Many of the graves our volunteers clear and restore have no headstones, but by checking the burial records we are often able to identify who is buried there. One of the graves we cleared in Section 5 had no headstone but the records showed two Heatons buried there. Luckily, after cutting back the grass to the side of the grave I noticed an inscription:
"Martha (Pattie) dear wife of Ellis Heaton, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth White Born August 8th 1868 Died December 31st 1939"
This confirmed buried in this grave was Martha Heaton and her husband, Ellis.
Ellis Heaton was born in Cottingley in 1870 to Foulds and Martha nee Hird. His mother sadly passed away the same year aged 23. Martha Ann Watson White was born in Bradford in 1868 to Thomas and Elizabeth nee Wootton.
Ellis was a teacher when he and Martha married in 1900 and his first posting was to Ilford in Essex. His next posting as a headmaster was to Tynemouth in Northumberland where he stayed until his retirement. Their daughter Gertrude was born there in 1905. On his retirement they all moved to Harrow in Middlesex and it was there that Martha passed away in 1939. She was brought back to Bradford to be buried in Chapel Street cemetery near to her parents’ and siblings’ grave located in Section 3 (plot F9). Ellis moved back to Bradford and lived in Frizinghall until his death in 1950, when he was buried with his beloved wife.
Location: section 5 V12