Poor Eleanor Pennington, who died far from her family and whose story hints at mysteries behind closed doors… Eleanor (sometimes Ellenor) was born Eleanor Royston in 1810 in Leeds, the second daughter (we think) of Luke and Mary (Kay) Royston. Luke was a woollen cloth merchant and Eleanor’s early life was one of relative comfort, …
Sometimes we wonder how many tradesmen in Todmorden weren’t tailors; sometimes we wonder if any of them were native to Todmorden, or if they really were all from “north of the north”. This story will not vary from those seemingly universal conditions! James Tyson Postlethwaite was born in Kirkby Ireleth in 1808, although he would …
Read more “41.4 – William, Sarah, James and Ellen Postlethwaite”
Here are some more members of the Lord family of Canal Street Works fame, but from a slightly lesser known Lord brother: Abraham. The story here starts with his first wife, Emm. It also covers the lives of two of her sons…one to be proud of (or at least not disappointed by), and one to …
Read more “41.12 – Andrew, Emm, Mary Ellen, Sam, Willie and John Lord”
From a tiny village in North Yorkshire to bustling busy Todmorden, this family’s journey was really something. Hammond Geldard Metcalfe was born in 1777 in Carlton, a little ways southwest of Leyburn. The current population is estimated at about 232 people and is also the largest village in Coverdale, so you can only imagine how …
Read more “41.8 – Jane and Hammond Geldard Metcalfe, and James and Alice Stansfield”
These stones, one in the public area and one in the private, contain most of what was once one of Todmorden’s more well off families; mill owners, teachers, railwaymen, and housebuilders (and that’s just to start). Once upon a time, 1787 to be exact, there was a building at the bottom of Ferney Lee Road …
Another grave with Chartist links – this corner truly does have a fantastic selection of radical townsmen! Jakeh Butterworth was born in Oldham in 1804. He was baptised Jackey, and his name morphs over time and changes back and forth between Jackey, Jackeh, Jacky, Jakey, and finally Jakeh. How was it pronounced? It might be …
Read more “41.16 – Betty, Ann, Jane, Mary and Jakeh Butterworth”
Sisters in law and a tiny son – these women hailed from afar and their husbands didn’t stay long…but this grave is linked to one of Todmorden’s greatest railway landmarks via one husband, and it’s a shame that the story of these women will be light on details when there’s so much to tell about …
Quaker and bread baker Robert Walmsley was one of Todmorden’s many offcumden residents over time who made their home here; this story is short on detail about the people buried in the grave mostly due to their ages, but his first wife Sarah also suffers from the usual lack of records and roles for women …
The three Wilson children in this grave are another example of children whose families moved on and never came back – and also a reminder that access to medicine or medical knowledge wasn’t enough to save you back then. It’s also a mystery all of its own for other reasons… Matthew Wilson was born in …
A stonemason, a woman with two names, and young losses, one (hopefully) redeemed by some grandparental love. First, the mysterious aforementioned woman. Not that she’s mysterious really, but for reasons we’ve never gotten to the bottom of, she had two names. Betty Crossley, as she was christened, was born in June 1850 in Midgley near …
Read more “41.55 – Sam, Harry, William Henry and Betty Atkinson, and Lily Bramley”