Samuel Laycock: Layton Cemetery, Blackpool #2

'SAMUEL LAYCOCK,

BORN JANUARY 17^TH 1826,

PASSED TO THE HIGHER LIFE

DECEMBER 15^TH 1893.

THOU ART NOT IDLE: IN THY HIGHER SPHERE

THY SPIRIT BENDS ITSELF TO LOVING TASKS,

AND STRENGTH TO PERFECT WHAT IT DREAMED OF HERE

IS ALL THE CROWN AND GLORY THAT IT ASKS

ALSO OF HIS BELOVED WIFE

ELIZA,

WHO DIED FEBRUARY 27^TH 1917.

IN HER 82^ND YEAR.'

Unlike Spencer T. Hall's grave, Samuel Laycock's mentions nothing of his literary works, or anything of his life for that matter. Laycock was born in Marsden near Huddersfield, now in West Yorkshire, and was the son of John, a hand loom weaver. Samuel began his working life in a mill at the age of nine, and continued as a mill worker of different statuses until the American Civil War (1861–1864) caused him to be unemployed. He wrote dialect poetry about life in the mills, his earlier publications being Lancashire Rhymes; or Homely Pictures of the People (1864) and Lancashire Songs (1866). Laycock worked as a librarian at the Mechanics Institute in Stalybridge from 1865 to 1971, and later moved to Blackpool due to poor health. Eliza was his third wife, and the future novelist Arthur Laycock was one of their children.

Many thanks to The Friends of Layton Cemetery for their amazingly enthusiastic help with all our grave enquiries.

My Samuel Laycock posts:

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Samuel Laycock: Layton Cemetery, Blackpool
Samuel Laycock in Stalybridge

Samuel Laycock in Stalybridge, Tameside

The above title is slightly misleading because the photos were taken in the Portland Basin Museum, Ashton-under-Lyne, and this of course is a representation of a nineteenth-century print shop. But what really interests me is the copy of the old poster hanging up in the middle of the picture:

'SAMUEL LAYCOCK
LANCASHIRE POET
TO HONOUR THE MEMORY AND RECORD
THE CONNECTION OF SAMUEL LAYCOCK
WITH THE TOWN OF STALYBRIDGE THE FOLLOWING
PROGRAMME HAS BEEN ARRANGED AS A
LAYCOCK CELEBRATION
IN WHICH THE GENERAL PUBLIC OF STALYBRIDGE
ARE INVITED TO TAKE PART'

 The specific details of the event are brought to the fore:

'Saturday next, Sep. 23

3.0   Reception at the Free Library.

3-30  Unveiling of Portrait of Samuel Laycock in the Free Library.

Unveiling Ceremony by Mrs. Bowness of Blackpool, Daughter of the Poet.

4-0   Unveiling of Bronze Tablet outside the Mechanics' Institution.
Unveiling Ceremony by Mrs. ? Schofield, Thronton-le-Flyde, ?, Daughter of the Poet.

6.0   PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENT and Laycock Celebration, at the
Mechanics' Institution.

Splendid Programme by Dialect Entertainers, including Lancashire Sketches, Recitals,
and Songs of Laycock and Waugh. Programme by Lancashire Authors' Association.

NO CHARGE FOR ADMISSION TO ENTERTAINMENT COLLECTION FOR EXPENSES

Geo. Whittaker and Sons, Printers, 50 Market Street, Stalybridge Tel. 794'

My Samuel Laycock posts:
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Samuel Laycock: Layton Cemetery, Blackpool
Samuel Laycock in Stalybridge