If you’ve ever had a pint at the Black Swan that was, or the Polished Knob that is, then next time you’re there raise another to this publican family who did their best by the place through good times and bad. This story begins with two Greenwoods – Robert, who was born here in Todmorden …
Read more “43.8 – Robert, Fanny, Henry, John, Sarah and William Greenwood”
From meat and sweets to pub landlording; this family made sure quite a few of the town’s basic needs were met. At this grave we first find Edmund Farrar and his two wives, Sarah (Taylor) and Elizabeth (Ibbotson). Both these women came from very different backgrounds. Sarah is a little bit of a mystery – …
Read more “43.54 – Sarah, Elizabeth, Edmund, Arthur and Alice Farrar”
Two widows, two different experiences – what a difference a handful of half-grown children makes. Everyone in this story were born outside of Todmorden, so be patient and kind, their stories deserve telling too… Up on the Mytholmroyd hills, in 1832, Richard Crossland was born. Richard’s father Joseph was a stonemason from Dewsbury and Richard …
Read more “43.59 – Walter, Richard and Fanny Crossland, and George and Mary Hartley”
Servants to their own families..the women in this grave had a roof over the heads, but how hard were their lives? Not as hard as the wear to this stone would make you romantically assume. Yes, we had to “read” much of this stone by hand and by using geneaology resources to be certain of …
Read more “42.55 – Martha, James and Grace Booth, and Sarah Ann Pilling”
These pillars of the parish suffered great losses and witnessed great things – they’re some of the few here who if their bones could talk would tell us so much about Christ Church and the graveyard. George Stansfield was born in July 1815 in Todmorden, the son of warper John Stansfield and his wife Mary …
This handsome granite monument tells an interesting story – one of wealth, adopted families, and of course loss. Melina Leah – the Melina Stansfield of our story – was born in April 1844, one of the many many children of Robert and Mary (Parker) Leah of Edge Nook, which on the 1851 Census comes just …
Read more “V12.10 – John Clegg, Melina Stansfield and Melina Stoddart”
Like the story of Jane Chalcroft, this is one of a mother who followed her daughter to Todmorden and lived her final days in a school environment. Not noteworthy in itself maybe, but the fact that it’s the second such story is always interesting. Are there any coincidences in the graveyard? Harriot – yes, that’s …
Read more “44.60 – Harriot Yates and Elizabeth and Henry Stansfield”
After many, many days, researchers are stumped; how do these couples connect? The answer sees to be that they don’t. So here’s their stories, and perhaps someone knows the secret reason that they were joined together in death. Editor’s note: the connection has been found; we’ve tacked it onto the end of the post! William …
Read more “V7.12 – William and Ann Oldroyd, and Willie and Olive Marshall”
Two wives, one of whom incurred the ire of John Fielden – it’s a story we can’t find the full story behind, but intriguing nonetheless. Thomas Rigg was born in March 1836 at Green Springs, a place that once stood along Burnley Road in Hebden Bridge just up from Stubbings and below Savile Road. The …
A family from Buckinghamshire that set down roots in Todmorden, and one woman’s occasionally turbulent life. Mary West was the oldest figure here, so we’ll start first with her. She was born in 1838 in Newport Pagnell to a “sculptor and carpenter” Thomas West and his wife Caroline, formerly Whiting. Thomas was a descendant of …
Read more “45.58 – William Robert Keys, Mary Carter, and James and Elizabeth Jackson”