Early Wrathall Memorials

Burnsall Churchyard

In 1995, Kenneth Ball of Huddersfield recorded these Wrathall monumental inscriptions in the Burnsall churchyard bearing dates of 1813 or earlier:

In memory of / William Wrathall of Thorp / who died Dec 4th 1780 /
Aged 89 years/ Also SUSANNAH, daughter / of the above who died Sep /
25th 1786 aged 70 years /Also MARY WRATHALL / wife of the above
Wm / who died July 17th 1759 / Aged 60 years. / Likewise WM WRATHALL/
of Thorp, son of the above / who died Dec 26th 1787 / Aged 70 years /
Also Elizabeth his wife / who died July 25th 1772 / Aged 50 years.

(On west side of the church, in the graveyard. Box, now a flat stone.
William buried 14 Dec. Susannah, wife of Christr. Tattersall of Thorp, buried
on 28 Sep 1786. No record of the burial of Mary).
Memory of / LUPTON WRATHAL / late of Burnsall, yeoman who /
departed this life July 22nd / 1790 aged 70 years / Also of MARY
WRATHAL / relict of the above LUPTON/ WRATHAL who departed
this / life March 19th 1812 aged 94 / years / And of / WILLIAM WRATHAL,
yeo/man, son of the above named / LUPTON and MARY WRATH/ALL
who departed this life / the 24th day of November 1827/ aged 81 yrs.

(On southwest side of church, in graveyard - Flat stone).
In memory of / WILLIAM WRATHALL of / Thorp who died at Appletreewick /
Dec 13th 1839 / Aged 74 years / and ANN his wife who died /
July 3rd 1805 aged 37 years / also NICHOLAS their son / who
died June 18th 1802 / aged 4 years.

(On west side of the church - headstone)

Roy Wrathall of Mytholmroyd , after a recent visit with Derek Wrathall of Skipton , looked at some of the Burnsall memorials:

I drove over to Burnsall yesterday evening and managed to locate two Wrathall gravestones - though one of them was in poor condition and covered in lichens. I took a couple of photographs inside the church and one of the gravestones. I would have photographed the other, but I found it after I'd put my camera back in the car and was on my way to join the bellringers. The first grave was of "SMITH WRATHALL" son of Lupton & Mary of Appletreewick, and also Lupton & Mary. The second gravestone was of William Wrathall of Thorp who died at Appletreewick Dec 13th 1839.

Linton Churchyard

Roy Wrathall viewed the Linton gravestones and had the following comments:

I drove up to Linton recently and had a very pleasant time exploring the church and its grounds. Linton church is a fascinating building, being part Norman and then extended, yet they preserved much of the Norman building whilst doing so - thank goodness it wasn't the Victorians as they would have started from scratch, no doubt !

Within the churchyard at least 3 Wrathalls are buried, quite close together - all of them female. I learnt that people used to be buried in Linen and an act of parliament forbade this without the paying of a tax, so that wool would be used to keep the wool industry alive. The first person to be buried in wool was a Wrathall. I have purchased a booklet on the church , which has a lot of information on its history and will pass on any interesting details when I read it...

Click the following link to see a photo of The Ancient Parish-Church of Linton, courtesy of Roy (via postcard).

Wrathall Commemorative Window

Katy Hacking Wrathall of Liverpool (Manchester Metropolitan University) said that there is a church in North Yorkshire with commemorative windows dedicated to several Wrathalls. She did not know exactly where the church was. It turns out to be the Linton parish church. Peter Fattorini took some pictures of the window, which you can view HERE

During his visit to Wharfedale, Milton Matthews of Salt Lake City (1919 - 2005) visited the new (1972) Catholic church in Threshfield ( near Linton) where he noted the nice stained glass windows. Milton couldn't find any records of Wrathalls in the area past 1880, nor were they anything but Anglicans or chapel Methodists, so this church was not the one mentioned by Katy.

There is an ancient and famous Anglican church in Hubberholme (serving Buckden, parish of Arnecliffe, where the last Wrathalls lived and were buried), but Milton didn't recall with certainty whether it had stained glass windows.

[Katy is the wife of James Wrathall, originally from Cheshire, whose ancestors lived in Yorkshire. James' father and grandfather are also called "James".]