S4.9 – Nathan Ogden

This is another one of the plot markers under the school which we feel confident in identifying – or, at least, half identifying. R. G. we have a strong hunch about, and we think was the owner of the plot. N. O. we can definitely identify as Nathan Ogden. Nathan died of natural causes in …

S6.6 – Ada, Agnes, Florence, Samuel, Fanny, Roger and Mary Ackroyd

The Ackroyds are dear to our Chair’s heart, with Fanny being his literal great-aunt Fanny – and this grave is slightly unusual for those under the school for the sheer number of people buried in it. Sadly that’s partly because four of the seven were young children; what was their story? Roger was born in …

S6.9 – Charles, William, Annie and Edwin Corbett, and Mary Howells

This family here hails from London and Shropshire – three generations in one place, far from home for Mary, Edwin and Annie, but a stone’s throw from the only home the two children knew. Mary Howells was born in August 1819 to Joseph and Elizabeth Howells of Wellington, Shropshire. Elizabeth died not long after. Joseph …

S6.4 – William Henry Gledhill

Plot markers can be difficult things to work out – sometimes the initials are of the plot owner, sometimes of the person buried there. Christ Church’s fairly regular grid pattern allows us to occasionally make an educated guess, and in the case of the mysterious W.H.G. under the school, we can guess that it’s William …

S6.1 and S6.2 – John and James Thomas, and Bridget Faulkner

Another instance of two graves which might only be one – and at least one error that leaves us in the dark about what’s actually happening in these two plots. Bridget Faulkner is the oldest person in this story – born sometime around 1833, in Leeds by her accounting, Bridget only appears once on a …

S5.5 – Sarah, Joseph and Richard Hollinrake

Two newspaper-worthy deaths and inquests in one grave is unusual – this family from Bacup Road was difficult at times to pin down, but the newspapers came to the rescue. Who were the Hollinrakes? Joseph Hollinrake was born in 1842 to Robert and Betty (Mitchell) Hollinrake of Rock Nook, Dulesgate. Located near to Priest Booth …

S4.6 – Llewellyn, Emily and John Pugh, and Edith and Sarah Cowgill

Llewellyn Pugh was one of ten children, and his parents and some siblings and nieces/nephews can be found at 31.25 and 51.59. He and his family, as well as the stepdaughter he never met, are under the school. Llewellyn Pugh was born in 1851 to John and Susy (Marshall) Pugh. John was a nail maker …

S4.5 – Scholfield and Mary Jane Selina Collins, and Winifred Mary Metcalfe

This stone supposedly has four names on it and four people buried beneath it; but we worked out earlier in this research project that Martha Jane Sutcliffe here actually “belongs” one row below, at S3.5 with her husband William Sutcliffe. So we won’t include her in the story for this grave. Scholfield Collins (occasionally spelled …

S4.4 – Jane Stead

Jane is one of the oldest residents of the burial ground underneath the school extension, having died aged 89. The first online record we found for her, after her burial record, was the 1939 Register where she appears living in Colne and with her occupation given as “unpaid domestic duties”. At 88 years old?! Jane …