NAMES OF DECEASED MEMBERS AND ATTENDERS AND THEIR PLACE OF BURIAL OR CREMATION.
The Quakers, in the infancy of their Society were buried in their gardens or orchards, or in fields and premises of one another. They had, at that time, no grave-yards of their own, and they refused to be buried in those of the Church, lest they should acknowledge the validity of the human appointment of the priesthood, the propriety of payment for gospel labour and the peculiar holiness of consecrated ground. This refusal to be buried within the precincts of the Church was considered as the bearing of their testimony for Truth. In the process of time, they raised their meeting houses and burial grounds; sometimes these were at a distance from each other, such that, in later years, they chose to be buried in local cemeteries and, today, an increasing number choose to be cremated.
Many Fritchley Quakers are buried in the burial ground attached to Toad Hole Furnace Meeting House which is about six miles from Fritchley. In 1897 the 'Derbyshire Archaeological Journal' said this of the Meeting House and burial ground.
QUAKER CEMETERY AT TOAD HOLE FURNACE.
This spot lies about midway between the Peacock Hotel and Hall Field Gate, and so snugly sequestred is it, that, unless pointed out, but few travellers would discover its situation, the meeting house being quite at one with an adjoining cottage and contiguous buildings. No memorials mark the humble grave mounds, and the Cemetery would not be recognised as such by a casual visitor. No register is kept, and a few loose certificates in custody of the chapel keeper are the only memoranda of the departed members interred in the little grass plot close by. As there were only sixteen of these at the time of my visit, the readers of the Journal will pardon the Editor for preserving their names in a more permanent manner.
Mary Brandreth, aged 80 or more, June 1,1862
Samuel Bramley, 2nd December 1866
Samuel Bramley, 17th May 1869, the father of Peter Bramley
Isaac Sargent, 3rd May 1871 aged 92 years
Margaret Kelsall, 3rd January 1872 aged about 60
Sarah Bramley, wife of Samuel, 23rd August 1877 age 82
Ann Bramley, daughter-in-law of Sarah and Samuel, the wife of Peter, 18th November 1877
Hope Roots, 8th December 1877
John Helmsley, 20th December 1879 aged about 80
Jane Sargent (sister to Isaac), 29th August 1882
John Sargent (son of Isaac), 29th December 1883
Anders Evertson (from Norway), 21st May 1883
Peter Sadler Wake, 30th June 1883
Thomas Drewry, of Fritchley, 21st August 1884
Ann Wake, 5th July 1884
Ann Brown, aged 92 (date?)
(As these are merely certificates of registration of death by the district registrar, it is probable the interment in each case took place a day or two after the date on the certificate).
On the lintel of the meeting house door is engraven "Matthew Hopkinson, 1745". He is said to have been the owner of Ufton Fields in Oakerthorpe. The place is very cheerless within. There is an upper chamber for the female members. Meetings are held once a quarter.
From other records it appears that Toadhole Furnace was the last Meeting House to be added to those used by Chesterfield Quakers during this period . It appears that the land was purchased by Matthew Hopkinson of Shirland Park from Richard Kirkham in 1741. The building was completed and was handed over to Matthew Burgess of Grooby Lodge, Leicestershire (Matthew Hopkinson's son-in-Iaw),John Rodgers of Alfreton, Richard Rodgers of Alfreton, Jonathon Fletcher of Wessington, Joseph Fletcher of Wessington and William Draycote jr. of Southill in 1744 as trustees. The stone over the doorway was carved with the inscription 'Matthew Hopkinson 1745'. In answer to the Yearly Meeting Queries, the Quarterly Meeting replied in 1745 that a meeting house had been erected, but that no meeting had been settled. When Matthew Hopkinson was issuing instructions for his burial he requested 'that I may be taken to the toadole furnes, and be laid by the stairs that goes upon to the outter wall, as nere as can be and not lett them down’. His burial, in 1748, was the first recorded at the burial ground and is marked by a headstone at the foot of the stairs. Since then a number of families have used the burial ground , many of them from Fritchley
Meeting.
Since 1883, Fritchley Quakers have considered the possibility of having their own burial ground. Furnace was some distance away and was to them associated with the 'larger body' of Friends, the London Yearly Meeting. They raised this matter again in 1885, then in 1913, and finally in 1922, but no burial ground was acquired. Several Fritchley Quakers were buried in the burial ground adjacent to Bakewell Meeting House and others in local cemeteries. Only five cremations have been recorded.
From the Monthly Meeting records, the first Fritchley Quaker to be buried at Furnace was John Helmsley in 1880 and the last was Thomas Pye in 1956. In June 1959, Patricia Woore, a London Yearly Meeting Friend and wife of Alfred Woore was buried at Furnace. Although her husband was a member of Fritchley Meeting, she was only an infrequent attender at the Meeting. Between 1880 and 1959, forty members and attenders were buried at Furnace.
The following list of deaths and places of burial or cremation has been compiled from the record books or from information supplied by older members who are still associated with the Meeting.
Date |
Forename |
Surname |
Age |
Place of Burial |
---|---|---|---|---|
18/12/80 |
John |
Hemsley |
80 |
Furnace |
25/12/81 |
Louisa |
Gilkes |
Bakewell Meeting House |
|
02/03/82 |
Matilda |
Rickman |
82 |
Bakewell Meeting House |
26/08/82 |
Jane |
Sargent |
90 |
Furnace |
14/06/83 |
Anders |
Evertson |
Furnace |
|
27/12/83 |
John G. |
Sargent |
70 |
Furnace |
08/04/84 |
Sarah Ann |
Needham |
Knaresborough |
|
26/12/85 |
James |
Glover |
67 |
Liverpool |
30/01/87 |
John Bowman |
Blake |
7 |
Loughborough Cemetery |
20/09/88 |
Catherine |
Sargent |
75 |
Furnace |
01/04/94 |
Catherine Louisa |
McCheane |
12 |
Not recorded |
09/01/95 |
Jane |
Crisp |
Belper |
|
20/03/97 |
Sikke |
Evertson |
76 |
Stavanger, Norway |
10/12/97 |
Benjamin |
Bishop |
85 |
Not recorded |
16/03/98 |
Thomas |
Drewry |
85 |
Fleetwood |
17/02/05 |
Elizabeth |
Wake |
50 |
Selly Oak, Birmingham |
22/02/06 |
Mary Ellen |
Fritchley |
53 |
Furnace |
14/10/06 |
Alfred Carter |
Hinde |
9 |
Selly Oak, Birmingham |
23/02/08 |
William Amos |
Hill |
29 |
Furnace |
09/01/09 |
Elizabeth |
Marsden |
Furnace |
|
22/02/09 |
Elizabeth |
Swindlehurst |
Furnace |
|
08/03/11 |
Philip |
Wake |
7 |
Lodge Hill, Birmingham |
15/04/11 |
Caroline |
McCheane |
70 |
Borden, Saskatchewan, Canada |
11/05/12 |
Lucy |
Brookes |
96 |
Temple Hill, Dublin |
14/04/13 |
Mary Ann |
Blake |
Brinklow Cemetery |
|
01/01/14 |
Henry T. |
Wake |
82 |
Furnace |
09/02/14 |
Hannah |
Brayton |
61 |
Furnace |
09/12/14 |
Mary Rebecca |
Armatage |
Nottingham |
|
15/01/15 |
Lydia Barclay |
Sargent |
61 |
Furnace |
02/12/16 |
John |
Sadler |
62 |
High Flatts |
26/07/17 |
Horatio |
Blake |
74 |
Brinklow Cemetery |
30/01/22 |
John Sadler |
Davidson |
43 |
Furnace |
06/05/22 |
Francis Mary |
Watkins |
65 |
Furnace |
02/01/24 |
William |
McCheane |
Borden, Saskatchewan, Canada |
|
08/02/24 |
Ruth |
Tomlinson |
Belper |
|
24/02/25 |
Mary |
Davidson |
83 |
Furnace |
07/08/26 |
Edward T. |
Newbold |
Crich |
|
22/08/27 |
Ellen Kirkham |
Watkins |
72 |
Furnace |
14/10/28 |
Thomas |
Davidson |
78 |
Furnace |
05/12/28 |
Arthur Wilfred |
Ludlow |
18 |
Belper |
06/02/29 |
Agnes Duguid |
Cutts, |
Aberdeen |
|
09/02/29 |
Jesse |
Darbyshire |
79 |
Furnace |
15/10/31 |
Mary Elizabeth |
Pattinson |
Belper |
|
??/10/31 |
Henry |
Sargent |
80 |
Furnace |
20/05/32 |
John Newton |
Argyle |
Ripley |
|
30/05/32 |
Elizabeth |
Ludlow |
23 |
Belper |
18/7/32 |
Catherine Doubell |
Smith |
76 |
Furnace |
11/09/33 |
William J. |
Fritchley |
79 |
Furnace |
Alfred S. |
Sargent |
Furnace |
||
31/01/34 |
Hugh |
Wake |
74 |
Borden, Saskatchewan, Canada |
23/03/34 |
Mary |
Land |
Lodge Hill, Birmingham |
|
19/04/34 |
Edward |
Watkins |
86 |
Furnace |
12/12/34 |
Sophia Gough |
Shepherd |
84 |
Clevedon |
14/10/35 |
Jemima Bowman |
Blake |
61 |
Rugby |
27/03/36 |
Gopsil Brown |
Burtt |
Furnace |
|
23/10/36 |
Thomas |
Mander |
Furnace |
|
27/11/36 |
Philip |
Darbyshire |
55 |
Furnace |
31/07/37 |
Jane |
Lloyd |
84 |
Furnace |
04/06/38 |
Elizabeth |
Darbyshire |
91 |
Furnace |
09/07/38 |
Louisa |
Pye |
82 |
Furnace |
18/01/39 |
Ian |
Curzon |
19 |
Ripley |
04/05/39 |
Joseph |
Burtt |
76 |
Furnace |
21/01/40 |
Henry |
Lloyd |
87 |
Furnace |
20/07/40 |
George |
Smith |
Nairobi, Kenya |
|
25/08/40 |
Alfred |
Tomes |
60 |
Belper |
21/01/41 |
H. Whiteley |
King |
Furnace |
|
22/02/41 |
Rupert |
King |
Blackburn |
|
22/01/42 |
Edwin C. |
Hood |
84 |
Belper |
21/02/42 |
Emily D. |
Moody |
57 |
Walford, Nr. Ross |
29/10/42 |
Carl |
Patterson |
Visitor, Buried abroad |
|
11/03/44 |
Elizabeth May |
Burtt |
75 |
Furnace |
18/11/44 |
Margaret |
Wake |
85 |
Borden, Saskatchewan, Canada |
09/03/46 |
Alfred |
Curzon |
58 |
Ripley |
15/12/48 |
Pricilla Mary |
Burlingham |
90 |
Furnace |
19/01/49 |
Percy T. |
Moffat |
76 |
Rochdale, after cremation |
23/10/51 |
Ellen |
Moffat |
Not recorded |
|
30/04/51 |
Lucy Bradshaw |
Watkins |
72 |
Belper |
19/02/52 |
Henry |
Darbyshire |
27 |
Crich |
25/02/52 |
Dorothy L. |
Watkins |
65 |
Furnace |
04/08/52 |
Lucy E. |
Smith |
58 |
Furnace |
09/12/52 |
George |
Allen |
85 |
Pontshill, Ross-on-Wye |
Late 1954 |
Robert |
Patterson |
95 |
Harvorhill, Suffolk |
27/11/54 |
Edmund |
Hatcher |
94 |
Countesthorpe Cemetery |
24/04/56 |
Joseph A. |
Woore |
80 |
Furnace |
12/06/56 |
Thomas |
Pye |
90 |
Furnace |
12/09/56 |
Emily |
Burtt |
Whitley Bay |
|
27/05/58 |
Henry |
Darbyshire |
72 |
Crich |
08/05/59 |
Susanna Kelsall |
Blake |
71 |
Countesthorpe Cemetery |
11/06/59 |
Patricia |
Woore |
84 |
Furnace |
09/05/60 |
John Wake |
Joad |
17 |
Belper |
10/12/60 |
Henry |
Blake |
88 |
Countesthorpe Cemetery |
03/04/61 |
Arthur Bradshaw |
Watkins |
76 |
Cremated at Markeaton, Derby |
28/04/62 |
Lucy |
Clarke |
Lodge Hill, Birmingham |
|
16/06/62 |
Maria |
Watkins |
93 |
Cremated at Markeaton, Derby |
21/12/62 |
Mary Millie |
Watkins |
80 |
Cremated at Markeaton, Derby |
22/12/62 |
Arthur H. |
Ludlow |
80 |
Belper |
24/05/64 |
Ruth |
Smith |
70 |
Bakewell |
26/01/69 |
Elizabeth |
Darbyshire |
78 |
Crich |
27/05/69 |
George W. |
Davidson |
Nairobi, Kenya |
|
09/07/70 |
Elizabeth |
Davidson |
Nairobi, Kenya |
|
15/02/71 |
Charles H. |
Tomes |
62 |
Cremated, then interred at Belper |
11/09/71 |
Emmie |
Curzon |
Buxton |
|
06/09/72 |
Jean |
Smith |
70 |
Cremated at Markeaton, Derby |
12/11/74 |
Catherine Sargent |
Ludlow |
94 |
Belper |
09/02/80 |
Lydia |
Tomes |
89 |
Cremated at Markeaton, Derby, ashes taken to Belper Cemetery |
Most of the Fritchley Quakers buried in the burial ground at Furnace had no headstone to indicate the place of interment. However, in later years small headstones with a simple inscription were used. This minute concerning Thomas Davidson and dated 2nd, 7th month 1930 is the only reference to headstones on record and may be of some interest.
'The Clerk has received a letter from R. Keith Lindsay, Clerk to the Notts. and Derby Monthly Meeting suggesting that a stone be placed to mark the grave of our late dear Friend Thomas Davidson. The Clerk informs us that he has replied to the Monthly Meeting Clerk to the effect that "we feel sure Thomas Davidson would not have wished it and that we feel that it would make an invidious distinction between his grave and those of other of our dear Friends buried there". This was approved by the Meeting.'
It was not long after this minute was recorded that this 'distinction' became apparent, for a headstone was erected over the grave of Henry Sargent who was buried in October 1933, and soon after, over that of William Joseph Fritchley in 1933. Twenty years later, Henry Smith arranged for a simple headstone to be placed over the graves of his wife, Lucy E. Smith, who died in 1952, and that of his mother Catherine Doubell Smith who died in 1932.
Under the present 'Church Government', Friends are at liberty to adopt the use of place headstones in any burial ground , it being distinctly understood that in all cases they are to be erected under the direction of the Monthly Meeting, so that, in each particular burial ground, such uniformity is preserved in respect to materials, size, form and wording of the stones as well as the mode of placing them, as may effectually guard against any distinction being made in that place between rich and poor.
Quakers in general also felt that the use of gravestones and their inscriptions, was not the proper manner of honouring the dead - they conveyed no merit of the deceased by which his example may be followed. They convey no inspiration and no record of the power and divine grace in human life. It is right that all his good actions should live in the memory of those close to him and, if they be of value to those that follow, they should be prepared in some form of written testimony. Fritchley Meeting prepared several of these testimonies and a number were printed and, today, they have found their way into Quaker homes or are held in the archives of Quaker Libraries.
The library at Fritchley Meeting has, in its archives, testimonies to the lives of John G. Sargent, Thomas Davidson, Jesse Darbyshire, Catherine Doubell Smith, Edward Watkins, Catherine Ludlow and Lydia Tomes.
I have included a plan of Furnace burial ground with the location of many of the graves. In addition to these, the following members or attenders of Fritchley Meeting are also interred in the burial ground.
Isaac Sargent (Father of John G. Sargent)
John Hemsley
Jane Sargent (Sister of Isaac)
John G. Sargent
Anders Evertson
Peter Sadler Wake
Ann Wake
Catherine Sargent
Elizabeth Marsden
Thomas Mander
I have been unable to locate the place of their interment.
There are twelve headstones some of which are difficult to read; here
they are as I saw them in 1979.
Matthew Hopkinson died 1748
Mary E. Fritchley Age 53 22/02/1906
George Fell Shackleton (Ireland) Age 37 19/07/13
Henry Sargent Age 80 ??/10/31
Catherine Doubell Smith Age 76 18/07/33
William J. Fritchley Age 79 11/09/33
Pricilla Mary Burlingham Age 90 15/12/48
Lydia Ann Swindlehurst Age 82 10/03/51
Lucy Evelyn Smith Age 58 03/08/52
William James Swindlehurst Age 89 31/03/196?
Samuel King Age and date obliterated by erosion
There is one other stone with all information totally obliterated.
The burial ground with the headstones of Lucy E. Smith and Catherine Smith in the foreground and in the backgroundThe book "The Quakers of Fritchley" by Walter Lowndes is still available from the Fritchley Society of Friends. It is well illustrated and an interesting read.
We are grateful for their permission to use extracts from the book.
The following transcript of Toadhole burials was done by Heather Eaton and is reproduced with her permission.
NC a= Non conformist
PARISH |
NC |
VOL |
ENTRYNO. |
SURNAME |
FORENAMES |
DAY |
MONTH |
YEAR |
AGE |
OTHER |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
145 |
a |
1 |
1 |
DRAYCOAT |
WILLIAM |
20 |
October |
1758 |
36 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
2 |
FLETCHER |
JONA |
9 |
December |
1758 |
[ - ] |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
3 |
ROGERS |
JOHN |
5 |
March |
1766 |
66 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
4 |
SUTTEN |
ANN |
23 |
April |
1767 |
40 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
5 |
FLETCHER |
JOSEPH |
30 |
June |
1767 |
61 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
6 |
SUTTON |
ANN |
1768 |
2 |
|||
145 |
a |
1 |
7 |
FLETCHER |
ANN |
December |
1771 |
60 |
||
145 |
a |
1 |
8 |
JOHNSON |
THOMAS |
15 |
August |
1778 |
64 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
9 |
WALKER |
ANN |
16 |
April |
1779 |
5 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
10 |
WALKER |
MARY |
18 |
April |
1779 |
3 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
11 |
SUTTEN |
ANN |
28 |
February |
1786 |
47 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
12 |
JOHNSON |
THOMAS |
17 |
April |
1786 |
8 mo |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
13 |
JOHNSON |
MARY |
19 |
December |
1788 |
71 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
14 |
WILLIAM |
JOE |
8 |
March |
1789 |
25 dy |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
15 |
WALKER |
JOHN |
11 |
March |
1792 |
21 |
non member |
145 |
a |
1 |
16 |
NEWTON |
THOMAS |
18 |
May |
1793 |
1 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
17 |
WATSON |
JOHN |
19 |
June |
1793 |
65 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
18 |
BEARDALL |
HANNAH |
14 |
August |
1793 |
24 |
non member |
145 |
a |
1 |
19 |
SUTTON |
JEREMIAH |
9 |
January |
1797 |
6 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
20 |
WILLIAMSON |
EDWARD |
22 |
January |
1797 |
71 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
21 |
WALKER |
JOHN |
14 |
February |
1800 |
59 |
non member |
145 |
a |
1 |
22 |
NEWTON |
DIOCLESIAN |
16 |
July |
1801 |
39 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
23 |
SUTTON |
JOSEPH |
18 |
July |
1804 |
71 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
24 |
METCALF |
ELIZABETH |
10 |
May |
1805 |
90 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
25 |
HODGKINSON |
MARY |
26 |
February |
1807 |
61 |
non member |
145 |
a |
1 |
26 |
WALKER |
MARY |
30 |
January |
1812 |
73 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
27 |
LISTER |
JOHN |
19 |
December |
1813 |
52 |
non member |
145 |
a |
1 |
28 |
BROWN |
JOHN |
29 |
May |
1816 |
88 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
29 |
BROWN |
SARAH |
21 |
July |
1820 |
6 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
30 |
JOHNSON |
ANN |
12 |
August |
1820 |
80 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
31 |
BROWN |
ANN |
6 |
June |
1821 |
70 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
32 |
BROWN |
ELIZABETH |
9 |
July |
1823 |
55 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
33 |
JOHNSON |
JONATHAN |
30 |
March |
1825 |
80 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
34 |
SUTTEN |
JOSEPH |
27 |
January |
1826 |
33 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
35 |
DAVY |
ELIZA |
3 |
January |
1827 |
26 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
36 |
BROWN |
SUSANNA |
7 |
September |
1829 |
45 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
37 |
BROWN |
WILLIAM |
8 |
April |
1830 |
77 |
non member |
145 |
a |
1 |
38 |
BROWN |
EDWIN |
30 |
November |
1831 |
22 |
|
145 |
a |
1 |
39 |
BROOKS |
LYDIA |
25 |
November |
1832 |
68 |
non member |
145 |
a |
1 |
40 |
BROWN |
JOHN |
28 |
February |
1836 |
80 |
non member |
Thanks to Heather Eaton for the above.
Home | Nonconformist Index