Heptonstall St Thomas the Apostle graveyard

There are no monumental inscriptions naming Hileys in the Heptonstall graveyard.

The first Hiley burial was recorded on 21st April 1611 and was that of 'Joh'es Hilelighe de Ayring' - John Hilelighe of Erringden. There were 13 burials there between 1611 and 1807.

All the early burial entries record the person's abode as Erringden. 

The Parish of Heptonstall was one of the two ancient Chapelries of the Parish of Halifax, the other one being Elland. The Chapelry of Heptonstall contained the townships of Heptonstall, Stansfield, Wadsworth, Langfield and Erringden.

The Parish of Halifax

The Parish Registers for Heptonstall date from 1594. The first four baptisms recorded were for Mary (1601), John (1604), James (1606) and George (1608), all children of John Hylely of Erringden. John had married Alice Acroyd in Halifax Parish Church in 1598. The father John (Hilelighe) may have been the one who was buried in 1611.

Halifax St John the Baptist graveyard

Continuing the series on Calderdale churchyards where Hileys/Highleys were buried but no monumental inscriptions remain ..........

Parish registers were formally introduced in England in 1538 following the split with the Roman Catholic Church, when Thomas Cromwell, minister to Henry VIII, issued an injunction requiring the registers of baptisms, marriages and burials to be kept.

The earliest available registers for West Yorkshire are the Parish registers of Halifax, 1538-1593. These cover baptisms, marriages and burials which took place in the Parish church of St John's, Halifax.

The earliest Hiley burial recorded in these registers was that of Margareta, daughter of Johane Hylyle of Sowerby on 27th April 1540.

The Blogpost of 14th March 2019 showed the will of James Hilaleighe of Sowerby, written in 1577. In common with all the other wills available from this time, he requested that he be buried at Halifax:

.............and my body to be buried in the churchyard of Halifax among the bodies of the faithful there buried expecting with them to have a joyful resurrection...........

All Hiley burials up to 1611 took place in Halifax and up until 1799 Halifax accounted for over one half of all Hiley burials which had taken place in Calderdale up to that time.

A record exists for the burial of Luke Highley:
In memory of Luke Highley of Halifax who departed this life on the 6th day of March 1814 aged 63. Also of Sarah, his wife, who died on 26th Dec 1814 aged 64 years
(Area K, opposite end from D of W chapel)

The plan below shows the lettered areas of the Parish Church tombstones as they were in 1934.

David Glover writes:

Many sections including section K were completely grassed over circa 1950. So, no chance the Luke Highley stone will be visible today. The only sections visible today are E, F, GG, small part of L, M, N, Q, R and S - basically footpaths and walking areas.

There are many ancient tombstones under the grass we have been asked about over the years; they are still there, but inaccessible. Yes - buried, like those beneath! Fortunately The Friends of Halifax Parish Church carried out a full inventory of the inscriptions in 1934, which is why we are lucky enough today to have the MIs (Monumental Inscriptions) in full.

Very few ledger stones survive from the early 17th Century. The earliest are dated around 1630, though of course there may be more grassed over. Even within the building, there are hardly any pre Civil War. We are not clear if it was rare to have stones in the 1600s, or whether some older ones were later removed, broken up, and replaced. Thousands were buried over many centuries in the churchyard, we can tell from the Burials Register, and on more than one occasion rooms under the church were used as a charnel house for bones.

Sowerby St Peter's graveyard

Registers for baptisms and burials at St Peter's begin in 1643. There are five burials recorded in 1643, then a break until 1648.

James Hyleley of Hyley was amongst these first burials. James has already been mentioned in this Blog:

25 March 2020 - early references to the property High Lee in Sowerby

11 September 2021 - his father Michael's baptism and the family tree

19 November 2021 - described as the richest man in Sowerby

St Peter's Sowerby burial records
(with the permission of West Yorkshire Archive Service)
www.wyjs.org.uk/archives

Also buried at St Peter's were James's son James (buried 1680) and his son's wife Mary (nee Nailor, buried 1662). There were other relations of James buried here as well, including a number of infants.

There are no remaining gravestones bearing an inscription for any of these burials. 

                                                                    The church and graveyard today:

View from Towngate near the church looking across the Calder valley.
Sowerby Lane leading to High Lee is in the top left

Todmorden St Mary's graveyard

The first Hiley/Highley burial at Todmorden St Mary's was that of Mally Highley, the daughter of John and Grace (nee Ogden). Mally's grandfather James and his brother Mark had been the first Highleys to take up residence in the Todmorden area some time in the 1750s after moving west away from Warley.

Mally was baptised at St Mary's on 5th February 1789 and was buried there on 29th February 1792. Mally's sister Sarah and brothers Thomas and Tommy all died in infancy and were also buried there. The family were living in Gauxholme, Walsden at the time of Mally's death.

Linda Briggs writes in her website 'Todmorden and Walsden': In 1930 a road widening scheme in Church Street meant that the present raised pavement was constructed over part of the graveyard, and in 1968 the gravestones were removed to allow for further widening of the road, and were re-laid around the churchyard. A survey showed there were 425 in all. Most of the stones date from the 18th and early 19th century, with a few from the 17th century. More recently the churchyard has been renovated, some stones have been lifted, cleaned, and used as decorative walling for a memorial patio. Stones have been laid to good effect round the Church Street boundary for passers-by to see. The ones within the old yard are mainly laid flat, and are deteriorating rapidly. Many are broken and some are propped up against a back wall. Many have disappeared forever. 

There are no memorials of Hileys to see at St Mary's, but some of the gravestones show connections  with those first Hiley families.

Elizabeth Ogden (1727-1771) was the aunt of Mally's mother Grace. She married Benjamin Bottomley (1730-1805).

The names of Elizabeth, Benjamin and their son Ogden (1771-1804) are shown on this stone.

Martha Ogden was another aunt of Grace. She married John Haigh. The gravestone shows the name of John's father Reuben Haigh (1696-1729).

Calderdale graveyards

This Blog has already featured posts on some of the churchyards in Calderdale where Hileys or Highleys are buried. At the last count, there were 23 which have graves with monumental inscriptions showing burials of Hileys or Highleys.

There are also a number of Calderdale churches where Hileys or Highleys were buried but which no longer have visible gravestones to commemorate them. This may be because the families never provided gravestones in the first place (maybe because they could not afford them), or because the stones became unsafe or damaged and had to be removed, or because burial plots may have been re-used after centuries have elapsed.

In the next few posts we will look at some of these churchyards:

 1 Todmorden St Mary's

2 Sowerby St Peter's

                                                                              3 Halifax St John the Baptist

4 Heptonstall St Thomas the Apostle