Week 21: At the Cemetery #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

 I like visiting cemeteries. Not everyone feels the same I'm sure. Most people only go to a cemetery for a funeral or to revisit a loved one's grave. But cemeteries aren't just peaceful places to host the dead,  they are also interesting places for the living.

Sometimes I have a reason to visit a cemetery. I may be looking for a grave I expect to be there in the hope that it will shed some light on an aspect of my research. Information on immediate family - wife's maiden name, children, including those who died young are often carved on the gravestone. Family members may be buried nearby. Some older stones even carry the occupation or the 'address' of the deceased.

Gravestone in Hamilton Parish Church cemetery

The cemetery which I have visited most often is that of Kirk O' Shotts.

It's the one belonging to the little church you can spot on the hillside when driving along the M8. My dad's parents are buried there, as are some of his siblings. My Uncle James, who died in a mining accident is buried there with his wife. There are also many gravestones with names familiar to me from my research. 

I remember visiting a cemetery in Clarkston, Airdrie in the hope I could find the grave of my great grandfather John McAra. I didn't find it, but while looking came across the grave of a Thomas McAra, the brother of my 2 x great grandfather. That prompted some research during which I came across his son, the Reverend John McAra. This man of the church had led an interesting life - a minister in the Church of Scotland, who had served in the army in Burma and was a missionary in India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). I would never have known he existed, far less learned about his life, if I hadn't come across his father's gravestone.

However, you can't always believe what you read on a gravestone. Ages and dates can be wrong. An extreme example of this is the gravestone in Cramond churchyard bearing the name of my 3 x great uncle James McAra, who was transported to Tasmania in 1812. The death date given of 1812 is a complete fabrication. James actually died in Sorell, Tasmania in 1840. What was going on here? There are a number of family members names on the stone.  James' wife Isabella had 'remarried' and the stone was erected by her son by her second 'husband', long after his parents were dead. Apparently he did not know the infamous story! He had probably been told James had died.

Gravestones or memorials don't all look alike. Sometimes one gravestone will attract your attention more than others. Maybe it is bigger, maybe it has ornate carving or moulding or a strange symbol.

The striking gravestone above in Hamilton Parish Church Cemetery indicates the place where the heads of four Covenanters were buried and a memorial there tells their story.

I also like visiting cemeteries in other countries. They can be very interesting and the stones more personal. Here are some examples from two different graveyards in Switzerland. 

Some countries also seem to take more care of their graves than others, not just adding the occasional bunch of flowers, but adding lanterns that can be lit at night too. This cemetery is in Haczow, Poland.

I like cemeteries. It doesn't make me strange. Next time you pass one, take a walk inside. You might be surprised at what you find.