accidents – F.O.C.C.T.

37.22 – Mary and John Dawson, and Betty, Mary Ann, John Thomas, Jane and John Spencer

by admin July 3, 2026One Comment

If that title gave you a headache, spare a thought for us poor researchers, trying to untangle this multigenerational tale full of illegitimate children and marriages that weren’t. Thankfully Daniel Noble’s excellent family tree on Ancestry gave us some help with piecing it all together. Mary’s story starts off easily enough. She was born in …

37A.23 – Abraham, Samuel, Emma and Mary Sutcliffe

by admin February 24, 2026No Comments

And not just them, but also George, Samuel and Mary’s third child; he may well be buried here, but like so many other “last one in”s, never had his name make it to the stone itself. The reason why is somewhat melancholy. The Sutcliffes had fairly normal lives, apart from George. Samuel was born in …

15.13 – Charles and Jane Neesham

by admin December 11, 2025December 11, 2025No Comments

Sometimes only a fleeting spell in Todmorden is enough to draw someone back later, in the hopes of a better life. Thanks to Leesa Harwood for sending us this story about her ancestors! The gravestone in Christ Church Graveyard marks the burial place of Charles Neesham, his wife Jane (Kilburn) Neesham and their daughter Margaret …

S6.7 – Sarah Alice, Florence Mary, Alice Stansfield and Harry Victor Stephenson

by admin November 22, 2025November 22, 2025No Comments

More Stephensons underneath a plot marker beneath the school, this time three young sisters and a brother, whose parents may or may not be resting with them. And there’s still a mystery at the end of it all even though we figured so much of the story out… William Stephenson – no relation to the …

38.19 – James, John, Betty and Sydney Scarr, and Jane and Elizabeth Butterworth

by admin October 15, 2025No Comments

Gale, Summit, what’s this now; what are these Littleborough folks doing at Christ Church? The answer is of course that they weren’t always from Littleborough…so what’s the story behind this table tomb, one of a very few in the graveyard and the only one in the public area? James Scarr was born in Todmorden in …

38.28 – Zechariah, Betty and Elizabeth Astin, and Albert, Sarah Jane and Hilda Alice Sutcliffe

by admin September 29, 2025September 29, 2025No Comments

Generations and generations on one stone – some stories we know, some we don’t, and some we can only guess at. Zechariah Astin was born in Rossendale in 1782, and Betty…unknown last name…was born in Leeds in 1787. These Astins are the famous Astin and Barker Astins, even though they did live at Harley House …

38A.33 – Allen, Sarah and John Langthorn, and Matilda and Ernest Barker

by admin August 27, 2025No Comments

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 …

39.8 – William Taylor

by admin July 28, 2025No Comments

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 …

40.41 – Alice, William, Ann and Sam Livsey

by admin June 13, 2025One Comment

Some names get remembered because of their manner of death being unusual, or – in this case- spectacularly traumatic for a large part of the town. As with so many of these stories, we start with an offcumden and a local lad or lass. For this story the offcumden is William Livsey, who was born …

41.58 – John, Olive, Sam, Tom, Sarah and Annie Denham

by admin March 25, 2025No Comments

The Denhams were an unlucky lot, all with early deaths – even by the standards of the day. They’re possibly the most unlucky family in this graveyard, even those who aren’t buried here. The fact that their stone was roughly laid flat by shattering the base only underlines the point. Olive Webster was a year …