminder from the bottom of this stone to “be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye know not, the Son of Man cometh.” Allen Langthorn, or Langthorne as he appears elsewhere, was born in 1860 in Newchurch …
Read more “38A.33 – Allen, Sarah and John Langthorn, and Matilda and Ernest Barker”
A short story for these two sisters (maybe half sisters) because we simply can’t figure it out; the Hamiltons are a mystery. Thomas Hamilton was probably born in Leake, North Yorkshire, not far from Northallerton. We’re saying probably because we think we have him on the 1851 Census but after that can’t be certain anymore. …
The Wilkinsons were a labouring family who had it tough at times, although that hardly makes them unique here. Life could be hard for an outdoor labourer. Thomas made it work though and in the end his family had more security than many. Thomas Wilkinson was born in 1833, the first of nine children for …
Read more “39.i – Thomas, Sally, Rachel and James Wilkinson”
Mysterious Mary – we think we know but there’s always room for uncertainty! Mary probably-Butterworth was born on the Lancashire side of Todmorden in 1811. Because of the difficulty that banns present to us (no ages, no fathers, no premarital situations or addresses or occupations) we are guessing to some extent when we say that …
This story was at times frustrating, but still fascinating – given that it spans 141 years that’s hardly a surprise! James Turner was born in Spotland in 1773. He grew up a weaver, of course, and made his way to Walsden and to Knowlwood specifically. At some point he married the first of his two …
Read more “39.3 – James and Betty Turner, and John and Sarah Ann Sunderland”
Schoolmaster – land agent – house builder – railway inspector – all in one? How?? Burnley lad Thomas Newton was born in 1812. There he grew up, and a good brain (not family financial support – his father was a carter) meant he was able to find a better job than most young men in …
Mourn not my friends, twas God’s decree, That I should leave this world of strife, From earthly danger shall I flee, To share with him eternal Life, Sudden fate so soon to sever, The tender thread of nature’s ties, From Parents, Friends, I’m hid forever, Yet we shall meet beyond the skies. But millions of …
This grave holds two sisters, the only children of their parents and another testament to how one’s presence in a particular graveyard isn’t about how much time you spend in a place but about what happens in that time. Charles Raper was from Spalding Moor, and Elizabeth Hides was from Conisbrough, but the two began …
These Crossleys would have had us well and truly stumped without the help of Bluetit1802’s Ancestry tree, which has long been a gentle prod in the right direction for us when we’ve gotten stuck. It’s fair to say that for every mystery we’ve solved without help, there have been ten or more that we wouldn’t …