This was a photograph sent to Sarah Ann Coooper (nee Laister) in Australia by her sister Elizabeth Cowlishaw. The inscription on the back reads:
[?] with much love to dear sister Sarah Ann Cooper
Elizabeth appears to be wearing mourning. As she died a year before her husband it must have been mourning for someone in her near family.
The grave of my grandparents, Thomas Pow and Jane Penman Pow (nee Millar). They are buried in the Protestant section of the Lithgow General Cemetery. The transcription reads:
In Loving Memory of
Thomas Pow
Called Home 5 Sept 1968 - Aged 81 Years
Jane Penman Pow
Called Home 13 Aug 1986 - Aged 98 Years
With Christ
Dearly loved and deeply missed.
This photograph was provided by Richard Woodhead. It is of the Mosborough Endowed School. On the top row extreme left is Arthur Woodhead. Eighth from the left on the top row is Richard's father, Stanley Woodhead. Stanley was presented the photograph for perfect attendance in 1908-1909.
This photograph was printed on tin and probably came with the Coopers from Rotherham. It was sent via email from Richard Woodhead:
HI Leonie : do you know anyone who can identify this photo It was found with gertrude cooper's things. The figure on the right tooks like a cooper? It was printed on tin which I had to hammer flat to photo.
I've finally uploaded a decent photograph of Sarah's gravestone. Its a gravestone befitting the wife and mother of stone masons. She is buried with her son Albert and his wife Henrietta, and their son Hugh. The grave is located in the Independent Section of Rookwood Cemetery.
Many thanks to Margaret Sturdy for obtaining these photos of Arthur Woodhead's war grave in Belgium. She emailed:
I have been over to Belgium with my brother and his wife visiting the Battlefields of Flanders and I thought you might like the attached.
Ridgewood Cemetery is in beautiful surroundings, at the end of a narrow lane at the side of a wood and open fields on the other three sides. The inscription is becoming a little faded but they do replace them when they get too far gone - it reads: “3971 Lance Cpl A Woodhead DCM 2nd Bn Australian Inf 28th March 1918”
The personal inscription on the bottom reads: “He gave his life at duty’s call beloved by comrades one and all”.
We also visited Frederick Waller’s grave the third son of Emily Kate Laister.
For many years the fate of Emily Kate Couch's son has been a mystery. I have now found what became of this poor orphan. After his parents' deaths the child was cared for by his Aunt Margaret, William Glover's sister, who had married Frederick Taylor. They lived in Leeds with Harry Glover.
In WWI John was killed in France and is buried at the Douchy-Les-Ayette British Cemetery. The following is the entry at the War Graves Commission website:
In Memory of
Private JOHN WILLIAM GLOVER
19/1473, 13th Bn., Northumberland Fusiliers
who died age 27
on 30 March 1917
Son of William Glover, of g Brudenell Rd., Hyde Park, Leeds.
Remembered with honour
DOUCHY-LES-AYETTE BRITISH CEMETERY
My grandparents, Frank Victor Price and Marjorie Synott Price, are buried at Wentworth Falls Cemetery. The inscription reads:
In Loving Memory of
Our Dear Mother and Father
MARJORIE SYNOTT PRICE
27th Nov. 1976., 79 yrs
FRANK VICTOR PRICE
24th May 1977., 78 yrs
I'm usually pretty good at decyphering old handwriting but this one has me beat. It appears to start with the letter "L". Feb or Sep? What do you think?
UPDATE: The certificate is from the September quarter, so September it is. Should have checked that first!
Wadsley Parish Church in Sheffield features strongly in the Laister family history. It was here that Henry Laister and his wife Mary Ann (nee Couch) are buried and where their daughter Elizabeth married John Oldfield.
Many thanks to Margaret Sturdy for providing me with a copy of the Third Section of the Herbert Laister Inheritance Chart. This chart was drawn up by the Solicitor for Herbert Laister's estate. Herbert died on the Isle of Wight in 1952. As he had no children his estate was divided between his closest living relatives, who happened to be the descendants of his Laister and Gillott aunts and uncles.
I have been able to use this chart to update the Laister Family tree. This prints out the tree as a descendancy chart.
Claythorpe Watermill appears to have been either owned or managed by the Couch family, into which Henry Laister and Emma Kezia Laister married.
It appears as if Henry was working there as a Miller. Sometime after marrying Mary Ann he began to work as a porter and then a clerk for the railways. The railway line used to run to Claythorpe until it was closed down around 1961.
Sarah Couch (Mary Ann's mother) continued to run the mill after her husband's death in 1855, retiring some time after 1861 on a annuity. She then lived with her daughter, Elizabeth and her husband George Crow at Aby with Greenfield, just a short walk from Claythorpe.
This is part of the marriage certificate of Henry Laister and Mary Ann Couch. I think it reads:
Thomas Laister - Mail Contractor
James Couch - Miller
In every other document Thomas Laister is referred to as a farmer or a grocer. Maybe he did a short stint delivering the local mail. The same document shows Henry Laister as a "Miller". Maybe he met Mary Ann through working with her father.
On 20 Dec 1846 Henry Laister (brother to Sarah Ann Laister) married Mary Ann Couch at the St. John the Baptist Church, Belleau parish, Claythorpe, Lincolnshire, England. This is a photograph of the church.
This is also the church at which the Couch children would have been christened.
Victoria does the chicken dance near her 3rd great-grandmother's grave. I can't explain it either.
Click on the picture to see an enlargement of the chart.
Click on the picture to see an enlargement of the chart.
Click on the picture to see an enlargement of the chart.
Inscription reads:
In Dear Remembrance
of our mother
Elizabeth Agnes Price
Died 18th November 1920
Aged 56 Years
Also her daughter
Mary Ann Esther
21st Jan 1956 73 Yrs
Thomas and Sarah Laister, along with son Edwin and his wife Anne, are buried at Moorgate Cemetery, Rotherham.
Inscription reads:
In Affectionate Remembrance of
Thomas Laister who departed this life
February 20th 1869 aged 75 years.
Also Sarah, relict of the above
who died May 5th 1877 aged 76 years.
Prepare to meet thy God
Also Edwin John,
son of the above
who died April 6th 1907 aged 66 years.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead,
yet shall he live
Also Anne, wife of the above named
Edwin John Laister
who died December 13th 1916
The Lord is my shepherd
Make them to be numbered with
thy saints in glory everylasting
Many thanks to Margaret Sturdy for obtaining these photographs and making them available to me. Its thrilling to be able to see the grave of my Third-great Grandfather.
Grave at Wadsley Parish Church, Sheffield, Yorkshire
Inscription reads:
In loving memory of Henry Laister
of Barnsley born April 6 1826 died November 6 1900.
Also Mary Ann the beloved wife of the above
who died July 26 1865 age 35 years.
Also Ernest Alfred
son of Henry and Mary Ann Laister
who died March 24 1868 age 15 years.
Also Walter Henry their son
who died May 12 1871 age 22 years.
This Remembrance Card is in the possession of Lloyd Bond, who probably received it from his grandmother, Sarah Cooper (nee Laister). Henry was her brother and she was probably sent the Remembrance Card by one of Henry's children.
