The Lee family
continued from part 1
1911 onwards
Helen (Nellie) Lee, the 24 year old daughter of “Coal Merchant” Alfred Lee married 23
year old Willie Crabtree on 3rd July 1916 at St John’s Church, Coley. Willie and his
father, another William, were both” Wholesale Butchers” from Field House Farm,
Staups Lane, Stump Cross.
Field House Farm, Staups Lane, Stump Cross,
currently a Bed and Breakfast establishment
After 1911 further Lee family events are not easy to find or verify and so have not
been included unless there is corroboratory evidence. Instead information about the
various Lee family graves that have been found is included.
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Various St Matthew’s Churchyard plots belonging to the Lee family
Plot K8
Helen Crabtree’s father Alfred Lee died shortly after her marriage on 7 th January 1917
and was buried on 10th January 1917 at St Matthew’s Churchyard with his mother in
plot K8. After his wife Elizabeth died on 17th February 1934 she too was buried in the
same grave on 21st February 1934.
Their eldest son Lewis John Lee died on 30 October 1927; all three have
probate records.
LEE Alfred of Whitehall Hipperholme Yorkshire died 7th January 1917 Probate
Wakefield 16 April to Elizabeth Lee widow. Effects £10 674 16s 6d
LEE Elizabeth of Whitehall Hipperholme Yorkshire widow died 17 February
1934 Probate London 5 May to Wallace Lee cashier Dora Pollard widow and
Helen Crabtree (wife of Willie Crabtree) Effects £16 814 14s 10d
LEE Lewis John of Brookville Hipperholme Yorkshire died 30 October 1927
Probate London 24 November to Laura Lee widow. Effects £132 2s 6d
Plot D57
When Fanny Lee nee Empersall died on 13th December 1918 she was buried on 16th
December 1918 in St Matthew’s Churchyard in plot D57 with her husband’s parents
Benjamin and Elizabeth Lee and their baby daughter, Hannah. No death record or
probate has been found of her husband Edwin Lee.
There is currently no available photograph of any headstone or transcription for this
grave.
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Plot G15
Alice Lee, the wife of James Lee junior, had been widowed for over twenty years
although no trace of her has been found in either the 1901 or 1911 census. When she
died on 11th March 1921 aged 70 she was buried on 16 th March 1921 in plot G15
along with her husband James Lee junior and her daughter Sarah Alice Rhodes as
this transcription of the memorial details.
In affectionate remembrance of JAMES LEE
who died August 24th 1896 aged 46 years
Also of SARAH ALICE the wife of FRANK RHODES
and daughter of the above who died March 19th 1903 aged 27 years.
Also of ALICE widow of the before named
JAMES LEE who died March 11th 1921 aged 70 years
Again no photograph is currently available for this grave.
Plot Q76
For the 1939 register John Oscar Lee, born 12th May 1875, and his wife Emily Eleanor
Beatrice Lee, born 18th September 1879, were residing at 4 West Royd, (Brighouse).
There is another ‘blocked’ individual in the household. Under the ‘PERSONAL
OCCUPATION’ column for John Oscar Lee it says “ General Building Labourer. Heavy
Work”. Emily was doing “unpaid Domestic duties”!
When Emily Eleanor Beatrice Lee died on 25th August 1941 aged 61 years she was
buried in plot Q76 in St Matthew’s Churchyard along with her in-laws John and Anna
Maria Lee and their infant son, Harry. The memorial inscription suggests that her
husband John Oscar Lee had been awarded the Military Medal presumably in the First
World War. There was a Sapper John O Lee (Service nos 2593 and 558509) of the
Royal Engineers which might or might not be ‘our man’. John Oscar Lee died in 1955
but neither a burial nor probate record has been found.
Plot Q76 is next to plot L76 ie the Lee grave
(right) is next to the Berry grave. So the Berry
brother and sister, John and Anna Maria, were
buried with their spouses the Lee sister and
brother, Martha and John in the adjacent graves
pictured left.
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The headstone for the Berry grave on plot Q76
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Plot T51
The Hartley family headstone for plot T51
This headstone is currently [March 2016] lying flat. Lillie Hartley nee Lee – the
daughter of William and Rachel Lee – was buried there on 18th September 1929
after she had died on 15th September 1929 aged 56 years. Her son Stephen Hartley
had married Jessie Carter in 1930. When the 1939 register was taken Stephen and
Jessie Hartley were living at 10 Hope Hall Terrace, Halifax with his 69 year old father
Thomas Hartley, “Piano Maker Retired”; Stephen was a “Railway Clerk” and Jessie
was doing “Unpaid Domestic Duties”. This was the address on Stephen Hartley’s
probate record after he died aged 40 on 2nd March 1940.
HARTLEY Stephen of 10 Hope Hall-terrace Halifax died 2nd March 1940
Administration London 10 April to Jessie Hartley widow Effects £356 16s 6d
He was buried on 5th March 1940 in plot T51 with his mother, Lillie Hartley. His
father Thomas Hartley was buried in the same grave on 25 th November 1943 after
he died aged 73 years on 21st November 1943 although his name does not appear
on the memorial inscription which is difficult to read hence the transcription.
HARTLEY Thomas of 22 Gordon-street Holmfield Halifax died 21 November
1943 at The General Hospital Halifax Probate to Jessie Hartley widow. Effects
£249 2s 8d
In Loving Memory of
Lillie
Wife of Thomas Hartley
Died Sep 15th 1929
AGED 56 Years
ALSO OF STEPHEN HARTLEY
SON OF THE ABOVE
DIED MARCH 2ND 1940
AGED 41 YEARS
“TILL WE MEET AGAIN”
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Plot K4
And finally plot K4 in which Alfred Lee had buried his two little girls Gertrude and
Janet Lee eventually got two more occupants. This gravestone is also currently
[March 2016] laid flat.
After marrying in 1916 Willie and Helen Crabtree nee Lee had a son William Ernest
Crabtree in 1922. When Willie Crabtree died aged 49 on 26 th October 1940 he was
buried in plot K4 on 30th October 1940. His 74 year old wife Helen joined her sisters
on 4th July 1966. Her probate reads:CRABTREE Helen of Rose Cottage Hipperholme near Halifax died 30 June
1966 at The General Hospital Halifax Probate Wakefield to William Ernest
Crabtree butcher. Effects £4877
The third William (Ernest) Crabtree would appear to have followed his father
and grandfather as butchers possibly farmer butchers. But no further records
have been found for him.
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The head stone for plot K4 where Sisters Gertude and Janet Lee were
‘reunited’ with their ‘little’ sister Helen Crabtree and then her husband
The Lee relatives of the WW1 soldiers Kenneth and John Raymond Berry were
numerous and most of them seem to have been hatched, matched and dispatched
whilst residing in or near St Matthew’s Church, Lightcliffe.
But what about The Berry family …… read on!
D.M.Barker
March 2016
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