This is one of a very few stones under the school whose faces are visible, and readable, in the few photographs that were taken of the construction site prior to the new extension reburying them from sight. And as with so many of the stones under there, the initial 1980s rough transcription bears little resemblance …
Read more “S4.7 – The Sefton family, Frances Jane Scrivener, and John Stott”
In our post about the Sefton/Scriven family, we asked the question: who’s John Stott? He’s named on the 1980 transcript as being buried here, but we have a photo of their gravestone, and he isn’t on it. Well, the Seftons are at S4.7…and at S5.7, we found Mary Ann, Henry Whittaker and Rosa Ann Stott. …
Read more “S5.7 – John, Mary Ann, Henry Whittaker and Rosa Ann Stott”
Howorth is someone whose name took a little bit of figuring out – in the 1980s, his first name was recorded as “Howard/th?” – because if you can’t decide one or the other, why not both? The TAS later determined it was likely Howarth, but really, it was Howorth. And what a Howorth! He would …
If you haven’t read the story of Catherine Armistead, go read that first – this story follows on from there and finishes hers, although it raises a few other questions along the way. We left Catherine’s story with one unanswered question: how did Catherine, whose Todmorden links were unclear, end up being buried here? She …
The farmer’s daughter who became a nurse and was one of several sisters who came to Todmorden. We can’t see her stone, but we can learn a great deal about her life. Catherine was born in 1839 in Arkholme, in the parish of Melling in Lancashire, just south of Kirkby Lonsdale. Her father John was …
Two more names hidden from the eye (for now at least) – John and Christina, whose stone we last saw in 2016. John Barker was born in 1854 to Thomas and Betty (Haigh) Barker. The first child of his parents, John grew up first at Honey Hole in what used to be called Hanging Ditch, …
We always get intrigued when we see different surnames in a grave – and, of course, as this stone is under the school, there’s no inscription we can see which might offer a clue as to family relationships. The answer to this particular mystery is “the usual one” – a child born out of wedlock …
Read more “S7.2 – Samuel Wood and John Greenwood, Susannah, John Willie and Law Southwell”
“In Death Not Divided”, as the obituary for Robert and Betsey begins, and as in life so in death. The obituary tells you quite a lot about this couple. Robert was a native of Burnley, who married his wife Betsey Stephenson there in 1869. They had known each other for quite some time; in fact, …
It’s not the what, but the how, for us. Mary was once the headmistress of the National School, and now her resting place is irrevocably tied up in its very fabric. Here you can see the list of names pulled from the headstone for the Crowther family in the 1980s, when a group of teenagers …
Read more “S7.5 – Benjamin, George, John, Susan, Ann and Mary Crowther”
This is another grave hidden under the school extension, and another explanation about why these graves matter. It starts with those we know are buried here and ends with those who we can only guess at, for now. Harold Allister was born in 1895 to James and Louisa Allister. In 1908 he can be found …