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Explore the Residents
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reveal details of a resident
 Nelly Ternan | Thomas Lawless Ralph Ternan 1842 - 1843
A theatrical family
Thomas Ternan was the younger brother of Nelly Ternan, who was the mistress of Charles Dickens from 1857 until his death in 1870.
Thomas was the youngest child of this theatrical family who travelled the country performing in the local theatres.
At the time of Thomas's death few people could afford to go to the theatre, so the Ternan family struggled to make ends meet.
Many years later, Charles Dickens told a story of how Nelly had performed in the theatre night after night before returning to her lodgings where Thomas's corpse took up the only bed.
Eventually, they saved enough money to pay for Thomas's funeral.
Claire Tomalin tells the story of the relationship between Nelly and Charles Dickens in her excellent book, The Invisible Woman. |
 Partington's helmet | George Partington 1837 - 1902. A soldier bold
George Partington fought in the Crimean war when he was 17.
George absconded from college to enlist in the army and rode in the Heavy Brigade, which was the cavalry that followed the Light Brigade into the valley of death.
In 1854 he was seriously wounded by a Cossack but was nursed by the 'lady of the lamp' Florence Nightingale, recovered from his wounds and retired to Sheffield.
Ironically, he survived the Battles of Balaclava and Inkerman and the siege of Sebastopol but died after being thrown from his horse and trap!
George Partington was given a military funeral as a mark of respect. |
 | Stephen Pearson 1868 - 1891. A serious stabbing in Sheffield
"Sheffield Independent 10 September 1891
Serious Stabbing in Sheffield
A serious stabbing case took place in Sheffield at an early hour this morning, as a result of which, it is feared, the life of an officer of the borough police force is endangered.
It appears that a navvy, Peter Bryne, a stranger to the town was hanging about and creating some disturbance in the market.
Police-constable Stephen Pearson (23) requested him to move on.
The fellow surlily refused and on the officer attempting to arrest him, Bryne struck at him with a knife inflicting a terrible gash in the officer's face.
The knife cut through Pearson's helmet, and laid bare the cheekbone from below the ear to the chin.
Inquiries at the Hospital on the moment of going to press indicate that there is no immediate danger."
.. but Stephen Pearson died of his wounds within the year. |
 | Susan Bielby and her daughters.
They will never know how deep the sorrow..
Harry, Edith and Ernest Bielby, to express their grief at the loss of their mother and sisters, wrote the line above.
In the Second World War enemy bombs rained down on civilians, and on 12th December 1940, during the Sheffield Blitz, the Bielby family home was hit.
Susan, aged 84, and her daughters, Emily, Millicent and Annie were all killed.
Emily and Millicent were headmistresses at two local infant schools and Annie was a costumier. Their grave is still tended. |
 | Samuel Holberry 1816 - 1842. Power to the people
Samuel Holberry was born in rural poverty in 1816.
After a somewhat chequered early career he settled in Sheffield and married.
The Great Reform Act of 1832 failed to enfranchise the working class and Samuel became active in the Chartist movement, which aimed to extend democracy to the workers and women.
He and his friends armed themselves and planned bloody insurrection.
Unfortunately there was an informer in their midst and Samuel (and his wife) were arrested.
Samuel was imprisoned and, illegally, put on the treadmill.
He was consumptive and this maltreatment led to his deterioration and death aged 26.
Thousands attended his funeral.
His modest headstone lies in a line of plain non-dressed stones.
His wife and his compatriots in arms are buried with him in a natural group.
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 | John Gunson 1809 - 1886
Blameless man haunted by tragedy
John Gunson was the chief engineer at the Dale Dyke Dam at the time of the Great Sheffield Flood.
He seemed to be aware that something was wrong with the dam that evening and he tried again and again to lower the level of the water.
But nevertheless, the dam burst with disastrous consequences.
This man of placid nature was shattered by the event and, although cleared of blame by the select committee enquiry, he forever lived under the shadow of blame.
John Gunson never regained his peace of mind and the inscription on his gravestone reads,
"removed from all suffering and strife..."
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 | Leopold Lichtenthal 1832 - 1849
Tragically, pride comes before a fall
In 1849 Leopold Lichtenthal, a young Russian, was sent from St Petersburg to escape a cholera epidemic and to learn English business methods.
He imagined himself a dashing and skilful horseman and was keen to show off his riding skills.
He hired a horse and set off digging in his jangling spurs.
The horse, unused to such excitement, panicked and bolted.
Leopold fell, his spurs tangled in the fashionably long stirrups and he was knocked unconscious.
He never recovered and died 10 days later. He was 17. |
 | Harold and Roland Norris
...we will remember them
This stone memorialises Harold and Roland Norris who fought in the First World War.
Harold, aged 26, was reported missing on the first day of the Battle of the Somme 1st July 1916.
His younger brother Roland, 21, died at Salonika shortly before the end of the war on 18th September 1918.
Their family placed this stone here so they could have a place where they could go to mourn their tragic loss. |
 | George Bennet 1773 - 1841
From shore to shining shore
The London Missionary Society believed that people in all parts of the world should be given the chance to convert to Christianity.
George Bennet was sent by the Society to discover the state of 'Godliness' in the distant corners of the earth.
He spent eight years (1821 - 1829) travelling over 90,000 miles finding out if the Society's missionaries were converting the people of the world.
George Bennet is not buried in the Cemetery, but his monument, although now showing signs of vandalism and erosion, commemorates his life and that epic journey. |
Cholera monument on Norfolk Road | William Henry Smith 1829 - 1887
Cholera victim
William Henry Smith died of Cholera at the age of 59.
He was a life-long trade unionist and at the time of his death was the vice-president of the Sheffield Federated Trades Council and the Labour Association.
William Smith was said to hold 'extreme views on all social and political subjects' and 'was a ready speaker, who exercised great influence among working men'.
He was particularly active during the Sheffield Outrages of 1866. |
"A baby"
"Sheffield Independent 6 April 1869
Child Found Dead
The coroner held an inquest yesterday at the Town Hall on the body of a child found dead in a drain near the General Cemetery on the 4th last.
Lads were playing in the drain when their attention was attracted by a paper parcel, which contained the body of a newly born male child.
Dr Beaumont said the child had died from neglect at birth and starvation." |
 | Francis Dickinson 1830 - 1898. One of the six hundred"
The words above were engraved on the gravestone of Francis Dickinson.
He was one of the soldiers who fought in the notorious Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean war.
The cavalry was wrongly sent into battle only to be slaughtered by Russian cannon fire.
670 horsemen were ordered to charge the enemy and only 195 returned - Francis Dickinson was among them.
Francis was a Troop Sergeant in the Late 17th Lancers and died in June 1898.
He was buried in the middle of what is now the open area.
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Meusa
"Sheffield Daily Independent 15 December 1902, reporting the birth:
Yatso, the first wife of Meusa La, one of the principal warrior dancers in the Ashantee Village, gave birth to a child on Sunday morning.
The child has been baptised in native fashion, and has been given the name of Kai Akosia, the word Kai meaning that she is the third daughter of the family, while Akosia signifies Sunday birth."
.. four days later ..
"Sheffield Daily Independent 19 December 1902, reporting the death:
The baby who was born to Meusa La, one of the principal warrior dancers in the Ashantee Village, and who was given the name of Kai Akosia, died yesterday.
Hopes were entertained at first that the baby would live, although it was weak from birth.
The circumstances will not render an inquest necessary." |
 | Thomas Sands 1783 - 1850
Waterloo veteran
Thomas Sands was a Permanent Sergeant in the Sheffield Squadron of the 1st West York Yeomanry Cavalry when he died in 1850.
As a career soldier he served 22 years in this regiment and also 24 years in the King's Dragoon Guards and distinguished himself at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 where the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon.
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Ellen Bulmer 1832 - 1933. Sheffield's oldest woman
"Daily Telegraph 14 December 1933
Died at age of 101
Sheffield's oldest woman resident
Sheffield has lost its oldest woman inhabitant by the death of Mrs Ellen Bulmer, aged 101, at the home of her daughter, Mrs Mary Copestake, 106 Holmhirst Road Woodseats.
A remarkable woman for her age, Mrs Bulmer retained most of her faculties to the end, and was regarded by all who knew her as an extremely loveable character.
She was typically Victorian.
She had never been in a picture house or a theatre in her life.
Born near Lincoln in 1832, Mrs Bulmer came of an old farming family in the district and was one of a family of eight.
She was married twice, on the first occasion to a farmer of the neighbourhood.
After the death of her second husband she came to live in Sheffield, 21 years ago, and had lived ever since, with her daughter, Mrs Copestake.
Two of her sons are living in Sheffield and another in America." |
Alfred Gambles 1818 - 1839
A death waiting to happen
There were few safety regulations in the first part of the 19th century and the workplace could be a dangerous place to be.
"Sheffield Independent 17 July 1839
Inquiry before T. Badger at the Twelve o'Clock, Saville, on the body of Alfred Gambles, a Grinder aged 21 years.
He had been left alone in his hall, at the Twelve o'Clock wheel, and it is supposed he was putting his band upon his drum, but was dragged upon the drum with such violence that his skull was fractured." |
George Sadler 1800 - 1854
Suicide of a pork butcher
"Sheffield & Rotherham Independent 16 December 1854
SUICIDE OF A PORK BUTCHER
On Tuesday afternoon, T. Badger Esq., held an inquest at the Manor Castle, Edward Street, on view of the body of George Sadler, pork butcher, Edward Street, who committed suicide on the previous day.
Deceased was 54 years of age and in comfortable circumstances.
For some time, however, he has indulged in intoxicating drinks to a great excess.
He has sometimes never been sober for a month together, and had reduced himself to such a deplorable condition that often when sober he trembled violently from head to foot.
During the last fortnight he had been unusually depressed in spirits and had remarked that he thought every body shunned him.
He retired about ten o'clock on Sunday evening in a state of sobriety.
About half past seven o'clock on Monday morning he got up and went down stairs before dressing himself, and his lad, who was making a fire in the back kitchen at this time, heard him go into the shop.
Returning up stairs immediately he went into a back bed-room.
After he had been there a few moments Mrs Sadler heard him make a gurgling sound and ran to learn the cause.
She found him standing in the middle of the room with his throat fearfully cut, and blood gushing from the wound.
She ran screaming down stairs and the lad ran up, but when he arrived his master had fallen upon his face.
Death ensued in about five minutes and before the arrival of Mr. Skinner, surgeon, who had been promptly sent for." |
 | Mark Firth 1819 - 1894. A man of steel
Together with his father, Mark Firth built up a steel works and became a very rich man.
His monument is one of the grandest in the Cemetery and the decorative ironwork was forged in his own works.
He was the founder of Firth College, which later became the University of Sheffield.
He also achieved the great honour of being Lord Mayor and Master Cutler of Sheffield.
A unique feature of the General Cemetery is the quality of its monuments' ironwork - a physical reminder of Sheffield's supremacy in the Victorian steel industry. |
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