Grave hunting in Kildwick

Ok, so family history research - grave hunting is difficult with 2 littlies in tow but I attempt it the other week with my 2 year old & my 7 month old. 

This is Kildwick Parish Church in West Yorkshire...

It is a very historical church dating back to 950AD (Kildwick Parish Website, accessed 6th April 2016) and the Leeds-Liverpool canal cuts through the grave yard.

My ancestors didn't live in the village of Kildwick but in other the villages lying within the parish  boundaries, ie Cononley, Cowling, Glusburn etc. I have many ancestors who were baptised & buried here in the 1700s and early 1800s.

Sadly, I did not get enough opportunity to have a good look at many graves because my 2 year old kept running off in the opposite direction and they both fought against taking naps & I forgot the double pram! But we had a nice picnic in the sunshine in the grave yard :) 

Here is the evidence with a picnic selfie with my toddler beginning to feed me the babies food when I was concentrating on taking the photo - he missed my mouth & plastered it on my face instead!

Next time, I will drag my husband along to watch the kids while I peruse some of the old graves & fathom out their old, worn inscriptions.

Some of the beautiful grave stones...

Horsforth Cemetery

A few weeks ago I ventured to Horsforth Cemetery for the afternoon to do some more grave hunting. I had been there before a few times but each time I had managed to miss finding my great grandparents grave, so went back to take some more photos and to find the elusive grave.

The first grave I found was that of my great, great grandfather's brother, Joshua Thompson, his wife, Miriam, daughter Mary Kneeshaw and son-in-law, Reginald Fairleigh Kneeshaw.

Grave of Joshua & Miriam Thompson nee Roberts, Reginald Fairleigh & Mary Kneeshaw nee Thompson

Grave of Joshua & Miriam Thompson nee Roberts, Reginald Fairleigh & Mary Kneeshaw nee Thompson

The second grave I came across was that of Harold & Louisa Meeks, one of the past owners of Meek's Greengrocers on Town Street in Horsforth. A family run business which opened in the early 1880s by George Meeks, Harold's father and finally closed it's doors in the early 1990s, when Harold's great grandson was running the shop. My father did part-time work for David Speight, the son of Ethel nee Meeks in the 1970s in the shop. Although Harold & Louisa are not direct ancestors of mine, their daughter, Ethel married Harold Speight whose mother was Ethel nee Thompson the sister of Joshua above.

Grave of Harold Meeks and Louisa nee Hibbett

"In Loving Memory

Of

HAROLD MEEKS

died 18th July 1941 aged 65 years

Also Louisa wife of the above

died 27th January 1965 aged 81 years"

Now for the graves of my more direct ancestors, my great grandparents...

...Walter & Kate Davidson nee Parkinson, my great grandparents...

Grave of Walter & Kate Davidson

"Treasured

memories

of a dearly loved

father and mother

WALTER DAVIDSON

died 21st July 1969

and

KATE DAVIDSON

died 23rd October 1970 

aged 78 years" 

...and the elusive grave of Harold and Alice Poole nee Thompson and Harold's mother, my great, great grandmother, Grace Ellen Poole nee Binns...

Grave of Grace Ellen Poole nee Binns, Harold Poole & Alice nee Thompson

"In

Loving 

Memory of

GRACE ELLEN POOLE

died 31st July 1917 aged 47

also HAROLD

son of the above

died 4th February 1954 aged 59

also ALICE

dear wife of the above

died 12th October 1973 aged 78"

Grave Hunting at Nab Wood Cemetery

Today as we drove past Nab Wood Cemetery to get to a Lego Fair my husband wanted to see, I persuaded him on the return journey to stop off at the cemetery to visit the grave of my great, great, great grandmother, Sarah Hannah Poole & her son, my great, great grandfather, Fred Poole. I had found a reference to the grave on FindAGrave.com which aided locating the grave by already seeing a picture and knowing it's size, shape & colour.

Photo of my ancestor grave at Nab Wood Cemetery

In Loving Memory

of SARAH HANNAH

beloved wife of JAMES POOLE

who died May 17th 1922

in her 82nd year

"at rest"

Also of JAMES POOLE

husband of the above,

died at Melbourne, Australia

Also of FRED POOLE,

Son of the above,

died 8th April 1948

aged 87 years

When I eventually found the grave of Sarah Hannah & Fred Poole, I was more surprised to discover that the neighbouring grave was that of another set of my great, great, great grandparents, John & Jessie Binns. John & Jessie Binns were Fred Poole's parents-in-law.

My ancestors grave at Nab Wood Cemetery

A close up of the inscription

In 

Loving Memory of 

JOHN BINNS 

died Sep 27th 1904 

aged 65 years

also JESSIE wife of the above

died Dec 10th 1921

in her 78th year

Further close up of the inscription on John Binn's gravestone

Also ROSE HANNAH

daughter of the above

died Aug 5th 1896

in her 16th year

Last close up of John Binn's gravestone inscription

Also CLARISSA

Wife of JIM BINNS

Died May 7th 1919 aged 52 years

I am presuming that perhaps Fred & his wife, Grace Ellen Poole nee Binns bought the adjacent burial plots for their parents. Otherwise it would be a strange co-incidence that they're buried in neighbouring plots.

We had a further general wander around the rest of the cemetery and found a grave for Ada Poole nee Druce, the wife of Charles H Poole. Charles H Poole was Fred Poole's brother & son to Hannah.

Grave stone for Ada Poole

In Loving Memory of

ADA

wife of CHARLES H. POOLE

died July 7th 1926

aged 47 years.

All in all I feel it was a worthwhile trip especially finding 2 more ancestral graves which were unexpected finds!! 

Death from a Splinter

I have been doing some more research on FMP newspapers whilst I have the months cheap subscription and accidentally discovered this newspaper report about my great grandfather's brother, Samuel Victor Poole (1899-1935).

Excerpt from The Yorkshire Post & Leeds Intelligencer on 20th September 1935
(Image accessed on FindMyPast.com on 24th May 2014)

My grandmother had told me many years ago that Samuel had passed away through septicemia from a splinter, but I had never really looked into this story further, but this newspaper article confirms the family story. It is nice to have evidence to back up family tales.

More Grave Hunting in Herne, Kent

Ok, so not much Family Tree research has been happening over the past few months, hence why the silence (other than the Book of Me) on this blog recently. I hope to get back to things again when life returns to some kind of normality...whatever that looks like!!!

St Martin's Church, Herne, Kent
(Image taken by Ruth Hogan, 24 Mar 2014)

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were doing a southern tour of some of his relatives as we do not get to see enough of them. As part of this tour we went to visit his Aunt and Uncle who live in Herne, Kent. It was great to see them but I was able to spend some time scouring the graveyard at St Martin's Herne Parish Church as this was the parish in which my ancestors lived in the early 1800s.

St Martin's Church - Font
(Image taken by Ruth Hogan, 24 Mar 2014)

The Redwood family, my great, great, great grandmother, Jane Redwood, was born in Herne, Kent in 1827. Many of the Redwood's were baptised at St Martin's Church. This is the font in which the baptisms would have taken place. My great, great, great grandmother was baptised here on 7th October 1827 at only about 3 weeks old. Jane's parents James Redwood and Sophia Homans were married at the same church on 13th October 1818.

William & Ann Redwood's Gravestone in
St Martin's Church Graveyard
(Image taken by Ruth Hogan, 24 Mar 2014)

There was one grave to the Redwood's in the graveyard which was in a pretty good condition compared to some of the others, but unfortunately since coming home and researching William & Ann Redwood it appears they were not from my Redwood lineage that I have discovered so far. I did not look for any of the other family surnames from Herne, such as Homan and Sutton, but perhaps we will go back there again one day.

It was a fun trip to see the church in which my ancestors were baptised, married and buried, as well as spend some quality time walking on the beach with my husband's aunt, uncle and their dog, Rosie.