Recently, while reviewing my English Walton ancestors, I came across a Death Certificate and probated Will for John Walton, father of George and my Great-Great Grandfather, causing me to wonder where, in England, he is buried.
Death Certificate:
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| GRO Death Certificate for John Walton (1830-1890) Courtesy of Gayle Judd |
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| Rick Walton and Gayle Judd, May 2012 |
How do I know this death certificate is for our John Walton? If we jump ahead to the 1891 British Census[2] we see John's wife, Eliza, and daughter Rose Walton Williams (born in Cheddleton) listed in the household of son-in-law Daniel Williams of 65 Nelson Street in Bradford, Manchester. This corresponds to the data on the Death Certificate
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| except from 1891 England Census |
Trusting this is the correct death certificate, we can be confident that John Walton died in Manchester on 14 January 1890 which conforms to the data in the probated Will I found on Ancestry.com[3].
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| England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966 |
From this record we learn several things about John Walton. He was formally "OF" the "Midland Hotel, Gorton Road, Openshaw near Manchester. Its not clear from this if he was a Publican or desk clerk. Perhaps he continued to practice his trade as "Coachman", as listed on his death certificate, and cared for hotel guest's horses. More investigation will be need to identify his position. We can match his widow and executrix to Eliza, his wife. His estate was worth 91 pounds. (This to will require additional investigation to determine the relative worth of 91 pounds in 1890)
Gayle's earlier research led me to John's probable burial place in Manchester at Phillips Park Cemetery. I was hoping to find his grave listed on Find-A-Grave and actually found several John Walton's listed but only one who died in 1890. I sent in a request for a volunteer to photograph his grave. A helpful researcher in England looked up the details of the individual I had picked and this turned out not be be our John Walton because his age and death date didn't match. My new friend, MikeBerrell in Manchester, England did some further research on my behalf and found the following record[4]:
Philips Park, Consecrated section
18 January 1890 John WALTON, 61 yrs, Wagon Bldr, Nelson Street, Bradford [Manchester] Single M 1008
(Single indicates a single interment in a common grave)
The 18 January 1890 burial date lines up logically with the 14 Jan 1890 death date and the address is a match. Depending on the source, John was either born in 1829 or 1830, but since we do not have a specific birth or baptism record, age 61 at death is in the ballpark. His occupation is listed as "Wagon Bldr" which may tie into his previous well document occupation of Coachman. In short this appears to be a good match as confirmed when searching the Manchester City Council Burial Records Search[5] which returned:
Burial Date Deceased Cemetery Grave Number
18/01/1890 John Walton Philips Park Cemetery MConsecrated 1008
The cheapest and most popular type of graves were the public or paupers grave. These types of graves were cheap because the plot of land is not owned by one family and there could be as many as 30 interments into the same plot. Public graves were usually dug to a depth of 12 feet. The number of bodies that could be interred into a plot was at the discretion of the Registrar. The mismanagement of graves caused concern to the living relatives of those buried in them. Once a public grave was full, and subsequently closed, an inscription stone was fixed over the top of it, but only after four people had subscribed towards its erection. The stone covering the public grave was flat and contained only the briefest details of the deceased. Relatives could pay for a single line inscription of name, date of death and age. It is unknown at this time if there is any marker or inscription for John Walton's grave. [6]
Plot Map of Phillips Park Cemetery, Manchester England
Google satellite Map of Phillips Park Cemetery, Manchester England "Philips Park Cemetery is adjacent to Philips Park, on the northern side of the River Medlock which separates them. Like Philips Park, it has been listed by English Heritage as a grade II site on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England – it was added to the register in July 2002, one year after its neighbour.Philips Park Cemetery was Manchester's first municipal public cemetery when it opened in 1866, though work was in fact not completed on its grounds and structures until the following year. Manchester Corporation had held an open competition in 1863 for the design of a cemetery to the north of the River Medlock; from forty entries submitted, Manchester architects Paull and Ayliffe's designs for the buildings and William Gay of Bradford's designs for the grounds were chosen. Manchester Corporation recruited unemployed cotton mill workers to carry out the laying out and planting work.The site was divided into separate areas for different denominations, with the largest portion (8 hectares) at the western end, nearest to town and the main entrance, for the Church of England. Dissenters, or non-conformists, had the 5.5 hectare centre portion, and Roman Catholics a 3 hectare portion at the eastern end. Each portion had its own mortuary chapel, all built in the gothic revival style but to different designs. Of the four mortuary chapels, only the Anglican chapel now remains. "[7]
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| Phillips Park Cemetery Section M Courtesy of Mike Berrell |
John Walton's World
John Walton lived and died in 19th century, Victorian England. His world was probably lived out within these markers on the map of central England. Born in Appleby-Magna, married in Market Bosworth, raised a family in Cheddleton, died in Manchester. His whole life lived within a 100 mile radius.
His children carried the Walton name and genes beyond the boundaries of John Walton's world to far away places like America and Australia. We're here because of him.
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| John Walton's world in Central England |
Notes:
1. John Walton, 1890; Death, Prestwich, Lancashire, England, General Register Office, Somerset House, London, England.
2. Eliza Walton in household of Daniel Williams, Bradford, Lancashire, England; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census, citing PRO RG 12, Lancashire county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey."England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, Ancestry.com (http://interactive.ancestry.com/6598/LANRG12_3257_3259-0167/26709332?backurl=http://person.ancestry.com/tree/19477394/person/807702544/facts/citation/860038223957/edit/record).
3. John Walton; Probate Date 12 Apr 1890; Manchester, England; Death Date-14 Jan 1890; Lancashire, England; England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966; http://interactive.ancestry.com/1904/31874_221830-00506/2635116?backurl=http://person.ancestry.com/tree/19477394/person/807702625/facts/citation/157569262103/edit/record
4. Walton, John burial, 18 January 1890, The Burial Register - on film at Manchester Central Library.
burial receipts for Philips Park Cemetery on microfilm: Church of England, 1867-1901 (MFPR 767-784)
5. Walton, John burial, 18 January 1890; Manchester City Council Burial Records Search; http://www.burialrecords.manchester.gov.uk
6. Phillips Park Cemetery History, http://www.philipsparkcemetery.com/developing-the-municipal-cemetery/ (includes Phillips Park Plot Map)
7. Phillips Cemetery description found on "find-A-Grave" website, July 2, 2016, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=638759 see also http://www.foppc.com
Google satellite and John Walton's word Map created on Google Maps by Rick Walton 7/2/2016
A Special THANKS to Mike Berrell of Manchester England for his local research and photograph.
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