I am playing detective in Greasborough

[peterw]

Both my parents are long dead. I have one living relative, a 96-year-old aunt living in York, but knows nothing about my Greasborough mystery.

 

I have discovered that a family gravestone in Darnall Cemetery lists its occupancy as being my maternal grandparents who died before I was born, one other family member who died before I was born, and finally my father. So, family grave full, I thought. But in fact it is over full!

 

Officials at Darnall Cemetery are as mistified as I am, and hope I can find an answer to it. The extra occupant, but not acknowledged on the stone, is a six-month-old child, a female who died in 1915.

 

I see the answer to my mystery being an ‘either or’, so I need first to look for the ‘either’ in Greasborough.

 

When I was a child I often looked through my grandmother’s collection of photographs. It included two grown men who my grandmother said were my cousins. She did not mention their mother who I later found out was not to be spoken about, and her name never mentioned.

 

I eventually found out that she was my father’s elder sister and her name was Doris. Whatever she had done was so dreadful that my father, a real hypocrit and an Edwardian tyrant when it came to doing dreadful things, never spoke of her — until the 1980s when I drove him to Greasborogh to meet her.

 

Doris must by now be long dead. Likewise my two cousins — but I do remember on the second occasion when I met Doris that she was worried about getting to a specific church for a family wedding.

 

Doris was bed-ridden and positively enormous. I estimated well above the 20 stone mark and more than likely suffering the result of an illness rather than an eating disorder. She had her bed in the front room, the doctor called each day and apart from being cared for by her entire family she had a pet budgie.

 

I heard that she did get to the wedding, which was at the church immediately across the road facing the front room of her terraced cottage.

I do not recall the name of that church but to get to the house we passed Keppel’s Column then a mile or more later I turned left to drop down into

Greasborough. There was a church on my right and the house was opposite.

 

Doris being hoisted from her bed and being carried across the road must have been a memorable sight, so if any forumer can remember it, or knows a living relative — all I need to know is whether that extra body, I repeat a six-month old female, was ever mentioned at any family get-together?

 

It would also be nice to hear more about Doris, so if you knew her well, please PM me. I don’t even know where she is buried, but I would think that her funeral attracted the local news photographer and his newspaper.

 

Finally, if I do eventually discover how that young child came to be the first human being to be buried in a grave bought by my maternal grandmother, I will let you know. I am currently speculating on it, and I suspect the child to be the love child of my uncle Fred, who was one of the ‘Pals’ regiment killed in action in France.

[Starlet83]

Your theory is far more exciting but my initial thought was that it was another child of your grandparents, my dad is buried with his oldest brother, he only found out he had an older brother about 4 years before he died. My grandparents banned anyone from talking about baby Thomas and my aunts and uncles kept to their word until my dad said he would prefer to be buried when he passed and was told he would need to have a family plot to go in the graveyard of choice. Thomas did not pass in any exceptional circumstances but it was just too painful for my grandparents to talk about. Good luck in your quest. Keep us informed I'm rather interested in family history!

[Tuppie]

If you have the childs name from the burial register why not send for her birth certificate...at least you will have her parent/s names and an address to start with.

 

Or send for the death certificate and see if the informant on this gives you any clues.

 

Tuppie

[maxofe]

could it be that the baby was no relation at all?

 

i'm sure somebody will correct me if i'm wrong here, but wasnt it normal practice at one time to bury babies from poorer families in someone elses plot?

 

just a thought.

[Joanl]

My mother had a still born baby in between 1942 and 47 that was buried in someone else's grave. I don't think she ever knew whose grave it was, just in Tinsley Park somwhere?

[Starlet83]

Yes I have heard things about that certainly in Barnsley it happened.

[peterw]

Thanks to you all for your in-put. In reply, I do have the birth certificate which reveals only the name of the mother. I have the name of the child and I have also discovered —actually my brother has found out for me — that the young mother and my maternal grandmother lived only a few doors away from each other in Bridport Road where I was born.

 

Further, everyone is buried somewhere and children and those adults without the money were placed either in Paupers’ graves which held a specific number of bodies before being completely closed, or

within the walls of England’s many workhouses

 

Doris, my father’s elder sister, would most certainly have known about it so I still hope to meet or speak to a living relative to find out whether it ever became a subject for open conversation.

 

Quite apart from that, I regret that because of my father’s Edwardian attitudes I have never throughout my entire life had the pleasure of really knowing a relative of the paternal side of my family.

 

My father did have George, another brother other than Frederick, who as I have said, was killed in the first world war, but I only saw him on odd occasions when I as an infant. My father being my father, as usual fell out with him. He never saw him again, he never spoke to him again but when he discovered that George was on his deathbed he did make an effort to go and see him — but he arrived too late.

 

However, if anyone knows the name of the doctor who called on Doris daily, glad of it. If anyone recalls the wedding and Doris being carried to it, or knows the vicar who performed the wedding ceremony or indeed the name of the church — glad of it.

 

And again, my sincere thanks for your in-put so far. I have great confidence in Sheffield Forum’s many members, readers and contributers so all is not yet lost.

[devlin]

I think I agree with a previous poster. In the early 30's my mums elder sister died aged 18 months. She is buried in a marked grave in Tinsley Park. However, the mark is of an elderly lady who died at the same time. We only know where she is because someone at the Council put us in touch with someone at the cemetary who dug out the records. The grave is not a paupers one.

[peterw]

I think I might have put too much information about what I am doing and who I am looking for. The thread appears to be broken but either tomorrow or Monday I hope to go with another thread, this time one of the “Do you remember” type.

 

Before I do, though, I have no idea whether Doris remained single or was at some time married. If she remained single her name would have remained Doris Wright so if you remember her, please let me know. I really do need to find out because while I accept that times were hard and graves were not easily bought by the working classes, the child was fortunate enough to find a Christian haven.

 

On the other hand, since I know she is in the wrong grave I want to do the best I can to find her the right grave, perhaps alongside her mother?