There are several family members buried in the same grave. William and Sarah, their daughter Mary and two of their sons who died in infancy, William and Joseph William.
Mary Barraclough was born in 1811 to Sarah and William Barraclough. She remained unmarried until her death at the age of 45 in 1857. A detailed newspaper report in the Halifax Guardian reveals that she suffered a fatal accident when her dress caught fire. She suffered from epileptic fits and whilst alone she had a fit and fell onto the hearth whereupon her clothes caught fire. On regaining consciousness, she went into the open air and became enveloped in flames. Although aided by a passer, who used his coat to smother the flames, and by the town clerk who fetched the surgeon, Mary remained badly burned and sadly suffered a slow death. An inquest returned a verdict of “Accidental death”.
Halifax Guardian 21st March 1857
Sarah Hitchon/Hitchen, later Sarah Barraclough, was born in February 1785 to parents John and Mary. Her father was a weaver. She married William in March 1806 and they had a number of children together – Samuel (b.1809), Mary (b.1811) William (b.1813), Sarah (b 1816), John (b.1819), Joseph William (b.1821) Anna (b. 1823). William and Joseph William died aged 17 months and 6 months and are buried with their parents and sister Mary. Sarah died in March 1859 and is described as the wife of William, a merchant.
William Barraclough was born in 1785 to parents Samuel and Mary. His birth was registered at Pellon Lane Chapel, home to the Particular Baptists. He lived with his family at West Croft, Lister Lane, Spring Hall and Heathfield Place. The 1851 Census states that he and his family employed a servant. Having worked as an apprentice to a cloth drawer he later became a woollen merchant and manufacturer working in Halifax at Gibbet Street and later Boys’ Mill and Bottoms Mill.
William Barraclough – plan of warehouse [waste and shoddy rooms] at Boys Mill, Skircoat, Dec 1867. West Yorkshire Archive Service Calderdale, CMT1/MU:26/311
William Barraclough and Sons also had an address in White Hart Yard, Huddersfield. Perry’s Bankrupt Gazette of 10 August 1844 lists him as being a trustee to a City of London woollen draper. He also gave his support to the Oldfield Patent Piecing Machine, a machine which was in constant use on his premises. William also exhibited woollen cloths at the Great Exhibition in 1851. In 1848 he served as a town councillor for Trinity Ward, Halifax but resigned the following year. By 1861 he was a widower lodging in Church Street. He died in 1869 almost 10 years to the day after the passing of his wife Sarah.
Researched by Tracey Williams
Photograph of gravestone made for exhibition