(C)2020 By Frederick E. Walton (A Walton Family Historian)
There is an unusual headstone in a cemetery in Manchester, England, that is both a Genealogical treasure trove and a bit of a Mystery for the WALTON family... Our Walton family as it turns out!
As you can see. there are four names on the headstone. There are four Walton's Buried here. BUT...They are NOT the four whose names are listed! We'll get to that later though...
In case you can't make out all the writing, The headstone says:
In Loving Memory of
JOSEPH WALTON
WHO DIED NOV. 5th 1900
AGED 69 YEARS
ALSO EDWIN
THE BELOVED NEPHEW OF THE ABOVE
WHO DIED MAY 4th 1929 AGED 64 YEARS
ALSO NELLIE WIFE OF
EDWIN WALTON
AND DAUGHTER OF THE ABOVE
WHO DIED IN NEW YORK NOV. 1895
ALSO OF MARY ANN (NAN)
THE BELOVED DAUGHTER OF
JOSEPH WALTON
WHO DIED JUNE 26TH 1935
AGED 83 YEARS
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The Manchester Southern Cemetery is located on Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton-Cum-Hardy. If you should wish to visit, you'll discover it is the final resting place of many great Mancunians. It turns out that in Victorian and Edwardian times, this was a very posh area to live in.
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| Click HERE for additional Information about Manchester's Soouthern Cemetery |
Opened in 1879, Southern Cemetery is the largest municipal cemetery in the UK and the second largest in Europe, with stunning gardens and pathways, and six grade 2 listed buildings, four of which are chapels.
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| West Didsbury became part of Manchester in 1904 |
The headstone in question is located in Section D- "Consecrated" 2227. (That simply means blessed by the church of England for Christian Burial). If you look carefully at the upper right edge of the Headstone, adjacent to the name JOSEPH WALTON, you will notice the number "2227", the address for this particular Plot.
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Who's Who?
There is a lot of information written on this headstone covering a 40 year time span. Let's start by unraveling the data:
Name Death Death Joseph
1) JOSEPH WALTON 5 Nov 1900 69 Himself
2) Edwin Walton 4 May 1929 64 Nephew/Son in Law (married to Ellen)
3) Nellie [Ellen] Walton [19] Nov. 1895 [29] Daughter (Died in New York)
4) Mary Ann (Nan) 26 June 1935 83 Daughter
Joseph Walton (1832-1900)
Joseph Walton was the fifth child of John Walton (1801-1874) and Jane Waterson (1801-1870) both of Appleby Magna. He was born in Appleby Magna, probably in the 4th Quarter of 1831. The civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in England began in 1837, so there is no Birth record available prior to this time.
Joseph was baptised on December 5, 1832 according to the St Michael & All Angels' Church Registers of Appleby, Magna Parish, Leicestershire, England. If the date of his Headstone, Age 69, is accurate, then he was born sometime earlier than November 1831, which is possible when looking at the spacing of his siblings. This would mean his parents waited a year to have him baptised.
Joseph had seven siblings, including an older brother John (1830-1890). John is my great-great-grandfather. John and his wife Eliza had twelve children, including my great-grandfather George Walton (1864-1910) and his younger brother Edwin (1869-1929). More about Edwin later...
Joseph wed Mary Lyndoe (1824-1870) in the 1st Quarter of 1851when he was only 19 and working in Appleby as a groom.
Together they produced eight children including Mary Ann (1851-1935), their eldest, and Ellen (1865-1894), their eighth and youngest, both of who are buried with Joseph.
Throughout the years he worked as a groom, a butler and a carter.
He died on November 5, 1900. His age is listed as 69 years, which can only be roughly confirmed. He lived at 114 Kirkmanshulme Lane, Longsight, a suburb in southern Manchester. He is buried in the Southern Cemetery in Manchester under the magnificent head stone above, the patriarch of his family.
Joseph Walton's Find-a-Grave Record
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Edwin Walton (1865-1929)
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| Portion of Headstone Detailing Joseph Walton |
Joseph Walton was the fifth child of John Walton (1801-1874) and Jane Waterson (1801-1870) both of Appleby Magna. He was born in Appleby Magna, probably in the 4th Quarter of 1831. The civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in England began in 1837, so there is no Birth record available prior to this time.
Joseph was baptised on December 5, 1832 according to the St Michael & All Angels' Church Registers of Appleby, Magna Parish, Leicestershire, England. If the date of his Headstone, Age 69, is accurate, then he was born sometime earlier than November 1831, which is possible when looking at the spacing of his siblings. This would mean his parents waited a year to have him baptised.
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| St Michael Episcopal Church, Appleby, Magna Parish, Leicestershire, England. (c) 2011 by Frederick Walton Photo taken by author during research trip in 2011 |
Joseph had seven siblings, including an older brother John (1830-1890). John is my great-great-grandfather. John and his wife Eliza had twelve children, including my great-grandfather George Walton (1864-1910) and his younger brother Edwin (1869-1929). More about Edwin later...
Joseph wed Mary Lyndoe (1824-1870) in the 1st Quarter of 1851when he was only 19 and working in Appleby as a groom.
Together they produced eight children including Mary Ann (1851-1935), their eldest, and Ellen (1865-1894), their eighth and youngest, both of who are buried with Joseph.
Throughout the years he worked as a groom, a butler and a carter.
He died on November 5, 1900. His age is listed as 69 years, which can only be roughly confirmed. He lived at 114 Kirkmanshulme Lane, Longsight, a suburb in southern Manchester. He is buried in the Southern Cemetery in Manchester under the magnificent head stone above, the patriarch of his family.
Joseph Walton's Find-a-Grave Record
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Edwin Walton (1865-1929)
Edwin Walton was the eighth child (of twelve) of Joseph Walton's older brother John Walton (1830-1890) and Eliza Bonsell (1830-1893). Edwin was born December 3, 1865 in Cheddleton, Staffordshire, England. His father, John, was a 35 year old Coachman and his uncle, Joseph, was a Butler. His cousin Ellen was born in nearby Basford, earlier the same year.
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| Edwin Walton's 1865 Birth Certificate (Copy) |
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| Baptismal Font at St. Edwards in Cheddleton Taken by author during a 2011 visit during Easter. |
At some point in the later 1880's, Edwin immigated to the United States. There are several passenger list entrees that may be a match, but they are inconclusive. Even without an immigration record, we know he ended up in America.
In the 1885 New Jersey Census, I found an "Edward" Walton listed next to George Walton in the Dodge household where George is employed as a groom. I can't find him again until 1893 in New York when he married his cousin. Edwin Walton and Ellen Walton were married in the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration in Manhattan on May 21, 1893. They both had Manhattan addresses at this time, although I do not find either in the 1893-1895 city directories.
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Index Card leading to record entry |
Gertrude was baptised in St. Peters Episcopal Church in the Chelsea district of Manhattan on November 19, 1994.
Edwin and his daughter disappear from the record books after this. Although I have "found" Gertrude (more on her later) Edwin seems to have simply disappeared until his death in 1929. How he managed to become the "beloved" nephew of his uncle/father-in-law in the 6 years between his wife's death and Joseph's is not recorded. Perhaps Edwin was a favorite from childhood on...
The following year his estate was probated providing the final few details about Edwins life.
"Edwin Walton of 52 Hillkirk Street Beswick Manchester died 4 may 1929. Admin (limited) Manchester 29 October 1930 to Marion Platt Widow [His Daughter] attorney of Julia Catherine Walton Effects 127 Pounds Sterling, 9 Shillings, 4 Pence"Edwin Walton's Find-A-Grave Record
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Ellen Walton (1865-1894)
Ellen Walton on the was born February 26, 1865 In Cheddleton, Staffordshire, England to Joseph Walton (1832-1900) and Mary Lyndoe (1824-1870).
Nellie is a common English nickname for Ellen. Records refer to her as Ellen, although her headstone lists the more familiar "Nellie", perhaps her fathers pet name for her.
She immigrated to America between April of 1891 and May of 1893 when she married her cousin Edwin Walton (1865-1929) on May 21, 1893 at the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration in Manhattan.
The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration, colloquially known as the Little Church Around the Corner, was built in 1849 on West 29th Street between Madison and Fifith avenues. It is designed in the early Neo-Gothic style to look as though it is set in the English countryside
Ellen gave birth to Gertrude Mary Ellen Hayes Walton on October 28, 1894. Ellen died less than three weeks later at her home, 327 West 25th St., Manhattan, N. Y., on November 17, 1884 of Peritonitis, an infection most likely caused during childbirth. At this time, prior to the use of antibiotics, the death rate resulting from childbirth was as high as 6 out of 100 woman.
Ellen's Burial Service was held on November 19, 1894 at St. Peters Episcopal Church at 346 West 20th Street, New York city.
Her infant daughter, Gertrude, was baptised in the same church on the same date. This normally joyous occasion was surely melancholy, but all a fairly "normal" part of life in the 19th century. Among the baptism sponsors are Constance Walton, the wife of Edwin's brother George Walton (and my great-grandmother).
Ellen is memorialized with her Husband and Father on the headstone above, in Manchester England but she is interred in Brooklyn's Evergreen cemetery in the Pleasant Hill section, Grave # 6753.
She was only 29 years old
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Mary Ann Walton (1851-1935)
Mary Ann Walton was born on August 23, 1851 to Joseph Walton (1832-1900) and Mary Lyndoe (1824-1870). Her birth is registered in Cheadle, the registration district office for Cheddleton and the surrounding rural area. Her Baptism on Sept 21, 1851 is recorded in the Parish register of St. Edward Episcopal Church in Cheddleton.
Throughout her life, she lists her birthplace as Basford. An 1851 Gazeteer describes Basford as "a hamlet and manor, of which the Rev J Sneyd is lord. Basford Hall is the seat of the Rev Samuel Bradshaw, MA". Basford Hall is just beyond Cheddleton and where Joseph worked as a Butler.
Nan was a common English nickname for Anne. Perhaps this was used in the houshold to distinguish Mary Ann from her mother Mary?
Mary Ann lived with her father throughout her life and never married. In 1901 we find Mary Ann living at 114 Kirkmanshulme Lane, Longsight, a suburb in southern Manchester where her father died the previous year. The only other relative is her 6 year old niece "Nellie" Walton, born in America in 1894. (This is Ellen and Edwin's daughter, Gertrude). Edwin Walton is not found in the 1901 census. In 1911 Mary Ann has moved to 1 Giles Street, Longsight, Manchester still living with her 16 year old niece, identified as G.M.E.H. Walton. Born in New York, but a British citizen, and working as a "confectioneer", G. M. E. H. is obviously Gertrude Mary Ellen Hayes Walton, the daughter of Edwin. Edwin Walton is, again, not found in the 1911 English census.
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| Marriage Register of Marion Walton with Aunt Mary Ann Walton's Signature as witness |
No additional records for Mary Ann Walton could be found until her Death on 26 June1935. She is buried in Southern Cemetery with her Father and Sister.
Mary Ann lived to be 83. She never married.
Mary Ann Walton's Find-A-Grave record
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Headstone Question
When was this headstone initially carved? 1900? 1929? 1894?
Were names added as people died and were buried in the same grave site...or was the headstone carved all at once, at a later date?
I think that the headstone was carved initially in 1935 or later and errected when Mary Ann was buried. This would make sense since the lettering and spacing used is consistant across the entire headstone, but there are other clues.
First...why is Nellie's death date left blank? Surely this detail would have been well known if it was supplied at the time of her death in 1894, but may well have been forgotten if the headstone was being carved in 1935, over forty years later!
And if the Headstone originated with the first to die, Nellie in 1894, then why is she listed in the THIRD slot after her husband Edwin?
You may assume it was carved and erected for patriarch Joseph in 1900, but again the question is, why wouldn't Nellie have been added at that time, putting her in the SECOND slot, and possibly filling in her correct death date?
And why is Edwin in the second spot and listed as a "Beloved Nephew"? Why is Mary Ann a "Beloved Daughter" and Nellie only just "Daughter"?
The final clue that may indicate this was carved all at once in 1935 upon Mary Ann's death is this...There is one more person buried here, and a little more room on the bottom of the headstone to squeeze that final name in, even if he wasn't as beloved as Edwin and Mary Ann. But there is no name added. Could this be because the headstone was carved all at once, and no further names were added? Probably.
So Who is the Forth Person?
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Person Number Four
Remember, although there are FOUR names on the headstone, Nellie (Ellen) is buried in New York, so that only acounts for three burials at this Grave site.
The result of the Manchester city council website burial record search shows FOUR positions and FOUR BURIALS in Grave site 2227.
Grave Position Deceased
DConsecrated 2227 1 Joseph Walton
DConsecrated 2227 2 Edward Walton
DConsecrated 2227 3 Mary Ann Walton
DConsecrated 2227 4 Alfred Walton
Alfred Walton (1862-1950) is buried here but his name is Not on the headstone.
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Alfred Walton (1862-1939)
Alfred Walton, son of Joseph Walton and brother of Ellen and Mary Ann was buried in DConsecrated grave 2227 on April 10, 1939. He was 77.
Note: his name was NOT added to the headstone in 1939, although there is probably room at the bottom to squeeze it in, further evidence that the headstone was carved all at one time and never modified.
Alfred Walton was born August 19, 1862 In Basford Cottages near Cheddleton, Staffordshire, England to Joseph Walton (1832-1900) and Mary Lyndoe (1824-1870).
On March 29 1886 The 23 year old Alfred married Beatrice Hague, also 23, at Ashton Under Lyne, in Manchester.
Between 1888 and 1896 they had 5 children while living in Manchester.
They continued living in the Manchester through 1911, the latest Census record and, since they are buried here, most likely through the end of their lives. According to Census data, Alfred worked as a Grocery store Warehouseman throughout his working life.
Alfred died in 1939 and was buried on April 10, 1939 in DConsecrated Grave #2227. His name is not on the headstone, but he rests here with his family.
Beatrice died in in 1940 and is probably buried in Groton Cemetery, Groton, Manchester.
Grave Position Deceased
DConsecrated 2227 1 Joseph Walton
DConsecrated 2227 2 Edward Walton
DConsecrated 2227 3 Mary Ann Walton
DConsecrated 2227 4 Alfred Walton
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Alfred Walton (1862-1939)
Alfred Walton, son of Joseph Walton and brother of Ellen and Mary Ann was buried in DConsecrated grave 2227 on April 10, 1939. He was 77.
Note: his name was NOT added to the headstone in 1939, although there is probably room at the bottom to squeeze it in, further evidence that the headstone was carved all at one time and never modified.
Alfred Walton was born August 19, 1862 In Basford Cottages near Cheddleton, Staffordshire, England to Joseph Walton (1832-1900) and Mary Lyndoe (1824-1870).
On March 29 1886 The 23 year old Alfred married Beatrice Hague, also 23, at Ashton Under Lyne, in Manchester.
Between 1888 and 1896 they had 5 children while living in Manchester.
They continued living in the Manchester through 1911, the latest Census record and, since they are buried here, most likely through the end of their lives. According to Census data, Alfred worked as a Grocery store Warehouseman throughout his working life.
Alfred died in 1939 and was buried on April 10, 1939 in DConsecrated Grave #2227. His name is not on the headstone, but he rests here with his family.
Beatrice died in in 1940 and is probably buried in Groton Cemetery, Groton, Manchester.
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