Ada rests here between two Nothard family graves, but she’s no relation; not that we know of, anyway. Ada Stephenson was illegitimate, and her mother Hannah never pursued the unknown father in court, so his name never appears in any other public record. Frustratingly the digital scans for both Ada’s birth and death make it …
When you look at this gravestone you see four names and may assume they are the only people to be buried here, but as with many graves here that’s not the case. The first person to be interred in this grave is not mentioned on the gravestone. She was Maria Greenwood, who was born at …
Read more “16.13 – Joseph, Herbert, Janie and Thomas Travis, and Maria Greenwood”
This plot marker has only initials, and only one set of them. Initials on plot markers can either be those of the person buried there or those of the plot’s owner (in one instance here, both initials are on the stone) and in this case the V gives us a pretty good clue as to …
Emma’s backstory is told in the story of her parents, sisters and niece – but we thought for the sake of the medium read not becoming a long one that we would separate the stories out. Emma Pickup, as she was before marriage, was born in Newchurch, Bacup, in 1858. She had lived in Todmorden …
The relationships in this grave are complex, and figuring them out was complicated by the blended family unit that these people formed over decades. We’ve done our best here but there are still some questions. The Eastwoods here are Grace and Susan, but there’s a third Eastwood sister not named on this stone; Ellen, the …
Read more “56.43 – Grace Eastwood, Betty, Susan and James Dawson, and William Albert Clewer”
This is another of our graves that was missed last time around, and that is linked to other graves within the yard. Who were these people? Elizabeth Ann Helliwell was born in 1863 to William and Hannah (Normington) Helliwell of Square, Walsden. Her baptism at St. Peter’s was on September 24th of that year and …
Much of Hannah Buckle has already been said in the post about her sister, brother and nephew. Hannah was one of the fourteen children of Anthony and Mary Buckle of Barden, and came here along with her brother Anthony and nephew George Watson at some point before 1851. Hannah never married, and died in 1870. …
George’s brother in law John Mitchell lies just a few plots away, and we saw the connection while researching John’s story. John was married to George’s sister Grace and died a year before George, in 1915. Who was George? George’s story starts with his parents (as do most people’s stories). Joseph and Charlotte (Rawson) Hollinrake …
William Taylor was born in 1861 in Heptonstall, the son of Paul Taylor, a mason, and his wife Sarah Ann (Paul and Sarah later became licensees of the Fox and Goose in Hebden Bridge). In 1871, Willie aged 9 was working as a mule piecer, in 1881 he was a cutter out, but by 1891 …
Read more “16.2 – Sarah Jane, William, Ernest and Annie Taylor”
A pair of proud parents and a proud uncle are buried here – at least, the father and uncle would have been proud if they’d still been around to see their son/nephew’s success. A tale of offcumden who embedded themselves in Todmorden life. William and Charles Goucke were brothers who had moved to Todmorden from …