In this week’s mini-class, I'm looking at graveyard research, and how to get the most out of visiting your ancestors' final resting place. But it's not just a matter of grabbing a pen and paper and heading off to the cemetery...
Before you go...
☙ Speak to relatives who may know
the whereabouts of family graves, or have paperwork relating to burials.
☙ Contact cemetery or local authorities to find out about a graveyard’s opening hours. Some offer look-up or research services - sometimes for a fee - which might make your search easier.
☙ Check for the existence of layout plans or maps for large cemeteries.
Public libraries (and their websites) or council offices sometimes hold copies of these. GENUKI is a useful source of information about burial grounds - as are the groundskeeping staff in the cemetery. If you can't find a plot, ask them.
☙ Use online sources
to identify ancestral grave sites and memorial inscriptions - try FindAGrave, BillionGraves (and their free mobile apps), and for those who died in wartime, Commonwealth War Graves. Smaller churchyards and other burial grounds may also have been surveyed and the inscriptions made available on the Internet, and a good online search should track them down.
☙ Family history societies produce indexed cemetery publications which you can buy directly from them, or from organisations like the Family History Federation or the Scottish Genealogy Society. Public libraries often hold copies of these monumental inscription books for local parishes. Search their online catalogues to find out what they have on their shelves.
During your visit...
☙ Don’t try and scrape
lichen off gravestones as this will do more harm than good. A safe way to clean a
memorial is to wash it carefully with a damp cloth, perhaps using a very soft
brush afterwards to remove dirt residues. Don't be tempted to use abrasive cleaning materials which can cause irreparable damage to masonry.
☙ Damage to memorials can also be inflicted by rubbing with chalk, crayon, or any other
materials to try and read or record the engraving on a stone. Record the inscription with a photograph instead. This will allow you to take a note of the setting as well as the information on the headstone.
☙ Use non-invasive methods like foil reflectors,
artificial or natural light and shade to highlight worn and hard-to-read
inscriptions. Or do what my friend Anne
did and wait for the sun to providentially break through the clouds! You can learn more about looking after gravestones from Historic Environment Scotland.
☙ Be careful of
unstable stones and soft ground.
Follow cemetery authorities’ advice regarding visits, health and safety, and care of graves. Take heed of signage
on site which may alert you to hazardous areas of the cemetery.
☙ Look on the back of ancestral headstones for more names - sometimes there wasn't enough room on the front!
After you return home...
☙ Check dates and
names from headstones with certificates and other sources. Beware of gravestone "typos" – if a name was added well after the event, or if the deceased’s age
was uncertain, the inscription may contain inaccuracies.
☙ If you’ve
photographed headstones you may wish to upload them to FindAGrave or BillionGraves, along with a transcription of the wording on them. Sharing
what you’ve found can connect you with others researching the same families.
☙ Add what you’ve
found to your records, remembering to use pencil if you haven’t double-checked
the information yet.
☙ Share your findings with your family, especially those relatives you asked for help beforehand.
Next time, I'll show you how to tell
the good from the bad on the Internet.
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