John Sharp was born around 1779. On 20th January 1805 he married Martha Midgley from Southowram at Halifax Parish Church. John is described as a husbandman, which is a livestock farmer.
They had at least four children who were all baptised at Halifax Parish Church; James was on the 1st December 1805, Joseph in February 1808, Sarah on 24th June 1810 and Hannah on 29th June 1816. John is described as a farmer.
Marriage of John Sharp and Martha Midgley, Halifax St John the Baptist, 20 Jan 1805. With permission from WYAS Wakefield, WDP53/1/3/11. Accessed via www.Ancestry.co.uk [15/10/2024]
At some point John appears to have left farming to become a shopkeeper/grocer. On the 1841 census John and Martha are living on King Street and he is a grocer. He is listed in trade directories from 1837 and 1845 as a shopkeeper at 1 King Street.
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An article in the Halifax Express in 1840 describes how he was burgled. It says “During Friday night an entrance into the shop of Mr John Sharp, grocer and bacon factor of Smithy Stake, was obtained by thieves through the cellar window and 12s or 13s in copper, 2 cheeses and two or three flitches of bacon were stolen”. Smithy Stake was an area of Halifax on the corner of King Street and what is now Winding Road. It is believed to have been named for the area where horses were tethered to be shod.
Halifax Express 17th October 1840
Their youngest daughter Sarah died aged 21 and is buried in the same grave.
Martha died in 1846.
Her death notice reads “Same day, aged 62, Martha, wife of Mr John Sharp, Grocer, Smithy Stake in this town”
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John lived for another few years. In 1851 he is living with his younger daughter Hannah, her second husband Isaac and her three children, Sarah (whose father was Hannah’s first husband Eli), Martha and Joseph who she had with Isaac. Hannah is buried with both her husbands at Square Chapel in grave number SCG 52.
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John died in July 1851. The death notice in the Halifax Guardian is difficult to read but his occupation appears to be ‘provisioner’.
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Researched by Sarah Rose
Photograph of gravestone made for exhibition