mysteries of the graveyard – Page 7

38.8 – Edward and Mary Billington, and Mills, Sarah, Thomas, Jane and John Duckworth

by admin August 27, 2023No Comments

This stone is a great example of how we can’t always trust a gravestone, or a burial register, or indeed much else, to tell us the truth about someone. From our Facebook page, via researcher Holly: “Been very confused researching this headstone! Normally these things are a valuable tool for giving accurate names and dates. …

41.17 – Henry and Samuel Butterworth

by admin August 23, 2023No Comments

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 …

40.38 and 40.39 – John, Mary Ann, and John Holt Jr.

by admin August 13, 2023August 16, 2023One Comment

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 …

7.41 and 14.18 – Samuel, Mary Ann and Annie Crossley, and Enoch Sandow

by admin August 12, 2023April 4, 20242 Comments

We’ve found a lot (a LOT) of displaced sidestones and even headstones in the graveyard, and at first glance these two burial plots seemed to be a similar situation. The Crossleys are buried at 7.41 according to the lost sexton’s book, and Enoch Sandow is buried at 14.18. However, two sidestones with Mary Ann and …

24.30 – Richard, Elizabeth, John and Mary Ellen Greenwood

by admin July 15, 2023August 13, 20232 Comments

This grave caught the eye of one of our researchers because of Richard and Elizabeth sharing the same date of death. The story was a surprise, and another example of how there is no dignity in death when it comes to popular media. Richard and Elizabeth lived in poverty and may have also had some …

Displaced – Lucy Alice Davy

by admin July 15, 2023January 4, 2024One Comment

This plot marker was found lying on its back in row 43. We did know where it came from, and will update this post at a later date to explain further. We didn’t know initially, though, who LAD was. Plot markers can be awkward things. Many times the initials on them are the initials of …

Read more “Displaced – Lucy Alice Davy”

37.27 – Lydia, George, Grace, Hannah, William and Hannah Lingard Marshall

by admin July 8, 2023No Comments

Another one of our eroded stones that needed Ancestry’s help to decipher. Also another suicide contained within. Before we start, a word about holly. Holly is our least favourite plant in the graveyard. Not even ivy is capable of causing such damage. Ivy might crack stones, but holly erases everything it touches. Something to do …

10.17 – Edna Eastwood

by admin July 2, 2023July 2, 2023One Comment

This post will focus entirely on Edna and her story, which we felt deserved a telling. Edna Eastwood was the daughter of William Eastwood and Mary (maidenly Taylor). In 1911, William was a cotton twister and Edna was a cotton weaver, Edna had three younger sisters called Gertrude, Mabel and Florrie. The only son of …

V11.7 – Haidee Maria and Alice Greenwood, and Sarah Waterworth

by admin June 27, 2023No Comments

Alice Greenwood, nee Bowden, and her husband Sam’s story is partly told alongside her sister Mary Bowden’s. Alice married late in life to Sam, a widower, and they moved to Oswestry to start new careers as publicans along with their aunt Hannah, their late father’s sister. Haidee was Sam’s first wife. Sam’s date of death …

2.35 – Richard Percy Martin (previously unmarked)

by admin June 22, 2023June 28, 2023One Comment

Two simple sidestones: In Loving Memory of Richard Percy Martin who fell asleep Dec. 19th 1914 aged 10 years. Never forgotten by his loving father, mother, and sister. Richard Percy Martin, or Percy Richard Martini as he was registered at birth, was born in Holbeck, Leeds, the son of Richard and Rosa Martin. Richard was …