Uncovering a Hiley gravestone - Sowerby Cottonstones CK21

There are Hiley/Highley graves scattered all around Calderdale, and in many of the graveyards there is just a single grave. One such is in the graveyard of St Mary's Church, Cottonstones, Sowerby.

The Hiley grave reference at Cottonstones is CK21 - Section C, Row K, No. 21. A plan of the graveyard is available and Section C was identified from it - the large area south-west of the church adjoining Salt Drake Lane, and to the left of the church in the photo above. Row K is the last but one row walking away from the church. The row numbers go from 1 to 26.

Calderdale Family History Society has transcribed all the monumental inscriptions in the graveyard. Starting from the end of the row, no. 26 is a flat stone. nos. 25 and 24 are gaps. Nos. 23 and 22 are upright stones. No. 21 is the Hiley grave. Then there are two gaps, a flat stone and two more gaps. 

But there appeared to be no flat stone at no. 21. Had the transcribers made a mistake? Had the stone become damaged and removed? No - the stone was there in the correct place but a rhododendron bush had grown over it and many years of rotting leaves and encroaching grass had completely covered the stone and its lettering.

Although not having the wherewithal to manage a proper cleaning of the stone it was still possible to remove enough of the debris to show that the correct inscription had been revealed.

In Memory of / Hannah Daughter of / James and Susanna Hiley / of Lower Oak in Sowerby / Who died April 26th 1854 / Aged 3 Yrs. & 3 Mths / Also James Hiley Father of the / above who departed this life / Septr. 26th 1872 aged 53 Yrs. / Also Martha Ellen Daughter of / William & Ann Haigh of Halifax / and Granddaughter of the above / Who died Feby. 11th 1874 / Aged 9 Yrs. & 5 Mths. / Also Susanna Wife of the above / James Hiley who died Nov. 22nd 1896 Aged 84 Yrs.

James Hiley was born in Halifax in 1819, one of the 11 children of Thomas and Mary (nee Feather). His ancestors can be traced back to David Hiley of Warley, born in about 1700.

James married Susanna Wild (nee Denton) in 1849. Susanna already had 2 children, Ann and Martha, and she had a further daughter with James - Martha Hannah, who died aged 3 and is commemorated on the gravestone.

The family lived at Lower Oak in Sowerby. James worked as a Woolcomber and later as an Engine Tenter in a Worsted Mill. 

Ann Wild, Susanna's daughter, married William Haigh and their daughter Martha Ellen is the other child buried in this grave.

George and Alice Ann Morris

The Friends of Christ Church Todmorden are a community group whose aims include preserving the graveyard, improving accessibility, utilising the graveyard to educate all ages about the history of Todmorden and encourage emotional investment in the town’s past and future.

Their website contains research into the people buried in the graveyard and transcriptions of the monumental inscriptions of the gravestones.

F.O.C.C.T. – Friends of Christ Church, Todmorden (focct.org.uk)

I am indebted to F.O.C.C.T. for this post about George and Alice Ann Morris, reproduced from their website with permission. Alice Ann was the daughter of Charles and Betty Hiley and a younger sister of Samuel Hiley. Charles, Betty and Samuel have all featured several times already in this Blog.

V7.9 – George and Alice Ann Morris

by adminon Posted onMarch 10, 2024

It happens often that members of the same generation of a family can be buried in opposite ends of the graveyard, and sometimes even in drastically different style of grave. George Richard Morris’s father, George Samuel Morris, only has a small plot marker with his initials on it. George and his wife Alice Ann (Hiley) have something a little grander.

We know George’s childhood story already, so we’ll skip to his adult life. Adult life starts with work for us nowadays, but by that metric George became an adult at 13 in 1871 when he went to work as a creeler in a cotton mill. Creelers wound thread onto bobbins for use in weaving (either for the warp or weft, both of which would then be mechanically wound off the bobbin and onto the warp beam or shed) and this was a sort of entry-level job for children who needed to bring in money but who weren’t large or strong enough for more complicated and heavy work. George’s father died in 1876 so it became even more important for George to be able to bring money home.

George will have met his future wife Alice Ann Hiley fairly early on in his life, we suspect – this is because her older brother Samuel worked alongside George Sr., and was friendly enough with him for George to have made a drunken stop at his house shortly before falling into the canal and drowning. George Jr. and at least two Hiley sisters were also active at the Wesley Chapel at Knowlwood in the choir – was Alice one of them? Alice was three years older than her future husband, born in Walsden in 1855 to Charles and Betty Hiley. All the working Hileys in the house at Alma Street were cotton weavers of some description, and in 1871 Alice was already weaving. She and George got married in 1877 at St. Peter’s, with her brother Charles and sister Grace witnessing the marriage. Samuel stayed home as Alice was 22 and free to marry who she pleased; and Alice’s siblings could be trusted with a secret, which was that George lied on the certificate and gave his age as 21 when he was actually 19. He could still have legally married without permission so why he felt the need to lie is beyond us! But a man has his pride after all, we guess.

The Morrises first settled a few doors down from the Hileys on Alma Street, and their only child, Emily, was born in 1879. They would later move to Hollins Place and later Hollins Road. Emily got older and, no surprises here, became active in the Wesleyan Chapel’s choir. By this time George had also become heavily involved in the Todmorden Musical Society and took part in many performances around town as a tenor and bass singer and sometimes humourist. But in August 1899 Alice died; and George, clearly mourning, buried her here in this large vault grave…

…he then, though, for reasons known only to himself, remarried in early December of the same year, to Hannah (also known as Annie) Kershaw of Pollard Street in Lydgate. A whole other valley! Annie had been born up at Lumbutts and they may have met via the Methodist circuit one way or another. The possible context for this swift remarriage is that Emily had married her beau Edwin Robinson in early November, and perhaps he was just lonely, suddenly alone in the house when he had been used to two women being around to keep things tidy and interesting. Don’t knock us about the gender roles, it’s how things often were back then! He and Annie moved away and he became an insurance agent. He must have travelled at first because in 1901 Annie was boarding with a family in Wardleworth, but in 1911 they were back together and living on Oldham Road in Rochdale. In 1913 though George died, and he was brought back to Todmorden to be buried alongside Alice.

Where did Emily go? She and Edwin stayed in Todmorden at first. Edwin was an ice cream manufacturer and was very busy around town. (Unrelated to the story here, but he was the person who found Rose Gibson‘s body in the library lock just two weeks after he and Emily got married) The couple had two children by 1911, both of whom had died, and had also gone to Rochdale for Edwin to pursue more ice cream related opportunities. Two years later, after George died, they emigrated to New Zealand, and never came back. As for Annie? We don’t know. A Hannah Morris of the correct age died in 1923 and was buried at Christ Church, but she had a Burnley address; it’s more likely that she’s buried with family somewhere else in town but we haven’t identified where.

James Thomas Highley and the Robinson family

This is the next post in our series on Hileys/Highleys buried at Christ Church, Todmorden.

Alice Finch, the daughter of James and Alice, was born in Heywood near Rochdale in 1863. She was one of nine children and her father was a Whitesmith, or Tinsmith - someone who makes articles out of metal, especially tin. The family moved to Knowlwood near Todmorden soon after Alice was born. In 1881 they were living in Inchfield Buildings in Walsden and Alice was working as a Throstle Spinner.

In  1886 Alice married William Henry Robinson, a Wheelwright, in St Peter's Church in Walsden. The couple had 3 children, Edith, Annie and William Henry. William Henry junior was born in 1891, three months after his father had died.

In 1905 Alice married again, this time to James Thomas Highley, a Carter living in Rochdale Road in Walsden. He was the son of James and Ellen (nee Harrison). In 1911 James Thomas and Alice were living in Maitland Street in Walsden, along with Alice's three children. Alice died in 1940 and James Thomas in 1945.

Gravestone in Christ Church
William Henry (snr), William Henry (jnr), Alice and James Thomas Highley

William Henry (jnr) grew up in Walsden, working as a Picker Maker at Inchfield Works. He enlisted in September 1916 in the 207th Battalion Machine Gun Corps and served on the Western Front from March 1917. He was killed in action at Messines, aged 25, on 11th July 1917 and buried at Messines Ridge British Cemetery, Belgium, but his name is inscribed on the gravestone at Christ Church along with those of his parents.

William Henry's grave at Messines Ridge, Belgium

William Henry's name in the  Todmorden Garden of Remembrance

William and Betsy Highley

This post continues the series on Hiley/Highley graves at Christ Church, Todmorden.

William Highley was born in 1846 in Northowram, Halifax. His parents were John, a Cordwainer, and Mary (nee Eastwood). William was the youngest of 8 children. His brother John (Jack) Highley was the subject of a post on 7th December 2021.

Jack and William moved to Todmorden and followed in their father's footsteps by working as Boot, Shoe and Clog Makers.

William married Betsy North in 1869 and the couple had 6 children - Arthur, Fred, Thomas Edward and Mary Emily, Hannah Maria and Sarah.

The 1881 Census described William as a Master Clogger.

In loving memory of William Highley, Garden Street Todmorden, born July 23rd 1846 died August 27th 1888. “Thy Will Be Done.” Also of Betsy, his wife born August 30th 1846, died March 25th 1911.

Charles Joseph Hiley and his family

This post continues the series on Hiley/Highley graves at Christ Church, Todmorden.

Charles Hiley died in 1922, aged 79, and was buried on the 20th November that year. In the family grave are buried Charles, his wife Sarah, and children William Campbell, Emily, Mary Jane, John Walter, Mabel and Amy Elizabeth (wife of Sam Baldwin).

In affectionate remembrance of Emily, daughter of Charles and Sarah Hiley of Crescent, Todmorden, who died September 15th 1878 aged 2 years and 7 months. Also of William Campbell, their son, who died November 8th 1878 aged 9 months. Also of Mary Jane, their daughter, who died May 15th 1887 aged 5 years and 11 months. Also of John Walter, their son, born January 16th 1874, died December 10th 1904. Also of the above named Sarah Hiley. Born May 9th 1842, died February 17th 1909. Also of the above named Charles Hiley. Born March 14th 1843, died November 16th 1922. Also of Mabel, their dearly loved daughter, who entered into rest February 13th 1945 aged 73 years. Also of Amy Elizabeth, their daughter and the dearly beloved wife of Sam Baldwin, who died May 5th 1952 aged 72 years.

There have already been posts in this Blog about Charles, a musician and noted figure in Todmorden for many years:
Professor C.J. Hiley -19th August 2020.
Professor Hiley (part 2) - 2nd September 2020.

His son John Walter was the subject of a post on 13th January 2021. Type 'Professor' into the Search This Blog box to read these posts.

Jesse Hiley

The first Hiley grave at Christ Church in this series of posts is the unmarked grave of Jesse Hiley.

Click on the box in the top right hand corner to read an account of Jesse and his family.

Christ Church, Todmorden

Christ Church, Todmorden was one of the 'Million Churches' built in the industrial North of England from money paid out of the £1m indemnity obtained from the French following the Napoleonic Wars. The church opened in 1832 although a graveyard had existed for some years previously.

The intention in building it had been to replace the existing St Mary's Church but unrest arose among local people, who felt the new church had been built for the benefit of the rich.

In 1866 Todmorden became a parish in its own right and Christ Church was designated the parish church. St Mary's, which had been closed, re-opened as a chapel of ease. Christ Church closed in 1992 and was sold to a private buyer in 2004. St Mary's continued as a place of worship and was re-dedicated as the parish church of Todmorden.

There are 7 Hiley/Highley graves at Christ Church, along with a number of others with Hiley/Highley family connections. The next few posts will give some brief descriptions of the people buried there.