Another infant gets their name back; Mary Kay, who died in April 1878 only two weeks old. First, though, her parents. James Kay was born in Rochdale, Hopwood in fact, in 1835. His father John was a tailor and his mother Catherine was a silk hand loom weaver, and he grew up with seven siblings …
Read more “46.63 – Mary, James, Ellen, John and Elizabeth Kay”
This is another post about the Davis family, this time following one of Fred and Rachel’s sons with a less tragic life trajectory than his brother George, but certainly not untouched by it. And also his wife Betsy Ann, whose only presence in the newspapers was down to the curious terms of a will. Thomas …
Read more “11.24 – Bertha, Frederick, Betsy Ann and Thomas Davis”
We usually cover family graves separately from each other, but this is an exception – the Davis family unit here is very important to our group for a number of reasons. Fred and Rachel’s grave reads “Dead, Yet Speaketh” at its base, and what else are we doing here if we aren’t giving the dead …
Read more “V7.8, 31.43, and 47.60 – Frederick, Rachel, Eva and George Davis”
The last of our Leek graves is here, and we rejoin the story of Jeffrey Leek and his family. As you might recall, one of his children is buried with his mother and father in law, and we briefly touched on the family there; now we return and discover a story of apparently amicable separation. …
Read more “32.39 – James William, Ann, Edith and John Henry Leek”
These two graves aren’t strictly side by side – at least we don’t think they originally were, even though now their stones are – but they contain the majority of a large family unit; that made up of Thomas and Sarah (Stansfield) Scholfield, their children and a grandchild, and Sarah’s brother and sister-in-law Barker and …
These striking sidestones were tumbled over and half-buried when we arrived, and the grave itself recorded but not fully; we’ve put it back together as best we can for now, and despite its humble appearance it holds one of the town’s storytellers: Frederick Lee, of the Todmorden Advertiser and protegee of Richard and Thomas Chambers. …
Read more “51.58 – Frederick, Sarah Ann, Ann, Helen and Alice Lee”
This story was told as part of our “Dead for the Holidays” 2023 tour. I love this story for one main reason—John Turner was a teacher. It seems he was not just any teacher, either… he was someone who was absolutely dedicated to his profession, and had an impact on many lives. It is all …
Read more “33.41 – John Joseph, Mary, John, Sarah Ellen, and Charlotte Turner”
This story was told on our Remembrance Sunday 2023 tour. This is another tale that is about a family, not just a soldier. As often happens, it is filled with tragedy, and not a little graphic detail. Reader discretion is advised. John Albert Barker was born in 1882 to John and Susannah (Marshall) Barker. Susanna …
This story was told on our Remembrance Sunday 2023 tour. This is a story of not just a soldier, but an entire family that were drastically affected by the events of WW1. But let’s start with the birth of a little boy that would one day die for his country. George William Rohrer was born …
Read more “15.4 – Margaretta, George, Leopold and Sarah Mary Rohrer”
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”