Swinton Unitarian Church Yard Burial Ground, Swinton Manchester Help Needed

[Wallie Lizzie]

Asda have put forward plans to build a new store in Swinton, Manchester.  The plans include removing 313 people who are laid to rest in Swinton Unitarian Church Yard. The last burial was November 1962 just under 50 years ago! Here is a list of surnames of the people buried in the church yard. We are looking for relatives of people buried there. We are opposed to the plan to remove the Swinton people from their final resting place. This includes a WW1 soldier Wilbraham Blears who was buried there will full milatary honours along with 3 men who were killed in the Clifton Pit Disaster of 1885. I have a full list of names, so if you think any of your ancestors are buried there please contact me. Many of these people were local bussiness people who had shops in Swinton for many years.

Surnames of people and how many laid to rest in Swinton Unitarian Church Yard.


Royle x 27
Longworth x 24
Pearson x 12
Pollitt x 12
Smith x 12
Sharples x 12
Worthington x 11
Collier x 9
Bradburn x 8
Crooke x 7
Ormrod x 7
Wolstenholme x 7
Johnson x 6
Musker x 6
Barlow x 5
Gee x 5
Gregory x 5
Evans x 5
Blears x 7
Lee x 4
Higginson x 4
Gregory x 4
Greenhalgh x 4
Davis x4
Lee x 4
Hobson x 4
Holland x 4
Burrows x 4
Cadman x 4
Milne x 3
Lea x 3
Cheetham x 3
Cordwell x 3
Burton x 3
Henshaw x 3
Brookes x 3
Owen x 3
Snape x 3
Thorley x 3
Whitehead x 3
Broadbent x 3
Driver x 2
Henshaw x 2
Lingard x 2
Jones x 2
Johnson x 2
Waring x 2
Pike x 2
Booth x 2
Basson x 2
Llyod x 2
Jones x 1
Lamb x 1
Grundy x 1
Barrett x 1
Royds x 1
Harding x 1
Manion x 1
Lansdale x 1
Humphries x 1
Neild x 1
Bradburn x 1
Higginson x 1
Clarke x 1
Boardman x 1
Walker x 1
Worrall x 1
Redford x 1
Batley x 1
Bate x 1
Cron x 1
Hirst x 1
Price x 1
Higson x 1
Cooke x 1

[Wallie Lizzie]

The second son of Edward Blears and Elizabeth Lomax Wilbraham was born in 1895 at the family home on Chorley Road opposite the old Swinton market place. Employed by the Eccles Co-Operative Society he worked in the grocery section of the Swinton branch located on Worsley Road.

94397 Pte. Blears enlisted in the Manchester Regiment February 1916. Once basic training was completed he left for Egypt in the November of that year. After a comparatively short time he was dispatched to France and transferred to The King’s Liverpool Regiment. Early 1917 he was struck down by the debilitating disease Trench Fever and spent a period of rehabilitation in hospital firstly in Dundee and later Blackpool. Blears’ elder brother James Edward of the 19 th Lancashire Fusiliers too endured a bout of the disease; he survived the war and returned home to Swinton.

Once recuperated Wilbraham rejoined his battalion fighting on the front line in France for a further six months before being invalided back home towards the end of 1917 suffering from gas poisoning.

Wilbraham Lomax Blears succumbed to the effects of Gas Shell poisoning and Broncho Pneumonia passing away on Monday 13 th May 1918 at Royd Hall Military Hospital, Lindley, a suburb of Huddersfield in Yorkshire. The funeral with full military honours took place a few days later, his body interred in Swinton Unitarian Church Chapel Yard, Swinton Hall Road, Swinton. A Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone commemorated Wilbraham’s grave. The church was demolished in 1985 his name was subsequently added on a memorial screen wall dedicated to military casualties of WWI in Southern Cemetery, Manchester.

Pte. Blears’ body along with six members of his immediate family and 306 other internments of Swinton people in the Unitarian Chapel Yard are under threat of removal, the bodies to be relocated elsewhere. The grounds of the church and attached burial site lie on land currently being pursued by ASDA - Walmart as part of their proposal to build a superstore in Swinton.

I have formed the "Friends of Swinton Unitarian Burial Ground group" and along with relatives of those buried at the site, local historians and people from the community we are hoping that Asda will amend their current plans. The proposed store is not a problem, but they want the burial ground to be used as an HGV service/turning area so it is possible for Asda to have a new store and preserve the burial ground but the current plans would need amending and re-submitting.

We have spent time in talks with Asda property managers and I am campaigning as hard as possible because I don't believe that a man who paid the ultimate sacrifice for us and who was buried will full military honours should be removed from his final resting place in his family plot.
By Emma Harrison SWARM (Salford War Memorial Society)

[Wallie Lizzie]

Also buried at Swinton Unitarian are three brave men who lost their lives in the Clifton Pit Explosion of 1885 which killed 178 men and boys, these men being:-

 

Joseph Pearson plot no 37 aged 49 of 13 Park St, Swinton was brought out of the pit alive but died a few days later from injuries, he was a day wageman who left behind his wife Sarah Ann and 5 children.

John Collier plot no 38 aged 35 of 5 Folly Lane, bricklayer killed in the pit 18th June 1885 left behind a wife Alice.

John Mannion plot no 16 aged 25 of Holland Street, Swinton coal miner killed in the pit 18th June 1885 left behind 4 children.
Lizzie Leek

[Wallie Lizzie]

Please take time to read through this, as it lists many of the families closely connected to the Church and School, some of whom are buried in the Swinton Unitarian Church yard. posted by Lizzie Leek

OFFICERS OF SWINTON UNITARIAN CHURCH 1820 – 1921 1921 - 1958

PRESIDENTS 1820-1921

Henry E. Ermen

George H. Leigh

B.G. Ermen – Vice-President

CHAIRMEN OF COMMITTEE

Henry E. Ermen

Reuben Pollitt

Colin Johnson

Robert Royle

Walter Johnson

Walter Stott

James Cadman

Lee Jones

Arthur Evans

CHURCH TREASURERS

Peter Holland

James H. Jackson

Henry E. Ermen

James E. Musker

Walter Johnson

Walter Stott

SECRETARIES

George Dawson

Walter Johnson

Henry Johnson

James Cadman

James Wroe

Ambrose Brookes

James Longworth

Thomas Royle

Horace Lansdale

Fred Jones

Colin Johnson

Thomas Royle

OFFERTORY STEWARDS

George Dawson

Thomas Royle

James Pollitt

James Sharples

John Royle, Senr.

Hy. Longworth

Herbert Clayton

ORGANISTS

James Boardman

John Sharples

George Lea

L.G. H. Crook

James Rowe

John Sharples

James Sharples.

CARETAKERS

Lee Worthington

James Rothewell

William Collier

William Barlow

Henry Longworth

Mrs. Henry Longworth, Senr.

Joseph Schofield

OFFICERS OF SUNDAY SCHOOL

SUPERINTENDENTS

William Collier

Lee Jones

Henry Pearson

Reuben Pollitt

Walter Johnson

Arthur Evans

Luke Smith

Walter Phillips

Charles Pollitt

James H. Gee

SECRETARIES

Henry Longworth, Senr.

James H. Jackson

Colin Johnson

Harry pollitt

Walter Johnson

Samuel Royle

Charles Pollitt

Robert Pennington

Wilfred Charlton

Thomas Cadman

Robert Pennington

FINANCIAL SECRETARIES

James H. Jackson

John Collier

Thomas Royle

Robert Pennington

Harry Pollitt

Alice Royles

Ernest Maddock

J.H. Johnson

Ella Brookes

BANK MANAGERS

Peter Holland

Herbert Johnson

William Royle

John Charlton

Walter Johnson

Ambrose Brookes

James Cadman

John Royle, Junr.

Henry Worthington

Thomas Cadman

REGISTRARS

Edward Knight

Frank Collier

James H. Jackson

Leonard Johnson

Thomas Royle

Lee Longworth

Ambrose Brookes

Elizabeth Lee

Henry Longworth

Thomas Cadman

John Royle, Junr.

Rowland V Sharples

LIBRARIANS

Lee Jones

Miss S.A. Pollitt

Herbert Johnson

William Jackson

Charles Pollitt

Robert Pennington

Frank Charlton

Miss Mary Collier

Reuben Pollitt

Miss J. Collier

James Smith

Miss N. Pollitt

Frank Pollitt

Miss Alice Royles

Ernest Smith

Miss Elizabeth Lee

George Pollitt

Miss Annie Longworth

Henry Longworth

Miss Annie Pollitt

SCHOOL ORGANISTS

John Worthington

James Sharples

Mrs. Frank Pollitt

Alice Sharples

H. V. Sharples

JUNIOR ROLL SECRETARY

Miss Eva Thorley

HON. MEMBER SCHOOL COMMITTEE

Miss Mary Longworth

OFFICER OF THE CHURCH 1921 - 1958

CHAIRMAN

1920 L. Jones

1921 A. Evans

1922-23 W. Phillips

1924 W. Brookes

1925 F. Pollitt

1926 A. Wallwork

1927 T. Royle

1928 F. Pollitt

1929 T. Howard

1930 A. Wallwork

1931 L. Johnson

1932 F. Smedley

1933-34 J. Holker

1935 E. pollitt

1936 F. Platt

1937 W. H. Cadman

1938-40 A. Hughes

1941 F. Platt

1942-43 F. Jones

1944 W. H. Cadman

1945-46 F. Platt

1947-53 R. Royle

1954-55 J. Evans

1956-58 T. Howard

SECRETARIES

1920 F. Jones

1921-26 T. Royle

1927-30 J. Holker

1931-33 S. Cron

1934 L. Johnson

1935-37 A. Aspa

1938-44 L. Lee

1945-48 F.B Harris

1949-58 F. Johnson

TREASURERS

1920 J. E. Musker

1921-30 W. Stott

1931-48 A. Wallwork

1949-58 E. Brookes

OFFERTORY STEWARDS

1920 H. Longworth

1921-51 H Clayton

1952-56 Mrs S. Cron

1957-58 L. Johnson

ORGANISTS

1917-51 J. Sharples

1951-52 P. S. Rogerson

1953-58 Mrs L. Brown

[Rena]

It's my belief that graves/cemeteries cannot be disturbed for 100 years after the last burial.

I see from the website below that this appears to be the case :

<<   Once interred, human remains cannot be disturbed without a special licence. For well over a century, application had to be made to the Home Office. In 2006, responsibility was transferred – along with other burial legislative matters – to the Department for Constitutional Affairs. There has, however, been no change to the requirement to apply for a licence in cases where remains are disturbed, even if that disturbance is accidental. Licenses have never been made available for the purpose of reusing a site for burial, although there are many instances of licenses being issued for the removal of bodies from churchyards to facilitate building, road-widening and other developments. >>

http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/crg/crgcontext.htm

That website gives other information and gives other links which may help, such as English Heritage, etc.

P.S.  I have just seen a piece about this case and the question of the 50 year rule.  I'd be asking if the council applied for and published that they were authorised to change the terms of the original church's "perpetuity/100 year" agreement.

I also noticed the Planning Officer doesn't seem to be aware of the legalities and I hope that he and the council have been informed in writing that they have not dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's when they sold this land.

[Wallie Lizzie]

Thank you so much for that information, I have let everyone know in the Friends of Swinton Unitarian Group which we have on facebook if you wanted to join us anyone?
We are an independant group who are trying out best to stop Asda from removing the dead from their final resting place to make way for a few car parking spaces and a turning point for their lorries. We are a non political group. We will look into this website further and contact English Heritage.
Thank you so much

[Luzzu]

Hi,

Wish you every success in stopping yet another cemetery being disturbed and redeveloped  .

I hope you manage to find some descendents in time because according to this document:-

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/human-remains-excavated-from-christian-burial-grounds-in-england/16602humanremains1.pdf

"Where human remains have been buried within the past fifty years, any objections from relatives or personal representatives of the deceased are fatal to the development and it may not lawfully proceed." (page 17, paragraph 93)

Have you contacted the local newspapers for help in putting forward your case?

Wonder if the CWGC can help in any way?

http://www.cwgc.org/

Luzzu 

[Luzzu]

Further to my previous post, I can see you already have the local media involved:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-17282546

I hope you find some of the relatives of the deceased in time.  ASDA probably know they are approaching the 50 year time limit for objections  .

Luzzu

[Wallie Lizzie]

Thank you for all your suggestions and help, yes we have contacted the media, and CWWG but anything else anyone can think of will be helpful.. Keep the suggestions coming...and if anyone can attend the Circle of Rememebrance on sat 24th March at the Swinton Unitairian Burial Ground we would be very happy to see you...