A few years ago (2018) I was going to post an article on the site on the life and achievements of Thomas W Ward, a prominent Sheffield industrialist but when I checked recently there was great deal on content online and some excellent articles. Not wishing to duplicate material I decided to post details of his last resting place in Crookes Cemetery Sheffield
But first a brief summary
Thomas Ward was born in 1853, started work at 15, became a coal merchant and then, because the time was right for it, a scrap metal dealer in Sheffield. In the early 1870s there was a big demand for scrap metal. There were many big engineering projects and Thomas Ward developed an expertise in dismantling big structures including ships. He had breakers' yards at ports round the country and became the biggest scrap dealer in the country, taking apart old warships and redundant luxury liners. These included the Majestic, sister ship to the Titanic, which was broken up at his yard at Morecambe, and the Olympic, which was finally towed to Inverkeithing.
Thomas Ward Ltd of Sheffield opened its ship dismantling department in 1894 and soon became the largest supplier of scrap metal to the growing steel industry. The keynote was efficiency - everything on board a ship was dismantled and resold. Ships' fittings and equipment were sold at the showroom in Sheffield. Books, lamps, toilets and carpets were all dismantled. It is said that even the timber was turned into garden furniture.
During the First World War, Thomas Ward's was heavily engaged in war activities. There was a shortage of horses which had been sent to the Front and in 1916 Ward leased an elephant (and a man to look after it) from a circus. Circuses had been stood down for the duration of the war. The firm had the elephant for a couple of years, stabling her near the factory and using her for hauling heavy loads of steel around Sheffield. The elephant's name was Lizzie and the records are full of anecdotes about her - eating a schoolboy's cap, putting her trunk through a kitchen window to help herself, and pushing over a traction engine.
The firm carried on until the early 1980s.
The burial records are from the excellent Sheffield Indexers site
HAYTHORNTHWAITE, Gerald Graham (Retired, age 82).
Died at 22 Endcliffe Crescent; Buried on February 27, 1995 in Consecrated ground; cremated.
Grave Number 1181, Section BB of Crookes Cemetery, Sheffield.
Parent or Next of Kin if Available: ~. Remarks: Ashes. Plot Owner: of ~. Page No 181
HAYTHORNWAITE, Ethel Mary Bassett (~, age 92).
Died at 22 Endcliffe Crescent; Buried on April 23, 1986 in Consecrated ground; cremated.
Grave Number 1181, Section BB of Crookes Cemetery, Sheffield.
Parent or Next of Kin if Available: ~. Remarks: Cremated remains removed from Hutcliffe Wood No. 24457.Plot Owner: of ~. Page No 136
WARD, Gertrude Miller (Retired, age 94).
Died at Ranmoor House Retirement Home; Buried on August 16, 1989 in Consecrated ground; cremated.
Grave Number 1181, Section BB of Crookes Cemetery, Sheffield.
Parent or Next of Kin if Available: ~. Remarks: Cremated remains. Plot Owner: of ~. Page No 154
WARD, Mary Sophia (Widow, age 92).
Died at 60 Endcliffe Vale Road; Buried on December 29, 1955 in Consecrated ground;
Grave Number 1181, Section BB of Crookes Cemetery, Sheffield.
Parent or Next of Kin if Available: ~. Remarks: ~. Plot Owner: of ~. Page No 245
WARD, Thomas William (Director of ? Company, age 72).
Died at Endcliffe Vale Road; Buried on February 13, 1926 in Consecrated ground; cremated.
Grave Number 1181, Section BB of Crookes Cemetery, Sheffield.
Parent or Next of Kin if Available: Remarks: Cremated Remains. Plot Owner: ~ of ~. Page No 157
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