Gravestone Topic=The Gravestone Store

[celia]

Hi
I cant find any connection between Parishmouse and Rootschat.No mention of it on the site.and i cant find it on RootsChat I had thought when i started the topic that if there was enough interest we might be allowed a board in the common room.If not and it was popular which it seems to be ,at leased at some time be stickied.My objective was at the time to use it as a stepping stone to other counties.Also to make it easier for rootschat  members to access the board/topic from the most used  part of rootschat .Which is the common room Who would not normally know about grave searchers.To my knowledge there wasn't any till recently  I have to stay here i am afraid  because i am waiting for replies

Celia

[celia]

Marie
That is a beautiful photo,and as you say in good condition it looks like it was only erected recently,it is so clear.It is also built like a monument, which of course it is and will be there for a long long time.Did his sons build it.Like Jill says come back and let us know how you get on.You never know you might find some more graves on the way

Celia

[MarieC]

Yes, Celia,

He was staying with two of his sons on their soldier settlement block (which proved to be too small to sustain its lessees in that semi-arid country) when he died.  The two sons buried him.  In remote outback places back then, of course you couldn't transport bodies any distance.  But I feel sad, that he lies by himself in such an isolated place, while his wife and at least four of his children are here in Toowoomba.

There are no other family graves out there.  I know where the rest of the family are.  But his parents-in-law are also separated - she in Toowoomba, he at Barcaldine where he died on his property 47 years before her.

I will report back.  I think I will take Jill's advice about the tissues.  I feel emotional already!!

Marie

[MarieC]

Hi Rootschatters,

Reporting back as requested.  (Query: why can't this topic be stickied   It is so popular!)

I have wearily returned from our safari into the semi-arid Outback to visit great-grandfather's grave.  Almost 1800 kilometres in 3 days!  The road was flat and straight and bitumen almost all the way, but the last bit of the journey, to the old homestead site and then to the grave, entailed bouncing in a four wheel drive over bore drains and creek crossings and stony dry red paddocks for quite a few kilometres!

The grave stands atop a ridge.  In front of it is a wide treeless grassy expanse stretching down to a creek about half a kilometre away.  Behind it, visible in the photo I posted, the dead trees were killed by a grasshopper plague in 1937.  I am amazed that they are still standing, not destroyed by white ants or something else!

The cairn is constructed of local stones and cement.  The facing plate is marble, with the lettering inset in some material, we were not sure what - perhaps brass which has blackened with time?  In that very dry climate, of course no moss or lichen has grown.  Just a few smudges of red dirt on the plate.  The cairn has developed a slight lean, but hopefully should stand for a long time yet. 

The atmosphere of this remote site on an outback property is serene and beautiful, and I felt strongly that g-grandfather's spirit is at peace there.  Though Irish by birth, he always loved the Outback and I think he would have wanted to lie there.  All the arrangements I had to make worked so smoothly that I really felt he was watching over me to make sure everything went well.

I had taken soil from his wife's grave in Toowoomba to sprinkle on the grave, and brought back some soil to sprinkle on hers.  And yes, I felt very emotional, but controlled myself with a giant effort.  The property owner and his neighbour were standing there, and you do NOT cry in the presence of Australian bushmen.  It is extraordinarily embarrassing for them, particularly if you are a stranger! 

I feel blessed by the whole experience.

Marie

[PrueM]

Marie,
What a wonderful experience!  I'm sure g-grandfather must have been paving your way, so to speak, as he knew what a lovely gesture it was that you were making, reuniting him and his wife in that way.
Prue

[maggiefishblue]

Hi Marie,

What a wonderful and moving experience. 

I know how I felt when I found my g grandfather's grave - he also is separated from his wife (by about 200 miles).  However, I only had to travel for a couple of hours on relatively smooth English roads!

Thank you for sharing the experience with us.

Kind regards,
Maggie

[JillJ]

Hi Marie,

I'm so pleased that you achieved your journey without mishap.  Well done - and thanks for sharing it with us.

Jill

[Rian]

Hi Marie,
That was a lovely thing to do. I'm glad it all went well for you. Did you find out anything new about him from the people there?
Rian.

[MarieC]

Hi Rian

Didn't find out anything major.  The current owner of the property came much later, and it was the neighbour's father who was there at the time, so he only knew what his father had told him.

There was a story about the old man having wanted to be buried in the creek, his family complying, and then a flood washing the coffin up, after which he was reburied on the ridge where he now is.  We have discounted this story, as no bushman would bury a body in a creek, or ask to be so buried!  He had dementia, and despite the family's having built a high fence to keep him home, we seem to have confirmed the family story that he wandered off, a major search was mounted, and he died soon after he was found.  There is some thought that he is buried where he was found - five or six kilometres from the homestead site! - but this will be hard to confirm.

I will get his death certificate soon and see what it says...

Marie