GRAVE WARNING
SAFETY FIRST
Please take care when in our graveyards.
They are very dangerous places, and are, in fact,
full of dead people, so make sure that you don't join them, even by
accident.
Because of recent fatal accidents, most of our cemeteries have
recently been checked for stability of the gravestones, but, with
vandalism all too prevalent these days, stones can quickly become
unsafe,
so please keep your distance from any gravestone that looks at all
suspect,
they are very heavy and people have been killed by falling grave
stones.
The stone and slate memorials that are flat on the ground, become
very slippery in damp weather,
so avoid walking on them, lots of hidden rabbit holes, moles at
work, wasp’s nests and partly sunken
memorials are just waiting for you to trip on them, so don’t step
back without looking,
Wear sensible footwear and use some kind of support (walking
stick).
If at all possible, have someone else with you, if you do
fall and injure yourself,
you could be there a long time before someone comes along and finds
you.
Remember that most of what you see and record today may not be
available in years to come,
the elements, vandalism, and redevelopment take their toll on our
valuable family history treasures every year,
Even in the 25 years of visiting graveyards, I am now unable to find
inscriptions that I recorded all that time ago,
so, if you can, please take a good photograph of the inscriptions
you find,
you will be preserving our history for posterity.
So do be careful in grave yards,
enjoy our heritage
we hope that our images will save you time and a long journey.
Why Record Monumental
Inscriptions, Are they valuable?
Inscriptions are what we all use in our family history research,
Parish registers are of course inscriptions made by the Parish
Priest,
but, all so often, our old monumental inscriptions are overlooked.
Although not considered by some to be a primary source for research;
I have always considered them to be just as valuable as an entry in
a parish register,
all to often the details on the gravestones or wall tablets will
give much more details
and usually more accurate data than the parish priest entered in his
registers.
For example:
1. Names;
Both Surnames and Given names are more likely to be spelt the way
the family preferred on the grave stone,
i.e. Joscelyne in life would not have been inscribed as Joslin and
visa versa.
I have, on occasions found instances where the parish priest has
used his own spelling of the name Joslin,
and yet the signature of the Joslin in the register was very
different.
2. Ages;
Ages and dates of death and sometime full dates of birth are
given.
3. Relationships;
Relationship of the people i.e. Father, Mother, Wife, Sons,
Daughters, Husband, Grandparents etc.
4. Places of abode;
i.e. farm, village, house name, and of course the parish that the
inscription was found in
this shows a link to the area. 'Late of'
5. Occupations;
Some counties are much better at including this data than others,
and I have found the graveyards in the North East especially good at
including occupations.
People were very proud of their occupations and they tended to run
through generations.
'Like Father, Like Son'
To find a gravestone or indeed any monumental inscription of your
family was an indication
of someone being able to afford to pay for one! They were expensive.
There's quite a good chance that they, or their family also left a
will,
but that’s another story and another avenue to explore. |
