MY thoughts are with the Dead ; with them
I live in long-past years,
Their virtues love, their faults condemn,
Partake their hopes and fears,
And from their lessons seek and find
Instruction with an humble mind. - Southey.
We had not visited this little graveyard since the burial of the late Mr. John Adams in 1906, and were surprised, in reading the inscriptions on the monuments, to find how many of those we had known in boyhood and early manhood were sleeping here. We began our inspection with the beautiful monument erected to the memory of Mr. Richard Evans by his grateful workpeople, particulars of which have already been given, and passed on to the vault, at the north of the chapel, enclosed by semocircular railings. On the stone may be found these inscriptions to departed members of the Evans' family:-
Beneath these stones lie
The mortal remains of
RICHARD EVANS,
of Haydock,
Who died Aug. 13th, 1864, Aged 86.
------
ANN, wife of RICHARD EVANS,
Who died Dec. 10th, 1847, Aged 62.
------
EMILY, wife of JOSIAH EVANS,
Who died Dec. 13th, 1854, Aged 32.
------
HENRY. son of JOSIAH and EMILY EVANS,
Who died August 10th, 1896, Aged 77 years
In this northern portion we noted the grave of the worthy minister who preceded the Rev. James Allatt in the pastorate, the work on the stone erected to his memory reflecting more credit upon the man's handicraft than upon his orthography.
In
Memory
of
The Late Rev.
WILLIAM SPENCER BALL
late Minister
of this place
Who departed
this life
February 6th, 1861,
Aged 46 years
And here, under an upright stone with white marble slab, lie the remains of "May, wife of the Rev. R.Massie, who died April 12th, 1848, aged 42 years." -On a recumbent stone this inscription appears to the memory of one who not only tried medically to soothe the pain of men and women's bodies but also, as leader of the old chapel choir, musically to soothe the anxiety of their minds:-
HORATIO MATHER,
Surgeon, of Earlestown,
Who died April 20th, 1864,
Aged 63 years.
And also of his wife MARGARET.
Also in this portion is the grave, under a rasied horizontal stone, of Willaim Stevenson, a native of Alloa, Scotland, the first deacon of the church and the first superintendent of the Sunday-school. In this grave also reposes all that is mortal of Hentry Wallington, who died March 27th, 1873, aged 77 years, and of Ann Wallington, who died October 31st, 1873, aged 82 years. - Here too is a granite monument with shrouded urn, "In loving memory of Charles Ashton, who fell asleep in Jesus 7th June, 1886, aged 27 years." And on the western side these words appear "Erected by the officers and workmen of the London and North Western Wagon Department, Earlestown, as a tribute of their esteem and respect." - And near this, on a grey granite upright slab, is the following inscription:-
JOHN HARVIE.
Of Beech Bank, Newton-le-Willows.
Born in Glasgow, Oct. 3rd 1829.
Died at Colwyn Bay, April 2nd 1880.
----
Faithful unto death
John Harvie was chief agent of Messrs. Evans collieries at Haydock, with which firm he had been connected about sixteen years, and was much esteemed by the numerous employees there. He took an active part in local public affairs, having been for several years one of the Newton Improvement Commissioners. As previously stated, he was superintendent of the Sunday-school for many years, and on his resignation was presented with a handsome illuminated address by the teachers and scholars, as a mark of the esteem in which he was held.
In the Western part of the graveyard is an upright stone slab, erected to the memory of "Janet, the beloved wife of Thomas Fenton, who died July 6th, 1876, aged 100 years." We did not know this centenarian lady, but we knew a person who reposes in the same grave, viz., John McClaren, who died n August 23rd, 1891 aged 73 years. John was farm-bailiff at the Reformatory School in the late Mr. Atty's day. and was a regular attender at the chapel. Our memory recalls his sturdy figure and his ruddy countenance, and we fancy we can hear his cheerful salutation in passing on his way to the kirk. -Near this is the grave of James Thomas Barr, a fellow-apprentice with us at the Printing Works - an estimable young man and an ardent worker for the Wesleyan body at Earlestown. In the same grave also lie the bodies of his worthy father and mother, aged respectively 70 and 75 years. - Likewise in this portion may be seen the resting-place of the Rev. John Thomas Camm, the late Pastor of the Congregational Church, Golborne, whom we knew when he resided in Park-road, Newton. He died on the 5th September, 1899, aged 65, and his wife Eliza, aged 67, lies with him. - Under an upright stone lies one of the first members of the church in the person of Jane Ross, who died October 9th, 1884, aged 70, and in the same grave repose the ashes of members of the Boulton family of Crow-lane. Alongside are interred some of the Notman family, of whom we knew Charles, who died on April 18th 1879, aged 37. In the days of Penny Concerts held in the Newton Assembly room, Charles was in great demand as a humorous singer. He was a compositor by trade. - Adjoining is the grave of the Kidd family, of Golborne, upon the stone of which are these touching lines to an infant:-
Her marble brow
Was pure as though some angel wing had pass'd
And swept all tints of earthliness away.
She faded slowly, softly, from the earth,
And died, as some sweet blossom dies away
Shedding a heavenly incense to the last.
And here is the grave of a printer we knew intimately - Robert Brown, who died February 26th, 1906, aged 54, and that of his older brother, John a compositor, who died on the 27th of September, 1876, aged 27 years, an intimate of our brother-in-law, Edmund Forman, now of York, of William Ellam, late of Winwick, and of our neighbour John McDougall. - In this western portion many of Messrs. McCorquodale's employees rest from their labours: George Stead Wood, the foreman ruler, and his son of the same name, a compositor, lie here, the former dying in his 81st and the latter in his 51st year. William Aitken and his son-in-law, Alexander Galloway, both foremen of the machine department, share the same grave, the first dying aged 82 and the second 55 years. John Adams , the head clerk, who died March 9th, 1906, aged 69, occupies a contiguous grave with his wife Catherine, who died in 1884 aged 41. John Christie, the talented reader of the firm, aged 75, his wife Mary, aged 68, and their son James, aged 31 years, here sleep their last sleep. Gilbert Lennox, the father, and Gilbert Lennox, the son, the former dying aged 82, and the later aged 33 years, rest in the same grave as the wife and mother, who died aged 69 years. - Harriet Wood, the beloved wife of Frederick Tebbutt, here found an early tomb, dying on her 22nd birthday. - Members of the Burdis family - Sarah Burdis, aged 64, her sister Susan Sharp, aged 79, and her grandson Robert Bell Burdis, aged 19 months, are her wrapped in dreamless sleep. - And members of the Mannington family rest near a little monument whose inscriptions have been almost obliterated by Time's rude hand. Some of these we knew in boyhood days at the Mansion House and at school. - Here too is the grave of our friend's father and mother and sister - Robert Cunningham Campbell, who died March 16th 1864, aged 60; Mary Campbell, who died January 9th 1875, aged 76, Mary Anne Campbell, who died April 28th, 1878, aged 44 years. - And the relatives of Mr. F. J. Holmes, a long-time and an active worker in church and school, repose under the shade of the stone recording their names and ages - George Browne, died June 6th, 1864 aged 41; Isabella Browne, died 25th August, 1883, aged 65; Captain John Holmes, died May 11th, 1863, aged 72; and Elizabeth Holmes, died October 29th, 1871 aged 63 years. There are others lying here unknown to us, who doubtless did well their duty in that state of life unto which it had pleased God to call them, and are peacefully resting under the shadow of the chapel they aforetime loved so well to attend.
In the southern part of the yard we note the recently-raised white marble cross to the memory of one we highly respected and admired for his integrity and constancy in church duties -
SAMUEL BIRKS,
Died February 25th, 1913,
Aged 79 years.
------
"Blessed are the pure in heart."
Alongside is the grave, with a red granite upright slab, of an old Newton family, viz., Henry Hibbert, who died in 1861, aged 50; Mary Ann, his wife, who died in 1888, aged 73; Elizabeth, their daughter, who died in 1877, aged 32; and an infant son of four years. - Behind is the grave of an octogenarian couple who in the early days were members of the chapel choir - William Austin, who died on Febbruary 8th, 1906, aged 80, and Lydia Austin, who died on September 18th, 1908, aged 84 years.
In the new churchyard is the grave of an old couple with whom, in the days that are no more, we used to spend many an instructive hour - William Drinnan, who died on the 27th September, 1884, aged 72 years, and his wife Christina, who died on the 17th February of the same year, aged 82 years. - Not far removed is the grave of W. H. Randall's wife, who died in 1905, aged 29 years. The father of the husband, the genial and respected head of the Newton Nursery Gardens, died on Sunday, the 7th March, 1915, aged 69 years, and was buried in the Public Cemetery, in the grave where lie the dear remains of his daughter Louisa. So lately as the date of the dedication of All Saints' Church it was our pleasure to accompany him to and from that ceremony, and now he is resting beneath "the clover sod that takes the sunshine and the rains." Thanks to the care and, in many cases, the gratuitous labour of our printer friend, Thomas Dudgeon, these two graveyards present a neat and tidy appearance in keeping with the sacred buildings therein.
My hopes are with the Dead; anon
My place with them will be,
And I with them shall travel on
Through all futurity;
Yet leaving here a name, I trust,
That will not perish in the dust. - Southey
All text copyright John Lane and Peter Mayor Campbell
Layout copyright © 2003 John Rouse.
Created January 2003. Last updated: Jan 2003