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 EBENEZER ELLIOTT
(1781 - 1849)

The Elliott Family Graves

The graves of the Elliott family are situated in Rotherham and in Darfield, both in Yorkshire. In both cases, the graves are in the yards of churches called All Saints. Darfield (not far from Barnsley) was the burial place of the Corn Law Rhymer & his wife. There are two further graves there: one contains several of the bard's offspring (as shown later in this article) while the other grave is that of John Watkins who married the poet's daughter. The Rotherham grave is older & was in use from 1783 to 1815.


THE ROTHERHAM GRAVE

The Elliott family grave is in the minster church of All Saints in the town centre of Rotherham. The grave has been placed flat on the ground & is situated on the grass bank above All Saints Square. The inscription on the grave is shown below, followed by a few explanatory notes.

Ely son of Ebenr. Elliott, died Decr. 7th 1783
aged j year

Spes praecepta

Free from Old Adam's sin
Through Jesus matchless love
He died on earth to win
The prize of Saints above.

Sophia Ann Elliott
Died May 8th 1786,
Aged 6 weeks

Jacob Elliott
Died October 20th 1791
Aged 1 year & 9 months

Ann, the daughter of Giles and Amelia Elliott
Died July 21st 1811
Aged 15 days

Ann, daughter of Ebenezer and Ann Elliott
Died 14 January 1812
Aged 20 years

Also Nancy, wife of the above named Ebenezer Elliott
Who departed this life August 28th 1815,
aged 60 years


The Corn Law Rhymer was born in 1781, and the grave reveals he lost 3 brothers & sisters in his first 10 years; which may explain his belief that he would die young.

The first to die was Ely. Ely was the brother of the Corn Law Rhymer. "Ebenr. Elliott" refers to the poet's father who was also called Ebenezer Elliott. The child died aged one - note the letter j used in the original inscription. The Latin motto means "hope anticipated." The verse which follows may well have been written by Ebenezer Elliott (senior) who included poetry among his accomplishments.

Sophia Ann died when the Corn Law Rhymer was five years old & Jacob when he was ten. Elliott was old enough to remember both deaths which would have made a great impression on the young boy. It is unlikely that he was old enough at 2 years to recall Ely's death.

Now we come to the Annes of the family & will look at the second Ann first. "Ann, daughter of Ebenezer and Ann Elliott" was the Corn Law Rhymer's young sister; Elliott was at this point 30 years old and was married with three children.

Note here that the Corn Law Rhymer's mother was also named Ann. In the following inscription though, we see her referred to as Nancy. She died aged 60, a goodly age. Her death was said to relate to the difficulties being experienced by the family's iron foundry which was to go bankrupt the following year.

Returning to the first Ann of the inscription, we see mention of Giles, the clever & handsome young brother of the Corn Law Rhymer. Giles had an ironmongers shop in Doncaster & had to marry Amelia somewhat hastily. Giles died in his late twenties or early thirties - his demise brought about, it is said, owing to "his intemperate habits."

The Corn Law Rhymer moved his family to Sheffield in 1819 in order to make a new beginning after his Rotherham bankruptcy, but all three children born after the move were still taken back to Rotherham for their christenings; thus Elliott displaying a strong attachment to his native town. Ebenezer Elliott (senior) was not buried in the family's Rotherham grave. The bard's father died in 1822 aged 74, three years after his son moved to Sheffield. Elliott (senior) died at Smithy Place near Holmfirth. As his wife, Ann/Nancy, had died seven years earlier, we can suppose that relatives looked after him in his final years.

THE DARFIELD GRAVES

The family graves in All Saints Church at Darfield are to the right of the church. That of the Corn Law Rhymer and his wife Fanny Ann is surrounded by railings which survived the second world war when other railings were taken down to be used in the war effort.Ebenezer's grave

The Corn Law Rhymer died aged 68 in 1849 & was buried in the grave (see opposite) at Darfield. Later, his wife Fanny was interred beside him. Fanny had been christened Frances Garside in April 1781, born the same year as her husband. Coming from Cumberworth, Denby Dale, Fanny married the Corn Law Rhymer at Penistone Church in 1806. According to William Howitt, the writer & journalist, Fanny was an impressive person: "Mrs Elliott, a tall, good-looking woman, I soon found as lady-like, sensible, and well-informed as any poet could desire for his companion."




The second of the graves at Darfield is a family grave marking the deaths of the Corn Law Rhymer's children. Not all of the descendants were actually buried in the grave as can be seen in the copy of the inscription below.
IN MEMORY

OF

Benjamin Gartside, second son of Ebenezer Elliott & Fanny Elliott,
who died Dec 2nd 1867, aged 59 years.

Also Francis Green, sixth son of above named Ebenezer & Fanny Elliott,
who died Feb 13th 1869 aged 53 years.

Also Ebenezer, eldest son of the above named,
who died St Kitts, West Indies, Sept 13th 1871 aged 65 years
& whose body rests in Nichola Town Churchyard.

Also Henry, fifth son of the above named,
who died July 30th 1876 aged 66 years.

Also John Gartside, youngest son of the above named,
who died Oct 22nd 1890 aged 67 years.

Also Edwin, seventh son of the above named,
born 30th June 1816, died 19th Nov 1901.
Interred at Hemel Hempstead.

Also Noah, youngest daughter of the above named,
born 24th Sep 1824, died 11th Feb 1908.
Interred at Hemel Hempstead, Herts.


There were 3 other children who were not buried in the above grave. Clearly their deaths had occurred before that of their father which explains the reason for them being buried elsewhere. The children were: William (born Aug 20th 1812), Charles ( born Feb 1st 1814) and Thomas (born July 27th 1818).

The final Darfield grave is placed next to the Corn Law Rhymer's. Two views of it are shown below. John Watkins,"late of London" died in Sheffield on Sep 22nd 1850 less than a year after marrying the bard's eldest daughter, Fanny Ann. The latter died 49 years after her husband who was only 41 when he died.





           
                                                              

Two views of the Darfield graves. On the left is that of Fanny Ann Watkins (nee Elliott) with her father's tomb in the background behind the railings. The right hand view shows John Watkins' inscription.  (Watkins was the Chartist poet & playright, whose biography of the Corn Law Rhymer was published in 1850. The grave also contains the body of the couple's daughter, Clarens Fanny Watkins who died in 1882 (aged 31 or 32). Clarens married name was Murray - her husband, Lewis Murray, was buried at Ecclesall, Sheffield).

In studying the family graves, it is noticeable how young some people were when they died and also how the same names are used generation after generation. The most pertinent example is Ebenezer, where three generations used the name: the Corn Law Rhymer's father, the Corn Law Rhymer himself & the latter's son. Ann is another good example and so is Fanny.

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