Samuel Appleyard Sutcliffe was born on 28 Aug 1798 in Chinley, Derbyshire. His baptism record tells us that he was the first living child of William and Martha Sutcliffe. He was baptised on 30 Sep 1798 at Chinley Independent Chapel, built in 1662 and still stands today.
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Samuel married Elizabeth (also known as Betty) Bostock on 10 Dec 1823 in Sandbach, Cheshire. The couple moved to Halifax, but Elizabeth died on 23 Aug 1835 aged 33. On 12 Oct 1836 Samuel married his second wife, Mary Oldfield.
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Samuel lived around Halifax, his registered addresses being Bedford Street, Clarence Street, and on the 1851 census he was living at number 3 Westgate.
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In 1840 he was made an assignee in the bankruptcy of Joshua Shackleton of Clayton. This meant he was assigned all of Joshua Shackleton’s property for the benefit of the creditors, taking control of Joshua’s debts. This suggests he was a reliable and trustworthy person.
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Samuel was a grocer, and had a business with Thomas Curtis in Old Cock Yard, Halifax named Sutcliffe and Curtis. In 1850 a notice was placed in the Halifax Guardian that the business was being dissolved by mutual consent, and that all debts owed to or from the business would be dealt with by Samuel. In the same quarter a death was registered for a Thomas Curtis in Halifax. Its possible that this is the same Thomas Curtis, and that the business was dissolved due to a terminal diagnosis.
The next year, on the 1851 census Samuel is recorded as a grocer still, employing one assistant.
Halifax Guardian 11th May 1850
Samuel died on 10th December 1860 aged 62. He left everything to his second wife Mary, the exact sum isn’t recorded but we know it was under £450. Samuel was buried with his first wife Elizabeth.
His second wife Mary appears on the 1861 and 1871 census as an annuitant, suggesting she was living off the money left to her in Samuel’s will.
When Mary died in 1876, she was buried with Samuel and his first wife Elizabeth.
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Researched by Katie Wadsworth
Photograph of gravestone made for exhibition