PUBLIC DOMAIN DEDICATION
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Chapter LXV. Robert Meeke's Tomb
It is not generally known, even by old Slaithwaite residents, that the tombstone of the Rev. Robert Meeke, of blessed memory, one-time curate of this parish, stands within a few feet of a public thoroughfare. The road leading from Market Place to the Dartmouth Arms is said to pass immediately over the grave of the devoted vicar and quaint diarist.
In the south-east corner of the burial ground is to be seen a somewhat ornate tombstone, bearing this inscription: —
- “Near this Place is Interred the Body of
Mr. Robert Meeke,
Who was Curate of this Chappel
39 Years and 5 Months,
To ye Satisfaction of his Auditors.
He left £4 per annum to ye School of Slaithwaite
For Teaching 10 Poor Children,
And ye Interest on £9 for Bread and Wine,
And 133 Books for ye Use of Succeeding Curates.
He departed this Life May 31st, 1724, in the
67th Year of his Age.”
The tombstone is in a wonderfully fine state of preservation, and the ornamentation is perfect in every detail. The last line of the inscription is almost on a level with the ground, and the stone cannot be read without removing the creepers that threaten to obscure it altogether.
Some years ago, when the local authority widened the road, they reverently spared this grave by placing over it an iron beam to keep it intact.
Slaithwaite Notes: Past and Present (1905) by John Sugden
- Dedication, Introductions, Etc
- I. Sale of Brook Mills, Etc
- II. Reminiscences
- III. Slaithwaite a Seaport Town
- IV. Gadsbys of Old
- V. Politics (I)
- VI. Varied
- VII. Music
- VIII. Old Slaithwaite: Its Young Workers and Its Homes
- IX. Jacob
- X. A Plucky Fight
- XI. Noted Persons and Conditions
- XII. Then and Now! Reverie and Reminiscence
- XIII. A Policeman's Sad End
- XIV. Politics (II)
- XV. Life's Young Dream Fifty Years Ago
- XVI. Brass Bands
- XVII. Side by Side
- XVIII. Education
- XIX. Sport
- XX. Building Society and Cotton Mill
- XXI. Tabernacle on the Hills
- XXII. An Old Romance of the Colne Valley
- XXIII. The Coronation
- XXIV. Summer in the Valley, Etc
- XXV. A Lingards Tragedy
- XXVI. Honourable Mention
- XXVII. Days of My Youth
- XXVIII. Old Malley
- XXIX. Tom Kirk
- XXX. Bent Ley Silk Mills
- XXXI. D.F.E. Sykes, LL.B
- XXXII. Country Life
- XXXIII. A Lovely Village Lass and her Misfortune
- XXXIV. Courtship and Marriage for the Colne Valley
- XXXV. Sunday Trams
- XXXVI. Success of the Linthwaite Band at Crystal Palace
- XXXVII. Christmas at Slaithwaite - 1902
- XXXVIII. Hunting
- XXXIX. Rival Shows
- XL. Marsden Moor Murders
- XLI. Merry Dale
- XLII. Mossley To-day and in the Days of Old
- XLIII. Old Bookmen
- XLIV. Noted Preachers
- XLV. Manufacturers of Olden Days
- XLVI. Workmen at their Forum
- XLVII. What Lasses Did Fifty Years Ago, and Now
- XLVIII. Johnny, Billy, and Neddy Walker
- XLIX. Variety
- L. An Annual
- LI. Death of Mr. E. Swift: A Friendly Appreciation
- LII. The Political Crisis
- LIII. Conservative Party Prospects
- LIV. What will the Liberals Do?
- LV. What can the Labour Party Do?
- LVI. A National Party
- LVII. Reminiscence of Richard Cobden
- LVIII. Slaithwaite's Progress
- LIX. May Day at Slaithwaite
- LX. Old Folks' Treat at Slaithwaite
- LXI. Deanhead Thump
- LXII. Nothing New
- LXIII. Death of Mrs. W.H. Brook, of Slaithwaite
- LXIV. A Few Selected Letters of Condolence
- LXV. Robert Meeke's Tomb
- LXVI. Local Obituary for 1904
- LXVII. Memorial Window and Font
- LXVIII. Pen and Ink Sketch: Changes in Life
- LXIX. Ye Old Hostelry, or the Red Brook Bogey
- LXX. An Old Slaithwaite Man's Request
- LXXI. Huddersfield Corporation
- LXXII. Mr. Sugden's Retirement