We stand now by the unmarked grave of Rose Gibson. She was born Rose Harlow in 1845 in Derbyshire, and the whole family were handloom silk weavers. It was not a great time to be a weaver, as you history buffs will know, but this family set up was typical. Children were set before looms …
This girl is buried at Christ Church but her burial was not recorded – not the first one from 1916 which appears in the burial register but not the sexton’s book. She was buried the day before Eleanor Hopkinson and it’s tempting to think they’re buried next to each other, but Annie’s grave isn’t marked …
Here lies John Crowther, who died in 1864 at the age of 36. He laid plates for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. He lived at Bath Street with his wife and four children. He had married Rebecca Heyworth in 1855 and they had five children; Sam was the first, and Willie the last. Not much …
This stone is for many members of the Stansfield family, and maybe anyone here who has walked past and noticed it have noticed the mention of a son who died in America at the bottom. This is the story of just two of the many on this stone, because it’s long and because it’s sad. …
“I have heard you many a time afore, but you never would speak” – so ended Hannah Stott’s cryptic suicide note. Hannah is buried here with her parents, as she asked. Ogden Dawson and his wife Sarah (Kershaw) Ogden were either native or near-enough-native to Todmorden. Ogden was born in Walsden and Sarah in Littleborough. …
Read more “15.28 – Ogden and Sarah Dawson, and Hannah Stott”
This grave tells a very interesting story – one of definite grief and confusion, and one of possible suicide or a corporate cover-up. The reader will have to decide. You can find it next to the cedar growing out of the middle of the lower half of the graveyard next to the informal path. Jane …
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 …
Read more “37.27 – Lydia, George, Grace, Hannah, William and Hannah Lingard Marshall”
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 …
This story is very common – high child mortality and a bereaved parent not able to carry on. Eleanor (Dawson) Hopkinson is in the burial register next to another suicide, Annie Marshall, who does not have a gravestone but whose story is told alongside Eleanor’s on our Facebook page. Frederick Hopkinson met Eleanor Dawson probably …
Read more “25.39 – Martha, Ada, Robert, Eleanor and Frederick Hopkinson”
Betsy Scholfield was the daughter of Samuel Scholfield (a fish hawker) and Sarah Ann Kershaw. She married John Edward Eastwood (a postman) at Walsden Parish church on 6th November 1902. On 25th July 1905, John Edward dies aged just 32 years old. Betsy moves back to live with her parents and brothers at 771 Rochdale …