The stories of some of the people interred or commemmorated at Wainsgate:

‘The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a mountain on the mind of the living’

From The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte by Karl Marx (1852)

Click on the NAMES to find out more…..

Crossley ASHWORTH

Elaine CONNELL

Teacher, writer, authority on Sylvia Plath, co-founder of the Hebden Bridge Web.

Lewis CRABTREE

Stonemason and builder of many of Hebden Bridge’s finest buildings, including Stoodley Pike.

Professor Bob DEACON

Academic and activist for global social justice.

Ben Albert JACKSON

Robert SUTHERS

Tailor, local historian, involved with Hope Baptist chapel and Sunday school for over fifty years.

Hird LORD

Havercake baker, social reformer, founder member of the Independent Labour Party. Father of Miriam Lord OBE.

Miriam LORD OBE

Teacher, educationalist, community worker. Daughter of Hird Lord.

Joseph Haigh MOSS

Born in Manchester, teacher, school proprietor and poet.

Albert Dentith (Dent) PARKER

Quarryman, stone mason and the designer of Wadsworth War Memorial, Smeakin Hill (aka Pecket Pike).

Harold (Harry) SCULTHORPE

Anarchist, publisher, writer.

Josiah WADE

Inventor, businessman, politician, philanthropist. Inventor and manufacturer of the ‘Arab’ printing press.

David Constantine WHITE

Potter, teacher and musician. Founder of Brier Hey Pottery, Mytholmroyd.

Berhane WOLDEGABRIEL

Journalist, university lecturer, charity worker. Born in Eritrea, commemorated at Wainsgate.

The ‘LOST SOULS’

Those who are known to be buried or interred at Wainsgate, but whose grave has not been identified.

Crossley ASHWORTH (1852-1946)

Photograph from the Alice Longstaff Collection – Pennine Horizons Digital Archive.

Coming soon…..

Lewis CRABTREE (c1810-1878)

Coming soon…..

Ben Albert JACKSON

Coming soon…..

Robert SUTHERS (1826-1899)

Robert Suthers was born on 12th October 1826, the youngest of the eleven children of Thomas Suthers, a reed maker of Hawksclough, Mytholmroyd, and his wife Grace (born Grace Barker). Robert earned his living as a tailor, but his life was devoted to Hope Baptist Church and local history, particularly the history of Nonconformism in the area.

He was a member of Hope Baptist Church for over fifty years, holding many offices of the church and Sunday school, including manager of the Funeral Society. At his memorial service, Rev. William Jones, minister at Hope chapel spoke of Robert Suthers’ love of history:

‘…..that which made him a singular man amongst them, his love of old days, and old places, and old folks and old causes, and the delight which he had in searching ancient volumes of antiquarian interest; the pleasure he had in parish registers – the joy it gave him to decipher epitaphs on tomb stones; the zest with which he traced congregations and churches from their beginnings to their modern developments…….he worked at tailoring for his bread, but he lived for antiquarianism’.

(As reported in the Todmorden & District News, 10th February 1899)

Robert Suthers never married or had children. He lived at Hawksclough / Bethesda Row his entire life, although the 1861 census records him being a visitor at the Mayroyd home of Rev. John Crook, who had retired in 1859 as minister at Hope Baptist chapel through ill health. The census was taken on the 7th April 1861, and John Crook died, aged 64, two days later – perhaps Robert was staying with his old friend to comfort him in his last days.

Robert Suthers died on 1st February 1899 from ‘an affection of the heart’, aged 72. He was buried at Wainsgate on 4th February – his funeral was attended by many of his relations, friends and neighbours, the principal mourners being his nieces and nephews. The pallbearers were W. Harwood, William Scott, John Clay, Thomas Jenkinson, William Horsfall and James Maude, deacon of Hope Baptist Church. Messrs. Greenwood and Blackburn were the undertakers. The funeral service was conducted by Rev. William Jones of Hope chapel, who prefaced his sermon by quoting Ecclesiastes 7:2 –

‘It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart’.

The committal was conducted by Rev. David Lindsay of Wainsgate. The following day at the Hope chapel evening service, Rev. Jones again referred to the life of Robert Suthers, quoting Isaiah 51:1 –

‘Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged’.

The report of Robert Suthers’ death in the Todmorden & District News of 3rd February said that ‘in his later years he has been identified with the Friends’, and he is known to have studied the history of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers. The mention of his seeming attachment to the Society of Friends caused a member to write to the paper asking them to correct the report:

“Will you kindly correct an inaccuracy which appeared in your report last week of the death of Robert Suthers, where you state that ‘in his later years he has been identified with Friends;’ whereas the fact is that he has remained a member of the Baptist denomination up to the time of his death. He has been an esteemed occasional visitor of Friends’ meetings at Todmorden and elsewhere, thoroughly enjoying their unostentatious mode of worship, but never seeking to become identified in membership with the Society of Friends.”

Hird LORD (1860-1950)

Coming soon…..

Miriam LORD OBE (1885-1968)

Coming soon…..

Joseph Haigh MOSS (1791-1861)

Coming soon…..

Albert Dentith (Dent) PARKER (1875-1952)

All the official records give his name as Albert Dentith Parker, but he also went under the name Dent Parker: he was born on 10th May 1875, eldest child of John Parker and his wife Elizabeth (born Johnson).

The 1881 census gives the family’s (John, Elizabeth, Albert and his two brothers) address as ‘No. 3‘, and John Parker’s occupation as ‘Stone Delver‘ – probably at nearby Delph End Quarry. Also listed as living at ‘No.3‘ are Abraham Parker, ‘Farmer of 2½ acres’ and his wife Ann – probably John Parker’s parents. The census entry for ‘No.3‘ comes between Weather House and Shawcroft Hill, and it is presumably the ruined building with an attached enclosed field (which is about 2½ acres in area), just above Weather House and next to the ventilation shaft, and marked on old maps as ‘No.3 Shaft‘.

Extracts (not to scale) from OS 25″ to 1 mile maps 1892 & 1905. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

The house where Dent Parker lived as a child was almost certainly built in the late 1860s to house workers building the Castle Carr Tunnel, part of the watercourse carrying water from Widdop to Ramsden Wood Reservoir by the renowned civil engineer John Frederick La Trobe Bateman. The tunnel runs from Pecket Well to Luddenden valley, and has three ventilation shafts, one of which is next to the cottages. In 1871 they were two dwellings, known as ‘Waterworks Cottage’, occupied by John and Thomas Slater, their families and eight lodgers – all miners or associated trades – labourers, a Horse Driver, a Donkey Driver (9year old Enoch Slater) and two Engine Drivers.

The building was later known as ‘Greengates Foot’, and two of the tenants, John Bradley and Abraham Sutcliffe, were gamekeepers. It is not known for sure when the building fell into disuse, but it doesn’t appear to be included in the 1911 census.

In 1891, the family (John, Elizabeth and six sons) were living at Paul Row, near Littleborough, and John Parker, Albert and two of his brothers were employed as weavers. For some bizarre reason the census correctly records John Parker’s birthplace as Wadsworth, but records the rest of the family as being born in Hull: Elizabeth Johnson was probably born in Hetton, near Skipton (although her birthplace is also recorded on census forms as Elton and Etton, both in Yorkshire), and their children at that time were all born in Wadsworth.

The 1901 census shows John and Elizabeth and their nine children (eight boys and one girl) were living at 26,Windsor Road, Hebden Bridge: Albert was now 25, and working as a cotton weaver, as were four of his brothers John Parker is recorded as being a ‘Stone Quarryman – Employer’.

Albert Dentith Parker married in 1907, aged 32. His wife was Jessie Hopps (born Oliver), a 30 year old widow from West Hartlepool who was living at the Railway Hotel, Hebden Bridge. Albert was living at Nursery Nook, Hebden Bridge, and the marriage certificate recorded his profession as ‘Quarry Owner’, and his father’s profession as ‘Surveyor’. In 1911 Albert and Jessie were living at Nursery Nook with their two daughters, Esme Elizabeth and Edna, and Jessie’s two daughters from her previous marriage. Albert was working as a stone mason, employed by the ‘Urban Council’. Also living on Nursery Nook were Albert’s brother, Ernest Harrison Parker and his parents, who were living with four sons and a daughter – they had produced ten children, nine of whom were still alive in 1911. John Parker, now aged 61, was employed as a Highway Surveyor with Todmorden Rural District Council.

‘A substantial and prominently sited memorial in the form of an obelisk that has become a cherished local landmark. It is a well-designed and well-executed memorial employing good quality materials and craftsmanship’.

In the 1939 England & Wales Register, Albert and Jessie were living at 33,Woodfield Road, Blackpool, a lodging house or ‘Company House’ as they were then known. His occupation is listed as ‘Road Foreman’: he and Jessie may have been on holiday, or he may have been working in the area and lodging in Blackpool. Albert and Jessie lived for several years at 2,Carr Head, Pecket Well and at the time of Albert’s death were living at 30,Southfield, Heptonstall.

Harold Smallwood Hugh (Harry) SCULTHORPE (1923-2008)

Harold (Harry) Sculthorpe’s epitaph (plot H1024) reads ‘He lived for freedom’, and he was involved with Freedom Press, founded in 1886, the largest anarchist publishing house in the country and the oldest of its kind in the English speaking world. Until recently Freedom Press published ‘Freedom’, the only regular anarchist newspaper published nationally in the UK, and ‘The Raven‘, a quarterly magazine dealing with anarchist ideas at greater length.

Little is known for certain about his life: probably born abroad (possibly in France), possibly the son of Harold (a shipping clerk) and Edith Sculthorpe. He is thought to have lived in Liverpool (where he founded the Liverpool Anarchist Group in 1949 or 1950) and London, and is believed to have married Joan Jenkins in 1945 and Margaret Kenwright in 1964. He was Principal Lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences at North East Surrey College of Technology, and it was probably when he retired that he moved to Hebden Bridge.

In 1996, when he was appointed as secretary of Friends of Freedom Press Ltd., he was living at Spring Bank, Midgehole Road and at the time of his death lived at Butlers Wharf, Hebden Bridge.

Harry Sculthorpe was a supporter of the anarchist journal Total Liberty, and an obituary by its editor Jonathan Simcock appeared in the autumn / winter 2008 edition:

Harry and his wife Gwendoline Goddard were also supporters of the Open Spaces Society, and an obituary, written by Kate Ashbrook, was published in their magazine Open Space:

Josiah WADE (1842-1908)

Born in Hebden Bridge, son of Hannah and Joseph Wade, his father died when he was five, and by the age of eight he was working half time as a bobbin doffer in Crossley’s Mill, attending ‘Harry Bob’s School’ in Hebden Bridge and supplementing his income by hawking ‘light muffins’. At the age of thirteen he started in full time employment at Crossley’s, operating with his older brother John new machines making horse rugs for export to Mexico and South America.

In 1859 his brother John Wade (plot A392) was killed by lightning at the mill aged 18, an event which greatly affected Josiah and caused him to leave Crossley’s soon afterwards. After working as an apprentice to a local watchmaker, Charles Horner, he opened a small stationery shop in Hebden Bridge, started a printing business with his brother Edwin Wade (Plot A392), invented a machine for making luggage labels and also started a short-lived newspaper, the ‘Hebden Chronicle’.

He turned his attention to designing an improved printing press, and in 1872 he patented the ‘Arab’, considered by some to be the ‘finest clam-shell platen in the world’, which he manufactured in Halifax, initially at Well Lane and later at Crown Works at the bottom of Hopwood Lane, Hope Works in Arundel Street and finally at Dunkirk Mills at West End.

An important feature of the Arab press was that it could be easily dismantled and transported, and they were exported throughout the world:

The satirical magazine ‘The Wipers Times’, printed by British soldiers during World War 1 in Ypres, Belgium, was possibly printed on an Arab press, although it may have been a ‘Liberty’ press that was used. Both the TV film and stage play titled ‘The Wipers Times’ used Arab presses in their productions.

The Halifax Courier apparently reported in 1908 that Ernest Shackleton took an Arab press to the Antarctic. We know that Shackleton took two printing presses on this expedition (the ‘Nimrod’ expedition of 1907-1909), but evidence points to these being an ‘Albion’ letterpress and a small etching press – there is sadly no reliable record of an Arab press being taken to the Antarctic. Members of Shackleton’s expedition produced a book, ‘Aurora Australis’, while overwintered on Ross Island. Less than 100 copies were made, and it was the first book ever written, printed, illustrated and bound in the Antarctic.

The Arab printing press designed and made by Josiah Wade. The lower photographs are of an Arab press at Bradford Industrial Museum. For more information about the Arab, click here.

The Halifax Guardian’s report of Josiah Wade’s death stated:

‘His business career was one which stamped him as a man who by his own genius, perseverance and shrewdness, rose from the humblest position to one of affluence.’

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The burial plot in which Josiah Wade and his sister are buried (B136a) was purchased by him on 10^th June 1892. The burial register records one burial on that date, but does not specify which plot and no age is recorded. The entry in the register is unclear, but looks like ‘Miss Wade – Halifax’, but could also possibly be read as ‘Miss Wade (still born child) – Halifax’. (The only feasible explanation for this would be that the child was the daughter of Sarah Ellen Wade, daughter of Edwin and Grace, and unmarried at the time).

Edwin had died in Cape Town, South Africa in 1881, aged 36: it is believed that Josiah had sent his brother to act as an agent for his business in South Africa because he thought that the warmer climate would improve his health (Edwin suffered from tuberculosis, the disease which almost certainly caused his death).

The final inscription on the headstone is for Grace Wade, and it is assumed that the entry in the burial register refers to her and she is buried in plot A392, although it is curious that Josiah bought his own burial plot (which is adjacent) on the day of his sister-in-law’s funeral, and it is possible that she is buried in that plot.

Berhane WOLDEGABRIEL (1946-2020)

Berhane Woldegabriel (1946-2020) was an Eritrean who left his country as a refugee, eventually settling in the UK. Already an experienced teacher and journalist, he worked for nearly thirty years in London, mainly as an educator, translator, and interpreter. He became a dedicated peacemaker, using his great political understanding and interpersonal skills as a facilitator and conciliator amongst Eritreans in the diaspora, and amongst wider refugee communities. Alongside his commitment to his own people, Berhane embraced life as a UK citizen, and was a true universalist who loved people regardless of nationality and creed. He visited Hebden Bridge and Todmorden often and felt at home here. The landscape reminded him of his Eritrean homeland.

Berhane was spending the COVID lockdown in Todmorden when he received a diagnosis of terminal illness. He expressed the wish to be buried in West Yorkshire and visited Wainsgate in his last months. When his time came, this was not to be, and he was buried in London. Here at Wainsgate, a headstone is erected in his memory, made from local sandstone by Whitakers of Hebden Bridge. The inscription at the top of the stone is in Ge’ez script and
represents Berhane’s name in the Tigrinya language. The carving, to represent his faith, is of the Eritrean Orthodox cross.

More about Berhane’s life:
Berhane was born in Eritrea, and attended Prince Mekonnen High School in the capital, Asmara, before moving to Ethiopia to train as a teacher at Debre Berhan. After qualifying he taught at various schools before continuing his studies at Addis Ababa University.

War and political upheaval meant that he could not return to Eritrea permanently, and in the late 1970s he fled the repression of the Mengistu regime in Ethiopia and escaped on foot to Sudan (a walk of 1000 miles) where he lived for the next 13 years. In Sudan he worked as a journalist, and for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), helping with the settlement of Eritrean refugees. In 1990 he was once again forced to flee from his adopted country after his writing offended the Sudanese government, and he sought sanctuary in the UK.

From 1993 Berhane lived in London, where, latterly, he worked at SOAS, University of London, as a lecturer in Tigrinya and Amharic, whilst assisting refugees to the UK from Eritrea and other countries. He founded a charity, the Eritrean Education and Publication Trust (EEPT) as a vehicle to improve the lives of his people. Through this and the organisation Initiatives of Change (IOC) he undertook peace and conciliation work amongst various organisations, including Eritrean opposition groups. He was a proponent of what is now known as ‘disagreeing agreeably’.

In 2017 he left SOAS to undertake expeditions with Save the Children, helping refugees who were making the dangerous sea crossing from Africa to Europe. By now aged 70, he was boarding rescue dinghies in the Mediterranean to help desperate people fleeing war, conflict, or persecution in their home countries, and using his fluency in four languages to assist them in every way once they were on board the rescue ship.

Thanks to Amanda Woolley for the text and photographs.

A book about Berhane’s life – ‘Berhane, the Peace Messenger’ by Ali Hindi, Amanda Woolley, Amanuel Yemane & Peter Riddell has just been published (November 2023) by The Endless Bookcase. To find out more or order a copy (Paperback or ebook) click here.

The ‘LOST SOULS‘

One of the aims of the Wainsgate Graveyard Project is to identify and record the final resting place of everyone who has been interred at Wainsgate, from 1762 to the present day. Many of the names are inscribed on headstones, slabs or other grave markers: in some cases the various burial registers give the number of the grave plot: in some cases the location of a burial can be deduced from family connections or local knowledge.

But that leaves a lot of people whose interment is recorded in the burial registers, but whose grave has not (so far) been identified. At present there are over 800 of these ‘Lost Souls’.

Some of the resting places of the ‘Lost Souls’ will be identified when further gravestones are uncovered and transcribed: some will be identified after further research into burial records and other archive documents – it is also quite possible that further historical records may be discovered which will help to fill in the gaps in our knowledge.

There will still be some whose graves will never be identified.

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All of the entries in the burial registers, even if a person’s full name, age, residence and burial plot are not recorded, at least give a family name. There is one entry, dated 30th May 1866, which says only ‘Female Infant, Unknown’: