Visit a Graveyard – Without Leaving Home

There’s nothing a family historian loves more than a wander round a graveyard.  Naturally, it’s best if the weather is dry and not blowing a gale, but as that isn’t always possible, why not take a virtual stroll among the headstones?  This is also a good strategy when you’re preparing for a cemetery visit.

Do an online search for any projects relating to the graveyard you’re interested in.  County and parish historical societies often record and share gravestone inscriptions from the churchyards and cemeteries in their area, with the names on them compiled in a searchable format.  Some include photographs too; a good example is Skye Gravestones – check out their offering for an idea of how such websites work.

I recently went for a walk through Clachan Shannda Burial Ground in the Outer Hebrides – from the comfort of my sofa.  All of this cemetery's 285 headstones have been indexed, photographed and added to FindAGrave.  As many of my ancestors lived in that area, I simply browsed the images, compared them to my family records, and was happily able to identify several relatives buried there.  Try searching the site for a cemetery in your ancestors' neighbourhood, and then look for your surname(s) within a particular graveyard.

Along similar lines is BillionGraves, who also offer a free app for your phone (or tablet) that allows you to contribute to their site by photographing and uploading images of gravestones. 

Both of these sites are worth searching as they cover different graveyards, depending on their contributors.  They’ll save you money, time, energy, and from being eaten alive by the local insects.

Trumpan Church and Graveyard, Isle of Skye