Anyone Near Renfrewshire that can help me?

[RJ_Paton]

i went to paisley this morning and had a look at st.mirin's cathedral and there is no grave yard at all. and it was built in 1931. so i went to the abbey as well but no grave yard as well outside.then i went to wallneuk north church as that is just down the road from silk street but that does not have a grave yard as well  but that was built in 1913.and woodside first burial was 1891. there are more cemeteries around paisley 

Sorry to correct you but the Abbey does have quite an extensive graveyard - the grassed area between the Abbey building and Gauze Street and Cotton Street is the graveyard. But that said the last time I tried to read one of the stones it was a "hands and knees" job as those  stones which remain are all lying flat and many of them are under grass or hidden in the beds of daffodils. (The vast majority are illegible due to weathering and neglect). However with the lack of any records for that particular period the chance of finding a particular grave is, sadly, nil or as close as one can get.

There is also a small graveyard in Abbey Close opposite the front of the Abbey building and it is tucked away beside the Town Hall but again many of the stones have been moved.

The other graveyards which are close to the area of Silk Street and Smithhills have more or less all met with the same fate over the years.

The Meeting House (at the junction of School Wynd and Oakshaw Street) has a graveyard which extends down to the Railway line but was extremely overgrown the last time I was in there.
The Gaelic Church is now a private dwelling and only a few stones have been left against the perimeter wall (I believe a recent poster said that the majority had been moved from here to Hawkhead Cemetery.
The High Church or Oakshaw Trinity as it is now known has a small graveyard but few stones are legible.
The Laigh Kirk (Low Church) in New Street is now a Cafe/Amenity centre and the stones were all moved to form a garden and seating area.

[Montana272]

To me that is such a loss of important historical visual memory.  Even with the loss of the inscriptions, which is normal of the aging process of the stones it seems sad that they just moved the stones and built right over the memorial ground.   I know they may have had no choice as growth is necessary, but even so a loss of such a momumental memory of those lost and now forgotton.  I may be in the minority on this issue, but it is the old Scotland Cemeteries, that I would love to see in person.  If I lived over there,  I know I could find myself wandering through them, or just sitting quietly listening to the peaceful sounds of the birds.  There is something about them that gives me a sense of comfort and peace.  I don't know why.  Maybe I am just nuts, but I find them interestingly beautiful.  For those who have struggled in their life, they are now at peace and those places that are overgrown to me look historically beautiful

[deebel]

Montana272

    There is a birth on FS of a Jean Cathcart. It may be that Charlotte is in fact Carswell. If so other things may fall into place.

deebel

name:   Jean Cathcart
gender:   Female
baptism/christening date:   14 Mar 1824
baptism/christening place:   ABBEY PAISLEY,RENFREW,SCOTLAND
birth date:   24 Feb 1824
father's name:   Walter Cathcart
mother's name:   Charlotte Carswell

[Montana272]

I know.  I thought of that too and tried that.  No Charlotte.  That Jean that you showed me is actually my family link.  Later in life Called Jane.  I think it is odd because Charlotte named two of her children Jean and two Alexander.  One Jean and one Alexander died early, thus she chose to name the others the same names.  I don't know if that was to honor the children she lost, or to carry on her parents name,  but  Jean is a very important name as all the kids seemed to use Jean and the name Charlotte  guite often in naming their own children.  I thought Charlotte is understand able, that is their Mothers name, but  because of the consistent name of Jean and Alexander maybe that was a clue, but I can't find anything.  The first born child of Walter and Charlotte was named John, thou.   I even thought maybe Charlotte was not named Charlotte at birth, but that was a middle name.  As it happened in another line of my scotish ancestry.  Child named Mary Jane, and later called Jeannie.  But It all leads to dead ends.  Unless I find another sibling of Charlotte, which I can't find, I am doomed to not find anymore about her. 

[Dubs Earley]

Robert Cathcart and Mary Baird

[goldie61]

Have you looked in the Paisley Poor Law Index for any  Cathcarts or Caldwells that may be the family?

I see there is a 'Widow Cathcart', husband Walter, listed.
Series 12, statement number 6196.
This index does not give the date for this entry.
The index starts in 1839.

There is also a Charlotte Caldwell listed.
Series 12, Statement number 5733
Again no date for this entry.

Paisley Heritage Centre are very helpful.
They can send you a precis of an entry.
I think the entries are compiled from different indexes, so some of them give more information, and some less.

If you Google Paisley Poor Law Index, you can download the whole pdf of the indexes.
You will see there are quite a lot of Cathcarts - perhaps some of them are the children of Walter, you never know.
You can find a wealth of information in the records if you're lucky.
I know I managed to break one of my huge brick walls of many years when I finally found an application in these records - and again it was by chance, as she was indexed as 'widow Paton'.
It gave me lots of great information about her and her husband's family.

Good luck

[Montana272]

Thank you.  I did that and this is the answer that I got back
 "I have searched the Poor Law indexes and unfortunately have not found any records for Charlotte Caldwell or Cathcart, neither for Walter Cathcart.  The records you have found in the online index (series 12 - 6192 and 5733) refer to other applicants". So I will go back and see what the deal is and   I guess it is going to remain a mystery. 

[Dubs Earley]

Montana, what details do you have of Charlotte, including all the variations on the name, I'll get the record if it exists, direct from the church. Then we can both put it in our trees.

[deebel]

A cursory look at FS lists Cathcart children of Charlotte Caldwell and Walter Cathcart

Jean, Walter, William, Agnes, Mary, Robert, Alexander, John.

I think the answer is that they were taken to Paisley Abbey to be christened but the residence is listed as Eaglesham, Renfrewshire. Perhaps your search should be in Eaglesham for burial records?

deebel