Manchester General Cemetery Transcription Project
Buried Stories
Page 1
Fatal Explosion of a Kitchen Boiler 1862
Sunday 19th January at 7.30pm a Police Officer was passing the Britannia Buildings on Bury New Road when he heard a loud explosion from the house of Mr William R Taylor. Entering the property he discovered the kitchen boiler had exploded, the brickwork on both sides of the stove was missing a good twelve inches and the chimney piece was thrown down, the force of the explosion also affected the adjoining property - the fire place was blown out and caused considerable damage, both houses had several windows broken. The heated grate and burning coal and ashes had been thrown into the middle of the kitchen almost completely covering Harriet Jane Taylor aged 7 years, who had been sitting before the fire at the time of the explosion. She was taken to the Royal Infirmary suffering from terrible scalding and burns but sadly died from the injuries.
An inquest was held 22nd January at the Infirmary, the principal witness William R. Taylor father of the deceased and occupier of the property owned by Mr Evan Mellor. Mr Taylor had complained to Mr Mellor of the leakage of water from the burst pipe which supplied water to the boiler from the cistern at the top of the boiler two months previously. Mr Mellor sent some workmen to repair the pipe, but within a week it had burst again. He again complained and Mr Mellor Junr., who advised him to turn off the tap as this was the only way to keep the kitchen dry. This was done resulting in the explosion. The coroner asked Mr Taylor if knew what ‘the consequence would be of turning off the tap’ to which he replied ‘certainly not – I acted on the advice of Mr Mellor’s Son.’ Mr Taylor was asked how often did he ask Mr Mellor for the repair to be done . Mr Taylors answer was ‘within six weeks I have complained to Mr Mellor or his Clerk at least half a dozen times. ‘
The Coroner asked Mr Robert Longridge, Chief Engineer of the Steam Boiler Insurance Company to examine the boiler and he stated ‘it was one of a small size, made of cast iron, it had been blown completely out of its fittings by the explosion. The material it was made from was completely inferior. Instead of being at 3/8 inch thick it was 1/8 inch thick. The accident arose from the exclusion of water from the boiler by turning off the taps, but a boiler of this description should never have been fitted with taps of any kind. There was no safety valve and as steam was continually accumulating the explosion was only a question of time. Mr Mellor stated the boiler was fixed in the property before his possession and denied that so many complaints were made by Mr Taylor, he promised to remove all such dangerous boilers from the properties under his supervision.
The Jury returned a verdict of ‘accidental death’ but severely censured Mr Mellor Junr., for the advice he gave to Mr Taylor and to Mr Mellor’s Clerk for not paying more attention to the complaints made respecting the defective piping.
Harriet Jane Taylor was buried in Manchester General Cemetery on 25th January 1862 in a public unmarked grave.
The family tragedy continues in our next story ...........
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 publicly 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”.
The funeral took placed on 19th May 1862, the
arrangements for which were carried out by
Mr L Ogden, an undertaker from Long Millgate.
The coffins were of oak and each bore a plate
engraved with the name and age of the child
and Mr Copeland from Victoria Market (who
later planted the grave with shrubs) provided
a large bouquet of flowers to decorate the
coffins. So great was the public sympathy,
that Mr Lee had people queuing at his house
to donate to the funeral and monument fund.
Hundreds of people lined the route to Harpurhey
and on arrival at the Cemetery there was a delay
as the crowd was so immense the gates had to be
cleared to allow the hearse to pass through.
Crowds also gathered in Queen’s Park adjacent
to the Cemetery to watch the funeral.
The monument, was commissioned from local
stonemason, William Grimshaw, to a design
supplied by Mr B Lee. The monument comprised
of three foot square base on which was mounted
a rectangular obelisk which was in turn topped by
a Latin cross. This stood at the head of the grave
which was surrounded by kerbstones topped with
iron palisading decorated with crosses to match the
main cross on the obelisk. The grave was then planted
with shrubs provided by a Mr Copeland of Victoria Market.
Beneath the inscription a bunch of lily of the valley flowers
was carved. Lily of valley symbolises purity and innocence.
Today only the base and rectangular obelisk has survived.
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.
Back of the Gravestone
of the three
Taylor Children
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.
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.
Manchester General Cemetery's Oldest Residents?
Until recently William Draper (Consecrated 3536)
held the record as being the Cemetery's oldest resident.
He was 101 years old when he died in 1903.
A resident of Northen Grove, Didsbury, born in London
and came to Manchester in 1827. For 40 years a traveller
in the Manchester Trade, he retired from aged business 70 years.
This has now been beaten by Mary Walker who was buried on 14th December 1862. She was aged 106 years and a resident of Lamb Lane, Collyhurst. It was reported in the local press that "she had never been compelled to resort to the use of spectacles". Apparently until the last two years of her life, she always fetched her own water from the well and always fetched the 5s 6d per week allowed to her by the Guardians. Mary Walker was interred in a public grave (Unknown 18621214) and as far as we know there is no gravestone.
We also have discovered more centenarians buried in the Cemetery -
Margaret Flevill buried 28th May 1847 aged 100 years,
John Ainsberry buried 22nd September 1849 aged 100 years,
Jane Davies buried 30th July 1850 aged 100 years,
Margery Dawson buried 22 Feb 1872 aged 101 years,
Hannah O'Neil buried 30th October 1879 aged 100 years.
William J. White buried 4th December 1946 Aged 101 years.
“Killed in a Main Sewer”
From time to time the MGCTP team come across a gravestone inscription with gives a small clue as to the what caused the death of the deceased person and quite often there is a story to tell. In the case of William Henry Slack, the nature of his death and the story behind it is a tragic one.
The inscription on the gravestone on Non Conformist 1650 reads:-
“William Henry, beloved son of Matthew and Hannah Slack, who was killed in a main sewer at Moston. Octr 23rd 1868, aged 14 years and 6 months ”
A main sewer seemed a very unusual place to die so it warranted further investigation. A search of the newspapers told the story of a tragic accident.
At around 12.00 noon on October 23rd 1868 at Boggart Hole Clough, Moston, William and two friends left the nearby construction site where they were employed on their break and came across the opening of the sewer which was around 17 feet in depth. One of the boys wanted to show off his athletic ability descended into the sewer and came out again safely. Not wanting to be beaten, the second boy did the same. William Slack followed but on his way out, he missed his footing and fell. Seeing what had happened, one of his friends wanted to raise the alarm and bring help but the other boy cautioned against it thinking it would be better to say nothing, so they left him there. It wasn’t until around 10.00 p.m. that guilt got the better of one of the two boys and he confessed what had happened to his older brother who raised the alarm and called the police. William Henry Slack was found dead at the bottom of the sewer. At first the police thought his death was suspicious and was as the result of foul play but after an enquiry it was found to be an accident. The cause of his death was an injury to the head.
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Lavinia Howard (ca1828-1876)
Lavinia Howard (formerly Lavinia Dearden) was the 48 year old wife of Manchester broker, Samuel Howard, and in 1871 was the mother of five children. They were married at St John’s Church, Manchester in 1853. She died on Wednesday 22nd November, her certificate recorded the cause of death as “consumption aggravated by excessive drinking” certified by the surgeon, a Mr Evans, who had attended her for more than a year. However, on the day of her burial Saturday 25th November 1876 at Manchester General Cemetery, the City Coroner, Mr Herford, received a letter which apart from defamation of her character and that of her husband and one of her daughters, also alleged that her death had been caused by violence inflicted by her husband. After an investigation and and post mortem examination on the body which had been exhumed an inquest was opened. No evidence could be offered to support the contents of the letter nor could the author of the letter be identified. The inquest jury therefore returned a verdict that Lavinia’s death had indeed been caused by consumption and as the deceased was addicted to drink, this aggravated her illness. Lavinia was buried in a Church Grave in the cemetery and is not recorded in the burial register.
Explosion of the Boiler on the Locomotive Engine “Irk”
George Mills, William Stones and William Alcock were killed by the explosion of the boiler on the locomotive engineer, “Irk”, on the Manchester and Leeds Railway on 28th January 1845. The inquest was controversial as the jury recorded a verdict of accidental death but also said there was some negligence. From the evidence presented, they believed the ordinary valve was closed to facilitate the pressure of steam and that for some unknown reason the safety valve did not work. There was also a fault on the copper plate and fire box which coupled with the build up of pressure resulted in the explosion which killed Messrs. Mills, Stones and Alcock. The remains of George Mills and William Alcock were interred at Manchester General Cemetery whilst the body of William Stones was taken to Bolton for burial
Mary Mitton (1803-1869) and her son, Thomas, (1846-1869)
The following inscription led to a newspaper search to discover how Mary Mitton and her grown up son, Thomas, had died on the same day:-
"...... Mary Mitton, his wife, who died February 22nd 1869, aged 66 years ....... Thomas Mitton, son of the above Daniel and Mary Mitton, who died with his mother February 22nd 1869, aged 23 years ....."
Their deaths were extensively reported in both the local and national newspapers. They lived at 445 Rochdale Road where they ran a retail business selling lamps and paraffin oil. At about 10.00 p.m. a fire broke out and it was initially believed that both the occupants had escaped. However after extensive enquiries were made they couldn’t find them so they searched the premises. They found mother and son in the front bedroom over the shop. It was believed they suffocated from the fumes of burning oil and spirit and that the cause of the fire was the leaking of a lamp containing benzoline spirit. It would appear from the inquest report that Thomas Mitton at another house further down the road when the fire broke out but went back to try to rescue his mother. He was seen at the bedroom window and was encouraged to jump but said something about his mother and went back into to the room. The coroner returned a verdict of accidental death.
Building Collapse Resulting in the Deaths of Three Children
The inscription reads:
“Sacred to the Memory of William Harry, aged 7 years and
7 months, and Frank Albert, aged 4 years and 4 months,
sons of Henry and Ann Wilkinson who were killed by the falling
of a building in Queen’s Road on May 22nd 1868”
The accident, which resulted in the death of three children
and injury of a man, was well reported in the local newspapers
and an inquest was heard by the City Coroner, Mr Herford.
The property which collapsed was known has
Hamilton’s Buildings and was owned Thomas Chesters, an
Ardwick brewer, who was having the site cleared for the
construction of a public house. The demolition was being
undertaken by Hulme building contractor, Mr David
Rowland. The inquest heard that as the work progressed
the gable was left standing in an unsafe state
without support. The gable gave way burying the three
children: brothers, William and Frank Wilkinson and
Charles Edward Roberts. All three children were dead when they were
pulled from underneath the debris. The coroner returned a verdict of accidental death.
A passer-by, William McCormick was knocked down when the building collapsed. He was taken to the Royal Infirmary and his injuries were not serious.
The Wilkinson children were buried in a family plot at Manchester General Cemetery. The third child, Charles Edward Roberts, aged 4 years, was buried at Cheetham Hill Wesleyan Cemetery. He was the son of Francis Roberts of Market Place, Queen’s Road.
Mary Ellen Baker (1872-1884)
Mary Ellen Baker was aged just 11 years and 6 months when she was tragically killed in unusual circumstances. She was a pupil at the Board School, Harpurhey when just before 2.00 p.m.the school bell, which was being rung for afternoon lessons, fell from a height of 50 feet and struck her on her head.
She died instantly from a fractured scull. She was buried in Non Conformist 2287 at Manchester General Cemetery. The grave is a private grave situated in Non Conformist Plot 2, however there is no gravestone.
Died from Loneliness
“Also Henry Lamont, beloved son of Charles H Cooper and Clara M Cooper died Dec 14th 1946 aged 39 years”
Henry Lamont Cooper was the son of Charles Henry and Clara Maud Cooper (formerly Lawson) who were married in 1906. Their son was born in 1907. His tragic story was discovered following the death of his mother in October 1946. Up until the age of nine years, Henry Lamont Cooper had attended school regularly. His mother then removed him from school and the education authorities forgot about him. He was hidden for 30 years and since that time he had never spoken to anyone apart from his mother and had never left the kitchen of his home. He was discovered after neighbours reported that Mrs Cooper hadn’t taken in the milk for several days. The authorities entered the house and found that Mrs Cooper had passed away and they found her son, crouched and terrified in the kitchen. He could only talk baby talk and was unable to dress or feed himself. The welfare officers removed Henry to an institution to be taken care of but after six weeks the police said he had died from loneliness. Henry Lamont Cooper was buried with his parents at Manchester General Cemetery.