Catherine’s father Michael Francis Middleton was born in Chapel Allerton Leeds, her grandfather Peter Francis Middleton was the son of Richard Noel Middleton solicitor of Roundhay and Olive Christina Lupton. There began the connection between the Middleton family and the Luptons, both of Yorkshire.
At least three members of the Lupton family were mayors of the City of Leeds; Darnton Lupton in 1844, Sir Charles Lupton in 1915 and Hugh Lupton in 1926.
Catherine’s family has graves at Roundhay St John’s post-1884 with burials back to at least 1881 for extended members of the Middleton and Lupton families – Martineau, Greenhow for example.
St John's Roundhay incumbents to 2007
1826 - 1839 Clergy from Barwick-in-Elmet, including Charles Musgrave and John Dodsworth
23rd January 1840 Thomas DAVIS
16th January 1888 Reginald John SIMPSON MA
31st May 1901 Edward Ewer WARD BA
10th June 1904 Thomas Liddesdale PALMER BA
12th October 1923 Thomas Noel PEARSON MA
17th February 1948 James McIntosh SCOTT MA
22nd January 1965 Gordon Cooper WOOD MA, Hon CF
24th February 1992 Roger Goodson PLACE BA, Dip.Theol
Mayors/Lord Mayors of Leeds (grave numbers)
1844 Darnton Lupton (L30)
1860 James Kitson (GG2)
1897 James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale of Gledhow (W26).
In June 1897 the name, style and title of 'Lord Mayor' was conferred upon the Chief Magistrate) James Kitson was the first Lord Mayor of Leeds.
1909 William N Penrose-Green, JP (BB1)
1915 Charles Lupton (G25)
1920 Albert Braithwaite (NM5)
1921 Willie Hodgson (NM28)
1922 Francis Fountain, JP (NM26)
1926 Hugh Lupton (EE2)
1938 Rowland Winn MBE, JP (NH31)
1951 Francis Eric Tetley DSO, TD (Ch13)
1967 Lawrence Turnbull CBE, MC, TD, JP, DL (NQ39)
1995 Margaret (Peggy) White CBE Peggy and her husband were members of the Roundhay St. John's congregation and her husband was buried in the north yard in 1988 at NJ13 (Polished marble narrow horizontal slab). Peter George James WHITE.
In 2013 Peggy passed away unexpectedly aged 86. Sadly, due to the situation at the church, she was not able to be buried at St. John's with her husband Peter, as was her wish. Her funeral was therefore held in Headingley.
Former Trustees
Mike Lax (1936 - 2023) was born and brought up in Roundhay, and his family grave is near to the west door of St John's church on Wetherby Road. As one of the earliest trustees he made a huge contribution to the Friend's of St John's Church throughout its 10-year history. A charming, good-humoured and kind man, Mike was 'the perfect Yorkshire gentleman'. His wise counsel and ready sense of humour made him an invaluable member of the trustee team. He will be sadly missed by us all.
Always taking a close interest in the church and visiting as often as he could, Mark Wilson (1960 - 2020) was an enormous practical help in keeping an eye on developments at the church, in caring for the churchyards and in his total support for the efforts of the Friends in maintaining the grounds and, as far as possible, the fabric of the church building.
Mark will be missed for his commitment to St John’s over many years, and for his unfailing determination to preserve the church and its grounds. We will miss his sense of humour, his optimism and his reliable Yorkshire common sense. A bench in his memory is located at the top of the North churchyard.
The Great and the Good of St John’s
In the early 1990s a dedicated group of Oakwood residents began to record the monuments at Roundhay St. John's Church for posterity. The project took about eight years; the list of inscriptions is published on the Oakwood Church website under the heading War Dead Commemorations/
A booklet titled 'Monumental Inscriptions St. John's Church' was published by Neville Hurworth on behalf of the Oakwood and District Historical Society and David Donaldson on behalf of the Oakwood Church. A PDF copy can be viewed under the heading Records at http://www.oakwoodchurch.info/...
For anyone interested in the graves at St John's, we would strongly recommend that you visit http://www.oakwoodchurch.info/roundhaystjohn.html
to peruse numerous documents including those mentioned here.

Louis Aime Auguste Le Prince
Louis Le Prince, an extraordinarily multi-talented man, was born in Metz, France on 28th August 1841. His father was a friend of Jaques Daguerre who was a pioneer in the art and science of photography and Louis was able to spend time in his studio. Louis went on to study art in Paris and followed with post-graduate work in chemistry at Leipzig University. It was at Leipzig that he met John Whitley who invited him to join his father's firm of brass founders, Whitley Partners of Hunslet, Leeds. Louis moved to Leeds in 1866 and in 1869 he married Elizabeth (Lizzie) Whitley, his boss' daughter. Lizzie was also a talented artist and they established the Leeds Technical School of Art in 1871 and were well-known for applying colour photography onto metal and pottery.
In 1881, Louis Le Prince went to live in New York with his wife and son, Adolphe, initially as an agent for the Whitley Partners but electing to stay there when the contract ended. During this time he continued to experiment with various aspects of photography, specifically with the production of moving pictures. He built the prototype of a movie camera and patented this invention - a sixteen lens camera. He used a building in Woodhouse Lane as his workshop which was demolished in the 1980s..
In 1887 Louis returned to Leeds and built a single lens camera which was first used on 14th October 1888 in the garden of his in-laws' house, Roundhay Cottage on Oakwood Grange Lane. Lasting 2.5 seconds, it is now famously known as The Roundhay Garden Scene. This film can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4td3ARcFOkM
Another film shows Adolphe playing an accordion on the step - see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJLr0cTzRYks. According to Adolphe, his father filmed traffic moving across Leeds Bridge some time after the Roundhay Garden Scene.
In 1890 Louis travelled from England to visit his brother in Dijon, France. He was to return on 16th September via Paris to England and then on to New York where his wife and son were living. The family had planned to promote the new single lens camera. Louis' brother was the last person to see Louis as he was about to board the train from Dijon to Paris. Louis did not arrive in Paris and neither he nor his luggage were ever seen again. Louis was offically declared dead in 1897.
(In 1891, Thomas Edison, a prolific inventor, who held over a thousand patents in his name in the United States alone, was granted a patent for the motion picture camera or 'Kinetograph'. However, had it not been for the mysterious disappearance of Louis Aime Auguste Le Prince, Edison most likely would not have been able to add the Kinetograph to his list of inventions.)
Louis Le Prince's link to Roundhay St. John's
Louis Le Prince's in-laws (Sarah and Joseph Whiteley) were buried at the church of Roundhay St John, about a mile from their home.
Louis designed the tile work which is set into the wall behind the grave.

The de Relwyskow Family
Two monuments remembering the famous wrestling family who lived on Oakwood Lane. George Frederick William de Relywskow competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics for Great Britain and became the youngest winner of an Olympic gold medal for wrestling. George went on to serve in both world wars, latterly with the Special Operations Executive (SOE).
ND16 Kerbstone grave with headstone in black polished marble with flower vase inscribed "G. de R."
In ever loving memory of a dear husband and dad George Frederick William DE RELWYSKOW born June 18th 1887 died Nov 9th 1942. Also of a dear wife and mother Clara DE RELWYSKOW born Sept 11th 1879 died Oct 18th 1961. Also their son George Frederick Henry DE RELWYSKOW born Jan 8th 1914 died Jan 8th 1980 beloved husband of Elsie and dear father of Ann.
NU17 Grey marble stone engraved with a church window, cross and lilies.
In ever loving memory of a dear wife and mother WINIFRED BABE DE RELWYSKOW died 20th Aug 1981 aged 65 years. Also DOUGLAS DE RELWYSKOW dear husband of BABE and a dear father died 11th Jan 1982 aged 75 years. Douglas was a respected wrestling referee..
Contact the Friends of Roundhay St John's
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