RootsChat.Com
Family History Documents and Artefacts => Graveyards and Gravestones => Topic started by: SamiW on Saturday 17 October 09 15:51 BST (UK)
-
I'm sure this topic has been covered before, if so, please point me in the right direction.
I have been tracing my husband's ancestors in rural Aberdeenshire, and have found all sorts of records of marriages and births, but very little in the way of deaths. We actually made a trip to Scotland last summer, and I had a look around the graveyards in all the little villages that his ancestors lived in. Nearly all the churches were originals - but no graves pertaining to our family!
So my query - if they weren't buried in the local graveyards, where were they interred? Back garden? Fields?
Any help welcomed.
Best
Sami
-
Hi
Perhaps they were buried in those graveyards but couldn't afford a headstone.
Rosie
-
hi Sami
Rosie is correct,most people were not able to afford a gravestone but the parish records will still show their burial in the churchyard.If the parish records still exist you might have to search all the records of the parishes that were local to your ancestors.
Steve
-
Yes, i work in a Cemetery and i would say that out of all the people that come in asking for me to find a particular grave for them , around (at a guess) , 70-80% of them don't have a headstone on.
Quite an anticlimax considering a lot of these people come from all around the world
-
Hi Sami
Prior to the Cemeteries Clauses Act of 1847 and the Burial Acts of 1852 and 1853, most people were buried in church graveyards, many of which were already overcrowded and insanitary by the 17th century - hence local authorities were able to administer their own cemeteries through burial boards appointed by vestries.
Every parishioner has a right of burial within his parish, though the responsibility for finding a burial space lies with the executors of a deceased person and neither a parochial church council nor any local authority is under a legal obligation to provide burial space.
Is there a cemetery close to the habitat of your ancestors - maybe you should try their records, they do normally keep rather comprehensive ones
Chris in 1066
-
Mostly, but here in Wales some of the non conformist records are an absolute shambles.
-
Thanks all for the advice, but I looked through all the local records held in the Scotlands Records office in Edinburgh, and couldn't find entries for burials for any of them! So even without stones, shouldn't there have been some sort of record?
Best
Sami
-
Re: Lack of burials
« Reply #3 on: Saturday 17 October 09 20:21 BST (UK) »
~~~~~~~~
Yes, i work in a Cemetery and i would say that out of all the people that come in asking for me to find a particular grave for them , around (at a guess) , 70-80% of them don't have a headstone on.
Diggaman, what information can you give people whose relatives were buried without a headstone? Does the cemetery keep any record of the date of death, age, next of kin etc? Even that amount of information would make an enquiry worthwhile. Or do you just have a name?
I'm asking because like Sami my ancestors don't seem to have a headstone amongst the lot of them.
Lesley
-
Hi LesleyHannah -- I can only speak for the local authority that i work for , but it makes no difference whether there's a headstone or not.
If someone needs details of a grave , then all they need to supply is the name and (approx) date of death.
Our bereavement services staff then come up with a grave number , which in turn is taken to the Cemetery , and the staff will find that grave.
Normally , the BS staff will give details of everybody in said grave as well.
Hope this helps. :)
-
Sorry - yes they normally will give details , such as name , date of burial , address at time of death etc...
-
Is it a case of phoning the church or will all records over a certain age be sent to the RO?
-
Thanks for that Diggaman. It hadn't occurred to me to try to get information that way. I've got CDs of all the memorials in the cemeteries I suspect they should be buried in, but they don't appear.
I'm doing this long-distance and what's the best way to go about it. In your cemetery would you provide the information by post or email if the enquirer couldn't make it in person? It seems like a bit of a cheek, just writing and asking someone to start searching records for my great grandparents, as you all have jobs to do, and can't spend your time running round helping genealogists - but now I know that information might be there I feel quite optimistic, after years of brick walls!
Lesley
-
Again , i can only speak for the authority i work for , but they would do this whichever way you wanted.
If you wrote to them , phoned them , or emailed them , they would respond to your request.
As i say , as long as they have the name and date of death , then it only takes seconds for them to come up with a grave number ( as long as the person IS in one of our Cemeteries).
Then it would be up to you really - if you could visit , then they'd send you a plan of the Cemetery , and make arrangements for you to meet one of our Cemeteries staff - who would happily show you the grave.
If you weren't in a position to visit the Cemetery , then it wouldn't be a problem for us to photograph the headstone (if there was one) , and send the photo to you.
They really are obliging , and would help in any way they could - dont feel cheeky - we're here to help people after all :)
Obviously (as i've said) , i can only speak for the bereavement services /Cemeteries depts in Stockton-on-Tees , but if you are alluding to Stockton then let me know and i'll post the contact details.
Hope you find what you're looking for.
-
The great grandparents I can't find are in the east Midlands. I must say your authority sounds unbelievably helpful and I'm not too confident that others will be so good! But the information is very useful - I'd never thought of writing directly to cemeteries, so thank you.
Lesley
-
Yes i must admit , most people that come to find a grave DO comment on how helpful our admin staff are.
Anyway - Good luck with your searching. :)
-
Sami,
I'm guessing this is likely to be pre-1855? Many burials prior to 1855 were not recorded in the parish registers and in rural areas this is likely to be case. This is not unusual. But you may find records in the Kirk Sessions which record the rental of the mort cloth (used to cover the coffin prior to burial) and this is the closest thing you may find to a burial record. Unfortunately the Kirk Sessions records are in the National Archives for Scotland and not online.
Have you checked what records exist for the parish(es) of interest? See here for Aberdeenshire:
http://www.scotlandspeoplehub.gov.uk/pdf/list-of-oprs-168to249.pdf
A quick scan through the list shows just how many gaps there are in the burials column.
Nell
-
Thanks Nell, for the link and advice. I had actually checked for mort-cloth rentals - but I think my lot were so poor they couldn't even afford that!
I guess I shall just have to take it that they were buried in the appropriate churchyards, sans stone or records.
Best
Sami