'Stories from the Stones'
Please visit the Contents Page for this section where you will find other 'Stories from the Stones' from the St John’s Church Burial Ground Project
These same stories are also published on Penistone Archive Group's Facebook page, their Journal and in 'The Bridge' magazine issued by St John's church, Penistone. Many thanks to their tireless author, Mr Steve Lavender, for his worthy contributions to local history and this website. - JB.
Story 26, Part 1: Mary Ann Daniels (d.1858), Mary Hinchliffe (d.1857), George Coldwell (d.1857), Abraham Brearley (d.1857) and Lydia Landerand (d.1858)
During the course of our work on the St John’s Burial Ground Project, we came across a number of gravestones which were simply inscribed with Initials and a date. With so little information we have not been able to provide anything valuable to upload into our database – that is – until now. Working tirelessly behind the scenes our friend and colleague John Beardwood has been investigating these small stones and discovering information which we can now share through the 'Stories of the Stones' series. John managed to discover the names behind these initialised stones by researching every burial entry for each year carved onto the stones and then matching the initials. By good fortune, in no case was there more than one entry for a particular set of initials and year.
Whilst I have taken John’s work and put it into the context of the Stories of the Stones it is very important to acknowledge that this is John’s work and he deserves full credit.
I have taken this opportunity to create two parts to these stories and giving a paragraph or so to each person identified by John and to maybe help people who are looking into their Penistone heritage more information in their search.
See also Part 2.
'MAD 1858' - Mary Ann Daniels
Mary Ann Daniels was born Mary Ann Travis around 1795 in Penistone. She married George Day, a farmer in Oxspring in 1818 and they had eight children – four boys and four girls. George passed away in 1841 aged 45 after which Mary moved to Penistone where she was recorded as living with 4 of her children. Mary then married William Daniels in Sheffield in 1846 and they returned to Penistone by 1851.
Mary Ann Daniels died in 1858 aged 63, her cause of death is recorded as 'Cholera biliosa; long standing enteritis.' Her husband William died in 1883 aged 76.
Whilst both are recorded as being buried at St John’s we can only locate Mary’s initialised stone but nothing yet for William.
So the small stone MAD 1858 might now be better inscribed:
In Memory of Mary Ann Day born 1795 died 1858 aged 63
'MH 1857' - Mary Hinchliffe
The Hinchliffe family has a strong presence in the Penistone area. The name is often written in a variety of ways including Hinchcliffe; Hinchliff and Hinchcliff. Indeed, there are around 45 graves of the Hinchliffe name at St John’s burial ground.
John has identified 'MH' as Mary the daughter of longtime residents of Penistone George and Charlotte Hinchliffe. Mary’s father, George was one of the many children of Elijah and Sarah Hinchliffe who were living at Penistone Green at the time of the 1841 census. Elijah and four of his sons, including George, were hand loom linen weavers. The weaving industry based around the River Don being the principal industry of the area at this time.
George and Charlotte (Wood) were married at Sheffield Cathedral (at that time known as the Church of St Peter and Paul) on 26th July 1846 and they returned to Penistone the following year. Mary was born on 28th August 1850 and baptised in the Church on 20th October of that year.
Sadly like many children of this time she was to have a very short life passing away in 1857 with ‘Tabes Mesenteric’ being recorded on her death certificate which is a disease of the digestive system.
Her small stone MH 1857 might now be better inscribed:
In Memory of Mary Hinchliffe born 1850 died 1857 aged 7
'GC 1857' - George Coldwell
The story of George Coldwell is particularly interesting in that not only does he have a small, initialised stone but he is also recorded on a full gravestone along with his parents. George was the son of George and Mary Coldwell of Birks Farm on Brockholes Lane, Penistone (also known as Westfield and Blue Slates Farm). George senior and Mary (nee Mitchell) were married at Silkstone Church on 22nd July 1816. George was employed as a Clothier, being one who putout raw or semi-processed material to spinners, weavers and other cloth workers who returned them after completing their work.
In 1851 George senior was a farmer of ‘100 acres, employing three labourers’, one of these being George junior. 6 years later the Sheffield Independent newspaper was to record the tragic death of young George in November 1857:
Suicide – On Saturday morning, a young man named George Coldwell, farmer, Penistone, committed suicide by shooting himself. His parents and the servants in the house got up about 5 o’clock and in about quarter of an hour afterwards the report of gun was heard in the deceased’s bedroom. On going there, they found him lying in a pool of blood with a gun by his side. A medical man was immediately called in but his efforts were of no avail and the deceased expired about half-past nine o’clock the same morning.The coroner’s verdict following the subsequent inquest was: ‘Shot himself when labouring under temporary insanity.’
Maybe it was the manner of his death which resulted in the small gravestone - but it is interesting to note that subsequently George junior would be included on his parents’ gravestone nearby.
A suitable epitaph for George might be:
In Memory of George Coldwell, born 1831, died 1857 aged 26
'AB 1857' - Abraham Brearley
Abraham Brearley was the son of William and Hannah Brearley who lived in Roughbirchworth, Oxspring. William and Hannah (nee Moore) were married at Penistone Church 13th April 1823. Dransfield’s History of Penistone records that William was the brother to John Brearley, and John was the sexton of Penistone Church for over 40 years. William himself was a local officer being the Parish Clerk of Penistone for many years.
Abraham was born on 16th February 1841 and recorded as a scholar in the 1851 census. Sadly, he died just six years later aged 16. Abraham’s cause of death is another unusual entry being recorded as: ‘Fell down dead whilst running, presumably from heart disease’.
William continued to live in the area with his family and is recorded as being a stone merchant in the 1861 census and later as a stone mason. William died in April 1875 aged 78 and his wife Hannah in October 1881 aged 84. Both are buried in St John’s graveyard, but the headstone does not record any of their children.
A suitable epitaph for Abraham might be:
In Memory of Abraham Brearley, born 16th February 1841, son of William and Hannah of Roughbirchworth, died March 1857 aged 16
'LL 1858' - Lydia Landers
The Landers family were fairly short lived in the Penistone area. Lydia’s father John, was the son of William and Elizabeth Landers who moved into the Oxspring area during the 1840s. William was born in Worksop and Elizabeth in Wentworth. John was born in Bromley and baptised at Tankersley on 6th July 1828.
John Landers married Fanny Stanley at St Mary’s church in Ecclesfield on 29th October 1849. Fanny’s parents, John and Lydia Stanley were living at Midhope Hall in 1841. Lydia was born on 11th August 1852 and baptised at St Jame’s church in the September of that year. John is a labourer at this time.
During the early 1850s the family moved to Bower Hill Oxspring and another daughter Harriet was born on 5th May 1856 and baptised at St John’s church Penistone in the June. During the family’s time in Oxspring Lydia died aged just 5 and was buried under her small stone on 20th March 1858. Her death certificate records ‘malignant sore throat’ which is now recognised as diphtheria. By 1861 the family had moved to Wadsley and John passed away in 1865 and Fanny in 1867.
A suitable epitaph for Lydia:
In Memory of Lydia Landers, born 1852, daughter of John and Fanny Landers of Oxspring died March 1858 aged 5 and a half
In Conclusion
And so we close Part 1 of 'Stories of the (small) Stones' recognising another group of people buried in St John’s Church burial ground with only initialised gravestones.
The research for this Stories of the Stones Number 26, Part One, was conducted by John Beardwood for the Burial Ground Project for which we thank him. See also Part 2.
Written by Steve Lavender, former Chair Friend of Penistone Church
February 2025
William Wordsworth - "For the gods approve the depth, and not the tumult of the soul."