The Roles of William and John Henry Royle in the Development of ...

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the naked eye and many others are already well advanced in this process. Add to this
the natural processes of erosion, over the course of two centuries in some cases, which
means that where coffins are stacked four deep in some graves an added weight can
cause one to collapse in on another. Hence, there is further rapid subsidence and we can
see that there are some areas of the churchyard which are in desperate need of
preservation. According to Lawson, the then incumbent, the Reverend Smith, had
begun a process of cataloguing the memorial inscriptions at Flixton churchyard, but it
is not known how far advanced was this process, or whether it was ever completed.
Hence, it is the aim within the eight parts of this article, where possible, to record any
relevant monumental inscriptions in order that they may be of benefit to future
researchers.
Whilst on the subject of Flixton churchyard it would be useful to record the
observations of local historian Richard Lawson, who is particularly informative on this
matter. In 1898, at the time of writing his work, Lawson observes that, “On account of
its great age and former mode of irregular laying out of the ground, cannot be said to
be pretty, but at any rate it is cared for.” (p.36) the north side of the church was used
as part of the burial ground, unlike some Lancashire parishes, there was no objection to
this. The unknown dead were also buried on the north side only, with some smaller,
blank stones delineating their final place of rest. Today, the north side has had its
headstones set to the ground, which probably occurred in the early 1960s, when the
centre of the village was demolished, in order to make way for the re - alignment of
Church Road and possible subsidence was an issue. It is in this general section that the
memorial inscriptions in ‘Part Two’ are drawn from, supported with information from
the 1851 and 1841 censuses, where necessary.
The 1851 Census (HO107 2218/397 No. 8) further emphasises the dual
entrepreneurial skills of a grocer and farmer discussed in ‘Part One’ and relating to the
1861 Census (RG09 2866/139 No. 34) In 1851 John Royle Senior is the head of the
household, aged 60 and a farmer, of Flixton although, the 1841 Census (HO107 543
No. 27), lists him solely as a shopkeeper. With him is his wife Sarah Ann, aged 47 and
of Urmston; John Junior, their son, is unmarried, aged 27 and a baker, of Flixton:
James, their son, is unmarried, aged 19 and a farmer, of Flixton; and Ellen Lewis, their
servant, is unmarried, aged 22 and of Sheffield. The 1851 Census shows us that there
are the dual skills of farming and bakery being undertaken in the Royle household. By
the 1861 Census these skills had been combined by John Royle Junior, on the death of
John Royle Senior, in 1856. The land conveyance we see from 1876 to 1910 can be put
into the context of farmland, owned by the Royles, being used for property
development and rental returns. In 1851 they are of Boat Lane, Flixton, which is the
short section of road at Towngate, to the west of Green Lane and ending at the River
Irwell, which could then be crossed by a ferry, hence Boat Lane. Therefore, it is likely
that the Royles became resident at Rocksavage sometime in the 1850s and certainly
before the 1861 Census. The farms at Towngate were later occupied by members of the
Booth family, which can be dated with certainty to before the 1891 Census. However,
monumental inscriptions at St. Michael’s churchyard show members of the Booth