Lusitania Victim

Chief Steward Arthur Hugh Ford, Mercantile Marine lost on SS Lusitania. His was 58th body of 259 recovered [Queenstown]. Buried at Everton Cemetery, Liverpool. Originally named on the Mercantile Marine Memorial but name removed in 1928 when it was discovered he had a grave.

An Ornate Grave for an Oldham Mechanic

When making my first visit to Chadderton Cemetery in Oldham, I came across this very ornate grave marker. It commemorates Thomas Palmer who died May 25, 1864 in the 54th year of his age and his wife and children. The only reference I could find to him was a Census Return of 1851 when his occupation is listed as Mechanic and a report of his burial in the Bury Times:

Couldn't live without Her!

A grave in the Parish Church of St Mary theVirgin, Goosnargh hides a sad tale. The cross marks the grave of Henry James Prescott who died of sickness during the First World War. Pte Prescott is listed as having been a member of the 5th Battalion, The King's Liverpool Regiment. The second son of Joseph and Alice Prescott, he died in Oswestry on 10 May 1918 aged 19 years. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records that he was a member of the 60th Training Reserve Battalion, before transferring to the 535th Home Service Company, Labour Corps.

 Two further panels on the memorial, record the death of his parents. Alice Prescott died March 11, 1951 aged 78 years. John Prescott died a few weeks later on May 16, 1951 aged 79. It seems that John, who had been a Mental Nurse at the nearby Whittingham County Asylum, couldn't live without his beloved wife. His memorial panel bears the words:

She first deceased - he, for a little while tried to live without her, liked it not and died.

Great Mitton Headstone 1812

I was drawn to the Church of All Hallows, Great Mitton by a photograph of an early headstone I saw recently on the internet. Seeing it in person, confirmed my thoughts that this was a very striking stone. It commemorates David Sanderson who died on October 25, 1812 aged 24 years.

A Young Boy's Grave

An impromptu visit to Lancashire's Darwen Cemetery allowed me to make a visit to a young boy's grave. It's the third time I have visited it but this time the light conditions were just right for photography. The inscription states: 'Sweet memories of James, beloved son of John and Lily Ann Young. Died 13 November 1935 aged 5 years 11 months'. His father died in 1955 aged 57 and his mother died in 1969 aged 69.

Lords of the Manor of Great Harwood

Two impressive plots  of distinctive memorials contain most of the family that owned the Allsprings Estate and, at one time, most of Great Harwood in Lancashire. A good account of the family's history and the subsequent sales in 1925 of the family estate that brought an end to the Lords of the Manor of Great Harwood after nearly 900 years can be found HERE. The graves lie in St Michael's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Hurst Green, not far from Stoneyhurst College (A Roman Catholic Public School ) where J R R Tolkien once taught. Tolkien, famously, wrote Lord of the Rings.

This is the early family plot. 

The later members of the Lomax family lie in a separate plot about 100 metres from the other.

Grave Art - Birds

There were some splendid examples of grave art at Whitworth Cemetery in Lancashire. Here are a few 'bird' examples:

Fading Glory 2

Here are some more gravestones suffering from erosion. These can be found in the Sale (Brooklands) Cemetery. I particularly like the fragment of stone that stands upright.

Fading Glory

There is, I feel, a certain beauty to these eroding headstones which captures my imagination. These are fast disappearing last vestiges of the record of a person's life, and I find myself drawn to capture them. It is quite remarkable how some of the faint traces of an inscription remains readable.