Sergeant Charles Brett (ca1816-1867)

The inscription on the gravestone reads:-
"In affectionate remembrance of Sergeant Charles Brett of the Manchester Police Force who died in the discharge of his duty at Hyde Road on September 18th 1867 in the 52nd year of his age. Dare not I must do my duty."
Sergeant Charles Brett was the first Manchester police officer to be killed on duty. He was shot as supporters of the Fenian movement attempted to rescue their leaders who were imprisoned in a van which Sergeant Brett was escorting. Three men were tried and publically hanged at New Bailey Prison on 23 November 1867 and the men became known as the Manchester Martyrs. Originally, seven men were sentenced to death, however one received a pardon almost immediately and the other three had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. One died whilst serving his sentence and the other two were later pardoned.

William Hughes (1808-1859)

The inscription on the flat tombstone which the team has recently uncovered reads:-
"To the memory William Hughes, late Governor of Henshaw's Blind Asylum and inventor of the Typograph for the Blind, died April 29th 1859, aged 51 years"
Henshaw's Blind Asylum, later known as Henshaw's Institution for the Blind, was founded in a building built by public subscription in Old Trafford (situated on a site close by to what is today the Greater Manchester Police Headqaurters). It became one of the largest institutions in the country.
William Hughes and his wife, Mary, were the first Governor and Matron of the Asylum and in 1850, Mr Hughes took out a patent for the Hughes Typograph which he claimed to be the first typewriting machine which was designed to enable the blind to communicate with the seeing. A Hughes Typograph was awarded a gold medal at the Great Exhibition in 1851

Edward Meacham MRCS (1823-1897)
The inscription on the gravestone reads:-
"Sacred to the memory of Edward Meacham MRCS, founder in 1870 and for 26 years medical superintendant at the Manchester Medical Mission, Red Bank. Entered into rest September 18th 1897, aged 73 years. Forever with the Lord. Blessed are the dead, which die in the Lord henceforth"
Edward Meacham was baptised on 25 November 1823 at the Church of St Peter, West Cheap, London. He arrived in Manchester circa 1846 where he was appointed labour master at the Chorlton Union Workhouse, a position which gave him experience of working with the very poor. He embarked upon his medical education at Manchester Royal Infirmary and the Manchester Royal School of Medicine and he was a surgeon at the Manchester Hospital for Sick Children. In 1865 he was appointed as medical officer for the St Georges district of Manchester and soon after founded the Red Bank Medical Mission (later known as the Manchester Medical Mission and Dispensary). He attended the Mission as medical superintendant for 26 years. Despite retiring as a medical officer due to ill health, Edward Meacham continued to practice and to attend the Red Bank Mission until his death on 18 September 1897, aged 73 years.

Samuel Hyde (1789-1876) - A Veteran of Waterloo
The insciption on the flat tombstone reads:-
"In Memory of Samuel Hyde, who died May 14th 1876 in his 88th year. Also Mary Hyde, wife of Samuel Hyde who died November 21st 1861, aged 71 years"
Samuel Hyde, of Leigh and Newton Heath, died 14th May 1876, and was buried at Manchester General on the 20th May, aged 87. A short obituary in the Manchester Times for that week read:
“Hyde, who was born at Leigh, was reared as a hand-loom weaver in this city [Manchester], where he enlisted in the Grenadier Guards at the age of 18, and subsequently served through the Peninsular campaign, being actively engaged at Nive, Nivello, Corunna, Badajos, Roderigo, Toulouse, St. Sebastian, Vittoria and Salamanca. He was wounded at the Battle of Waterloo, after which he was pensioned off with a shilling a day, which was increased to 1s. 6d. about two years ago. The deceased veteran’s relations reside at Newton Heath.”
Samuel Hyde’s pension record states that he was “wounded through the shoulder joint” at Waterloo, as a result of which he was discharged at the age of 28 after nine years’ service. He was described as being five foot eight, with brown hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion. Samuel was married to Mary Grimshaw in Manchester Cathedral on January 16th 1808.

Reverend Thomas Grant (1835-1909)

The inscription reads:-
"In Loving Memory of Rev Thomas Grant, for 24 years Registrar of this Cemetery, who died December 16th 1909 in this 75th year"
Reverend Thomas Grant, Manchester General Cemetery's Registrar and Chaplin from 1885 until 1909 lived at Cemetery House, 775 Rochdale Road, Harpurhey with his daughter, Elizabeth Lucas Grant. He was born in Millbrook, Hampshire. In the late 1850’s and early 1860’s he worked for the Church Pastoral Aid Society and later as a London City Missionary in Southwark, London. After working as a teacher in Elham Kent, he became the Minister of the Congreational Church in Billericay, Essex and then Minister at St Mary’s Newington. He was married to Mary Elizabeth Grant nee Lucas but she died in 1875 so he was a widower when he arrived to take up the position at Manchester General Cemetery.

James Fielding (1803-1886)
The inscription reads:-
"In Memory of James Fielding. for more than 31 years Registrar of this Cemetery, who died July 4th 1886, aged 81 years"
James Fielding was the Cemetery Registrar prior to the Reverend Thomas Grant and also occupied the Cemetery House on Rochdale Road. He is buried with his wife, Harriet, who died in 1871 aged 63 years and their son, John, who died in 1865 aged 28 years.

John Owen (1815-1902)

“In Memory of James Owen who departed this life October 22nd 1848, aged 75 years. Also Alice, daughter of John and Mary Ann Owen, who departed this life April 15th 1858, aged 2 years 14 weeks. Also Samuel Fox, late of Deansgate, corn dealer, who died December 16th 1867, aged 68 years. Also Mary Ellen Owen, who died November 15th 1865, aged 17 years. Also Mary Ann, wife of John Owen, died December 19th 1876. Aged 50 years. Also John Owen who died January 18th 1902, aged 86 years.”
Born in Bolton le Moors , John Owen was the author of the famous Owen Manuscripts. He died on January 18th 1902, aged 86 years. The Owen Manuscripts were his life’s work and took around 60 years to compile. He travelled extensively around the region gathering information comprising monumental inscriptions, parish registers, genealogical, architectural and archaeological information. His historical notes include a history of Manchester and a collection of the MI’s from both inside and outside of the Collegiate Church, some of which have been lost forever or which have been covered or are now inaccessible. He was a talented draughtsman and the collection comprising 91 volumes includes drawings of houses, churches and gravestones. The entire collection is accessible via Manchester Archives and a small selection of his work can be viewed by clicking on his portrait (left). More information about his life, researched by Gerard Lodge, can be found at www.manchester-family-history-research.co.uk

Nancy Cunningham (1862-1931)

The inscription reads:-
“In Loving Memory of Nancy Cunningham, daughter of John and Tamer Gradwell of Blackley, who went to Heaven Aug 23rd 1931, aged 68 years. At peace with God.”
Nancy Cunningham was born at Barnes Green on 12 August 1862 and baptised at St Peter’s Church Blackley on 22 February 1863. She was the daughter of John Gradwell, a brick setter and steeplejack and legend has it that as a young girl Nancy would often scale mill chimneys to deliver her father his dinner. She became a renowned singer and whistler and earned the sobriquet of “Dicky Bird”. She married twice, first to John White in 1886 and then to Joseph Cunningham in 1901, with whom she had two children. Nancy had an alcohol problem and became the scourge of Rochdale Road, accumulating an impressive 173 convictions for being drunk and disorderly. Then in 1912, Nancy was saved and joined The Salvation Army. At meetings all over England Nancy stood up and spoke against the evils of drink and whilst she sang “The Old Rugged Cross” the collection was taken. However her conversions were many and she spent the last 20 years of her life torn between the bottle and tambourine. Despite this the people of North Manchester took her to their hearts and her funeral in 1931 was well attended, so much so that extra police had to be drafted in to control the crowds and the cemetery gates had to be closed.

George Edmund Lomax (1808-1880)

The inscription reads:
“In Memory Of George Edmund Lomax born October 17th 1808, died January 20th 1880. Erected to the Memory of George Edmund Lomax, by his friends and admirers, as a token of their esteem for the valuable services he rendered to the cause of total abstinence and human freedom during a period of over 40 years”
George Lomax, a Manchester man and a very popular temperance and political speaker of his time, was one of the self-styled “last of the Manchester Chartists”. As a boy he had been an eye witness of the Peterloo Massacre on 16 August 1819. In an area now known as St Peter’s Square, Manchester, around 18 people died from sabre cuts and trampling and 700 men, women and children were seriously injured when yeomanry soldiers attacked an unarmed crowd during a peaceful pro-democracy and anti-poverty protest. During a speech giving a graphic description of what he saw he finished by saying “: "As I saw the cavalry striking down unarmed and peaceful people I swore eternal enmity to Toryism and all its ways." The Chartist Movement grew in the mid 19th century as the lower and middle classes formed networks of Working Men’s Associations which formed the basis for the Chartist Movement, an organisation which campaigned for the vote, the secret ballot and other democratic rights we take for granted today.

A Manchester Tragedy

The inscription reads:-
“In Memory of Mary Hannah Taylor, aged 11 years; Hannah Maria Taylor, aged 6 years; William Robert Taylor, aged 4 years. Forbid them not to come unto me: for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven. These poor innocents were found dead on 16th May 1862 and to avoid a paupers grave, Mr B Lee received in a few hours from upwards of 300 persons of all classes and sects voluntary contributions sufficient to provide a respectable funeral and purchase of this monument. One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”
This inscription reveals a terrible tragedy which started with a boiler exploding in a rented property in Strangeways resulting in the death of Harriet Jane Taylor, sister of the above children and who was buried in an unmarked grave nearby. The children’s father, William Robert Taylor and his wife Martha Ann went to the offices of Evan Mellor, a Manchester property agent and their landlord, in the city centre and stabbed him repeatedly with a butcher’s knife as they believed him to be responsible for the death of Harriet Jane. Mr and Mrs Taylor were duly arrested and when the police went to his home at Great Ducie Street they found the bodies of three more of their children, who had been dead for some days, either poisoned (possibly with chloroform) or suffocated. The police found notes with the children’s names and ages and also the following: “We are six but one at Harptry lies, thither our bodies take. Mellor and Sons are our cruel murderers but God and our loving parents will avenge us. Love rules here. We are all going to our sister to part no more.” William Taylor was tried and found guilty of the wilful murder of Evan Mellor and publically hanged outside Kirkdale Prison on 13th September 1862, his wife and the children’s stepmother, although charged as an accessory to murder, was acquitted. The coroner ruled that the children did not die of natural causes but there was no positive proof as to how and by whom their deaths were caused. William Taylor refused to say how his children had died except “Mellor murdered them”.

left:
The gravestone marking the burial place of the three Taylor children who were found dead on
16 May 1862. Their sister, Harriet Jane, who died in a boiler explosion earlier in the same year is buried in a unmarked grave nearby.

Another Manchester Tragedy

(research courtesy of MGCTP team members Beannie and BarbaraH)
41 year old, Martha Ann Carr was found dead at her house in Harpurhey on July 5th 1912. She had been strangled. When the police arrived, they found her husband, who they believed committed the offence, sitting in a dazed state staring at his wife who lay on the rug in front of the fire. Two of the couple’s children, who were in the house at the time, raised the alarm by their screams. It seems that her husband, James, had been in poor health and unemployed for some time. Financially they were desperate and his former colleagues at Cawley’s bleach works in Blackley had made a collection which had raised more than £8. Just before Martha Ann was found dead, a workmate was on his way to the house to give them the money. James Carr, a finisher’s labourer, aged 44, was subsequently charged with murder. Evidence was given that he was a sober, industrious man who had lived happily with his wife, however, he had been out of work for some time and suffered from depression. When the case came to Crown Court in November 1912 the jury was dismissed as Mr Carr had been certified insane and had been sent to an asylum. Martha Ann was interred at Manchester General Cemetery on July 11th 1912.

John Alexander Moss (1808-1867) and Mary Moss (1812-1897)
(with thanks to Rootschatter, Dotty, for her research assistance)
The inscription reads:- “John A Moss, who departed this life, April 9th 1867, Aged 59 years.He was for 13 years Master of the Borough of Salford Ragged & Industrial School. Also Mary MOSS, Wife of the above, who died March 27th 1897, Aged 85 years”
Salford Ragged and Industrial School opened on August 14th 1854 in the former Salford Workhouse building at the junction of Broughton Road and Garden Lane. John Alexander Moss and his wife, Mary, were appointed Master and Matron of the School. They had previously worked at Mr Ashworth’s British School at Egerton, Bolton. Industrial schools were seen as a tool for “drying up the sources of juvenile vagrancy and criminality and for training young outcasts of society in the fear of God”. Children, of both sexes, who were living on the streets of Salford, unprotected, were to be brought to the school and “raised from their degraded state”. They received instruction in the scriptures, useful knowledge and industrial training. As nearly all the scholars would have been previously dependent upon begging, the schools also provided a daily supply of good, plain food.

Is this Manchester General Cemetery’s Oldest Resident?
The inscription reads:-
“In Memory of Fanny, wife of William Draper of Longsight, who died Feby 6th 1873, aged 62 years. Also Wiliam Draper, husband of the above, died March 21st 1903, aged 101 years.”
 (Consecrated 3536)

First Church of England Burial
The inscription reads:-
“Kate, daughter of Christopher and Sarah Eliza Sweeting of Manchester who departed this life December 2nd 1848, aged 18 months. First interment in this consecrated ground.”
Whilst Manchester General Cemetery opened in 1837 and the first burials were those of a still born child and Margaret Segate Watt on September 7th 1837, it wasn’t until 1848 that the Bishop of Manchester, the Right Reverend James Prince Lee consecrated part of the cemetery for Church of England burials. Kate Sweeting was the first person to be interred in this consecrated ground.

Mary Bradley (ca 1839–1866)
Mary Bradley was the first recorded deaf-blind person in the UK to learn to communicate by touch. She was buried at Manchester General Cemetery on June 19th 1866. As an inmate of an institution she was buried in a public grave so we are unlikely to come across a gravestone. According to a short obituary in the Manchester Times, Mary, born cira 1839, had been placed in the Swinton Industrial School, having lost her sight, speech and hearing due to illness at around the age of three. In July 1846 she was transferred to the Deaf and Dumb Institute at Old Trafford where the headmaster, Andrew Patterson, helped her learn to communicate by signing words and letters on her hand. Mr Patterson had the idea of teaching Mary to sign from Charles Dickens’ description of the deaf-blind American woman, Laura Bridgman, whom Dickens met during his travels round the US in the early 1840s. Mary Bradley eventually learned to read and write well enough to exchange letters with Laura Bridgman, and also helped Joseph Hague, another deaf-blind student at the Old Trafford institution, to learn signing by touch. Mary’s story is recorded in the 1888 book “The Deaf Mutes of Canada : A History Of Their Education” by Charles J Howe.

The "Glass Graves"
There are a number of graves belonging to glass manufacturers grouped together in a prominent position at the entrance to the Cemetery. In life their families and businesses were linked and it seems they planned to be buried together too. The graves belong to:- Thomas Molineaux (1799-1851), co-founder of Molineaux and Webb which opened in Kirby Street, Ancoats in 1827; Thomas Webb (1797-1873), co-founder of Molineaux and Webb and buried with him his son, Thomas George Webb (1827-1901), who ran the company after him until 1887. Thomas Webb's sister, Maria Webb, married Thomas Percival (1796-1850), founder of the Manchester Glass Bottle Works and their marriage linked the Webb and Percival families. Their son, Thomas Percival (1818-1875) was the co-founder of Percival and Vickers whose business was situated on Jersey Street, Ancoats. Finally, there is also the grave of Sarah, wife of John Woolfall, although he himself is not buried with her. John Woolfall (1802-1871) was the business partner of Thomas Percival senior at the Manchester Glass Bottle Works.

The "Glass Graves"

Robert Rose (ca1806-1849)

Robert Rose called himself “The Bard of Colour and Laureate of the Western Isles”. He was described as “a wealthy gentlemen and not a native of Lancashire”. He was believed to have been born in the West Indies although details of his early life are unknown. He lived in St Stephen’s Street, Salford and in the early 1840’s was Vice Chair of a Literary Group which met at The Sun Inn on Long Millgate, opposite Chetham’s Library, known as “Poet’s Corner”. Robert Rose met his untimely death, aged 43, on 19th June 1849 in a Salford police cell. He was arrested a few hours earlier in a drunken state having consumed “an incredible quantity of alcohol”. He was buried at Manchester General Cemetery on 21st June 1849 and his gravestone was inscribed with the following verse:-

"I’d rather have my tomb bedew’d at eve
With the lone orphan’s or the good man’s tear
Who softly stole at twilight here to grieve
And sobb’d aloud — the friend of man rests here
I’d rather have this quiet humble fame
Than hollow echo of an empty name"

The MGCTP team have recently located his gravestone. It is a flat stone which was buried. The team uncovered it to photograph and record it and afterwards recovered it to ensure it's preservation for the future. Chetham’s Library hold examples of Robert Rose's work. Research courtesy of www.g7uk.com where a more detailed account of his life and works can be found.

With the kind permission of
Bereavement Services,
Manchester City Council

Henry Marsden (1842-1917)

(with thanks to Judith Marsden for research assistance and photographs)
Henry Marsden was born in Langcliffe, Yorkshire, a son of a master shoemaker and cordwainer. After moving to Manchester he worked as a clothing salesman before starting his own business: Messrs. Henry Marsden & Co,, wholesale clothiers. He became a prominent member of Manchester society, a Councillor, and a JP. As a Councillor he was involved in the building of Victoria Baths which was apparently known at the time as “Marsden’s Folly”.

His obituary, published in the Manchester City News, read:-

"Mr Henry Marsden, who died at his residence Swinton Grove, Manchester on Monday in his 75th year was a former member of the City Council and for a number of years he did much useful work for the poor and the citizens as a member of the old Manchester Board of Guardians. Mr Marsden who was a Liberal in politics, represented St Luke’s ward for eleven years from 1897 to 1908, interesting himself especially in the work of the Sanitary Committee. Personally, Mr Marsden was a man of quiet charm, without pretence as a public speaker, preferring to act rather than to talk. He held pronounced views with regard to the scriptures, especially as regards the Old Testament, something which he expressed in our columns not long ago. Mr Marsden was head of the well-known firm of Messrs Henry Marsden & Company, wholesale clothiers. The funeral took place at Harpurhey Cemetery after a special service at Cross Street Chapel."

Henry is buried with his wife, Mary Marsden (1841-1914). Also interred in the plot are Mary Edith Marsden, Henry’s and Mary’s daughter who died of measles at the age of 3, and Emily Maude Bailey, Mary’s sister who lived with the family.

The adjacent grave (now sadly no longer marked) contains the burials of Richard and Elizabeth Marsden (Henry’s parents) and Henry’s unmarried older sister Elizabeth.

above: Henry Marsden (1842-1917)
below: Mary Marsden (1841-1914)

Emma Hardinge Britten (1823-1899)

The inscription reads: “Emma Hardinge Britten, wife of the above, who passed to the higher life Oct 2nd 1899, aged 76 years”
Emma Hardinge Britten was born in London in 1823, as Emma Floyd, and was the daughter of a sea captain. She developed a reputation for apparent abilities as a spiritualist medium. She is remembered for her work connected with the development of the modern spiritualist movement and published two books; Modern American Spiritualism (1870) and Nineteenth Century Miracles (1884). In the late 1870’s Emma and her husband, William, worked as spiritualist missionaries in Australia and New Zealand and is credited with defining the seven principles of spiritualism which are still in use today by the National Spiritualism Association of Churches. She died in Manchester in 1899.

Emma Hardinge Britten
(1823-1899)

Bryce Smith (1832-1892)

The inscription reads:- “In Loving Memory of Bryce Smith of Rye Bank, Chorlton-cum-Hardy and Whalley, Lancashire, born 29th Dec 1832, died 12th July 1892”
The Smith vault is another large vault within Manchester General Cemetery. Bryce Smith was a respected Manchester citizen and an active member of the Liberal Unionist Party. Although known as a very private man he was always ready to assist with every good cause. His funeral at Manchester General Cemetery was remembered for its particularly large attendance – probably one of the largest numbers ever assembled at Harpurhey. A service was held in the drawing room at his home at Rye Bank, Chorlton-cum-Hardy before his remains were carried to Harpurhey for interment in the family vault.

left:
Smith Family Vault