Liversedge Cemetery serves the various villages that makeup Liversedge as well as portions of the wider Spen Valley region as a local cemetery. Opened in 1903, it stands testament to the rise, decline and current stagnation of the area and records many great stories of many great local people.
I intend to publish books, blog posts about the history of the Cemetery alongside the stories of those that rest within it. Furthermore, frustrated at the apparent lack of easily accessible records, I intend to make the Cemetery’s records more accessible to those who wish to use them.
How did it come to be?
In July 2020, I decided rather compulsively to attend my first tidy-up at my local cemetery, held by the Friends of Liversedge Cemetery. I remember my mum pulling up and talking to Tina, our founder, and then off I went. It was the first significant thing that developed from my interest in family and local history as the first lockdown was slowly eased.
I enjoyed volunteering, and then after a while, I joined The Hidden Branch and was introduced to the wider genealogy community. Just before that, I discovered that my Great Great Grandmother Betty Totton and her daughter Lucille were buried at the cemetery, only cementing my connection to it.
In regards to joining the wider genealogy community, I became aware of One Place Studies. After some internal deliberation, I decided to start my One Place Study of Liversedge Cemetery or #LivCemOPS on Twitter.
Plans for 2022
Now, at first, it was pretty chaotic, and I only released one blog post regarding the life of Jeremiah Jackson. However, now after releasing my book on the First World War Soldiers buried at the cemetery, I intend to take the study more seriously.
I intend to, for 2022, try to record, transcribe and collect rather than write. I believe that it is essential to try to make the records of the cemetery more accessible, and that is the aim of 2022.
Genealogy with George 