A hunting we will go ~ Tombstone Tuesday

Whilst on our trip around West Yorkshire over the summer, my kids and I checked out St John the Evangelist church in Oulton, near Rothwell.  It’s a lovely looking church from the outside, and the graveyard is mostly well kept and fun to play hide and seek in.

St John the Evangelist church, Oulton, West Yorkshire, August 2011

St John the Evangelist church, Oulton, West Yorkshire, August 2011

I gave my seven and four year olds a slip of paper each with three surnames to search for.   This is what my four year old daughter found:

Gravestone of George & Elizabeth Kemp, also Thomas Kemp, St John the Evangelist churchyard, Oulton, West Yorkshire

George and Elizabeth Kemp are my great great great great grandparents.  Buried with them is their son, Thomas.

George Kemp was born around 1811 in Whitley, West Yorkshire.  Elizabeth Dickinson was born in Castleford, West Yorkshire, around 1816.¹

They were married at St John’s church in the parish of Wakefield on December 3rd, 1843.  George and Elizabeth were of “full age”.Their fathers were Thomas Kemp, Labourer,  and James Dickinson, Farmer.²

From census returns, they appear to have had four children³:

• Thomas b. 1847
• Anna/Hannah b. 1849
• Sophia b. 1852
• Sarah Ann b. 1855

In the 1871 census, they had seven year old “adopted child” Georgiana Haigh living with them.⁴

I am descended from their daughter Sarah Ann.

Gravestone of George & Elizabeth Kemp, also Thomas Kemp, St John the Evangelist churchyard, Oulton, West Yorkshire

In
Affectionate Remembrance
of

GEORGE KEMP
who departed this life
January 1st 1882
aged 69 years

I look for the resurrection of
the dead and the life of the
world to come

also ELIZABETH, wife of the above
who died March 26th 1890
aged 75 years

also THOMAS, son of the above
who died October 25th 1895
aged 49 years

Be ye also ready

According to St John’s website, the churchyard is one of the biggest in Leeds, if not the county. George and Elizabeth’s gravestone seems to be in a quite prominent spot, facing the church’s front door.

George and Elizabeth Kemp's gravestone, St John the Evangelist church, Oulton, West Yorkshire

My son also found some Cockerham graves and there were several other surnames from our family, but it will take a little digging (sorry, couldn’t resist!) to find out if they are part of our tree.

Tombstone Tuesday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

1. “1851 England Census, George Kemp (age 40) household, Altofts, Yorkshire,” Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.co.uk/, accessed 05 Jun 2011), citing PRO HO107/2326, folio 395, p 10, GSU roll: 87562-87564, Wakefield registration district, Bretton sub-registration district, ED 11, household 36, 30 Mar 1851.
2. West Yorkshire Archive Service, Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; Yorkshire Parish Records; Old Reference Number: D145/4; New Reference Number: WDP145/1/1/4, marriage of George Kemp and Elizabeth Dickinson, digital image; Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.co.uk/, accessed 02 Sep 2011).
3. “1861 England Census, George Kemp (age 50) household, Whitwood, Yorkshire,” Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.co.uk/, accessed 05 Jun 2011), citing PRO RG9/3439, folio 99, p 24, GSU roll: 543132, Pontefract registration district, Pontefract sub-registration district, ED 19, household 99, 07 Apr 1861.
4. “1871 England Census, George Kemp (age 61) household, Oulton with Woodlesford, Yorkshire,” Findmypast, (http://www.findmypast.co.uk/, accessed 10 Jun 2011), citing PRO RG10/4516, folio 68, p 5, Hunslet registration district, Whitkirk sub-registration district, ED 5, household 23, 02 Apr 1871.