Maria Vero, Layton Cemetery, Blackpool #8

'In

Loving Memory

of

MARIA,

WIFE OF DAVID R. VERO,

PASSED AWAY 20^TH FEB. 1913,

AGED 76.

SHE WAS A MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL SOCIETY

FOR WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE. (MANCHESTER BRANCH)

AND LEFT THIS WORLD AN ANCIENT TEMPLAR,

AND BRITISH WOMAN.'

Again, I can find no information on this person other than that on the gravestone, although the concern with women's suffrage is interesting. David R. Vero and Maria were no doubt also very involved with the temperance movement, but there is nothing else to discover. And what does 'British woman' mean exactly?

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

Richard Gorton Barlow, Layton Cemetery, Blackpool #7

'Here lie the remains of

RICHARD GORTON BARLOW,

DIED 31^ST JULY 1919, AGED 68 YEARS.

FOR TWENTY ONE SEASONS A PLAYING

MEMBER OF THE LANCASHIRE COUNTY

XI, AND FOR TWENTY ONE SEASONS

AN UMPIRE IN COUNTY MATCHES.

HE ALSO MADE THREE JOURNEYS

TO AUSTRALIA WITH ENGLISH TEAMS.

THIS IS A CONSECUTIVE RECORD IN

FIRST CLASS CRICKET WHICH NO OTHER

CRICKETER HAS YET ACHIEVED.

BOWLED AT LAST.'

I hardly ever include anything concerning sport as I have a virulent allergy to competitive activities, but I simply had to include this as the monumental work is so unusual and attractive.

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

Ada Boswell, Layton Cemetery, Blackpool #6

'In loving Memory of

ADA,

THE BELOVED WIFE OF

TOBIAS BOSWELL,

OF SOUTH SHORE.

WHO DIED MAY 11^TH 1901.

AGED 48 YEARS.

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN.

QUEEN OF THE GIPSIES.

ALSO OF THE ABOVE

TOBIAS BOSWELL,

WHO DIED APRIL 5^TH 1908,

AGED 52 YEARS.'

I have almost no information on 'The Queen of the Gipsies', least of all why she was so called.

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

James Wayman and Samuel Pilling, Layton Cemetery, Blackpool #5

'RAISED BY FRIENDS

TO THE MEMORY OF

THE

REV. JAMES WAYMAN,

BORN AUGUST 15^TH 1840,

DIED DECEMBER 8^TH 1899.

HE WAS A GOOD MINISTER,

AND USEFUL CITIZEN.'

'Useful citizen' today seems an odd way to describe someone, and I wonder if it seemed odd at the end of the 19th century too. James Wayman was also the co-founder of the Blackpool Times in 1877, with Samuel Pilling:

'IN

LOVING MEMORY

OF

EMMA

WIFE OF THE

REV. S. PILLING,

BORN DEC^R 9^TH 1844,

DIED MAY 5^TH 1927.

ALSO OF THE ABOVE

REV. SAMUEL PILLING

BORN DEC^R 29^TH 1844,

DIED JAN^Y 11^TH 1930.'

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

George Washington Williams: Layton Cemetery, Blackpool #3

'GEORGE

WASHINGTON

WILLIAMS

AFRO-AMERICAN

HISTORIAN

1849–1891'

George Washington Williams was born in Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania. In 1874, he became the first African American to graduate from Newton Theological College. Supported by Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, he founded the monthly journal The Commoner in Washington D.C., publishing eight issues. His most noted works are A History of Negro Troops in the War of Rebellion and The History of the Negro Race in America 1619–1880.

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

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

Spencer Timothy Hall: Layton Cemetery, Blackpool #1

'HERE RESTS, LIFE'S LABOURS O'ER,
THE EARTHLY REMAINS OF
SPENCER TIMOTHY HALL. PH.D., M.D., M.A,
"THE SHERWOOD FORESTER,"
AUTHOR OF "THE FORESTER'S OFFERING,"
"THE PEAK OF THE PLAIN," "BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
OF REMARKABLE PEOPLE," AND OTHER LITERARY WORKS.
BORN AT SUTTON-IN-ASHFIELD, DEC. 16^TH 1812,
DIED AT BLACKPOOL, APRIL 26^TH 1885.
"WHO, WALKING OFT WITH NATURE, HAND IN HAND,
TURNED ON HER WHEN SHE SPOKE, A RAPTURED EYE,
AND THEN, RETIRING IN HIS INMOST HEART,
THERE PONDERED ALL HER TEACHING O'ER AGAIN,
UNTIL, O'ER FILLED WITH GRATITUDE AND JOY,
HE TRIED TO ECHO THEM IN HYMNS TO GOD.
AND CHEERING WORDS AND WORK FOR SUFFERING MEN."

ERECTED BY HIS EARLY FRIEND, C.P.'*

* Dr Rowena Edlin-White informs me that 'C.P.' is 'Charles Plumbe (1813- ?1899), a cousin of Samuel Plumb the poet. Apart from being Post Master in Mansfield he produced two newspapers, The Sherwood Gatherer and later, The Midland Gazette. Apparently also a poet in a small way, I have yet to find anything by him. He appears to have been the last survivor of the Sherwood Forest Group'.

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