Where are all the dead people?.....

[STUARTDALGLEISH]

This may be a stupid question but where are all our dead rellies.?

I know most of my lot would not have had money for gravestones or plots so I assume they went to paupers graves but where are all these fields of people? Looking at the older graveyards I don't see large areas of grass where they are?

[Jack]

Hi Stuart,
A couple of years ago whilst looking at the Craigton Cemetery, Glasgow records (at The Mitchell) i presumed the depth in the indexes meant feet, but wondered why there were so many differences.
Not knowing too much about graveyards, i'd just thought everyone was "6ft down"....
Some depth numbers were as -
4
5⅔
7¾
8½
10½
--
I eventually traced the owner of Craigton at that time (a lawyer), and he told me that they did indeed refer to the depth in feet of the lair.
Privately bought lairs were usually up to abt the 8 ft depth, and the ones nearest the main "avenues" were dearer.
The 10½ feet deep ones were usually the "common ground" burials, and i did notice in the indexes that most of these all had different names in them.
These would be in an out of the way part of the cemetery, and alas have no headstones. But seems it's rather difficult to pinpoint the exact spot in the common ground even with a lair no (at least at Craigton it is).
I've the feeling that these common graves were re-used time after time till they could no longer get any more into them. The reason being that the poor souls in them would eventually sink lower into the ground.

I know many of my own ancestors must be buried somewhere in Paisley - but haven't a clue which churchyards.
As they were rather poor in the pocket (a family tradition that i happily continue!), they would most likely to be in common ground.

But like yourself i've always wondered where the common ground was as many graveyards just don't seem to have any large tracts of grass.
Maybe they were also buried between bought lairs.

Jack

[DavidWW]

Not just common graves but also lairs that were privately owned could be "re-used" over a period of time depending on the attitude of the local authority concerned.

Maximum grave depth depended principally on the geological conditions, - depth to rock, soil stability, and water table level - mourners prefer not to see a coffin floating, - don't laugh ! - 14 years ago near San Bartolomeu de Messines in the Algarve we had to return the following day to place my aunt's coffin in her grave as it had been completely flooded the day of the funeral, - so that anything between 3 and many more coffins could be accommodated in one lair.

Especially if the depth was limited, and as long as a decent time had elapsed since the previous burials then it was not unknown for old coffins to be opened and the bones reinterred in a smaller container to free up space............. Ghoulish?, - yes, but practical!

David

[AndrewP]

A number of my Paterson ancestors are buried in Ratho Cemetery - a "modern" cemetery, started in 1899. A large expanse of that cemetery looks like unused open grassland, but is in fact the "common ground" burial area (or paupers' graves of you like). It you look across it, the ground can be seen to be uneven, presumably sinking as the coffins and their contents gradually disintegrate. Having seen the lair map of this cemetery, I know there are many unmarked graves in these areas. The ones of my g-g-g-grandparents can be reasonably placed, as they are close to the roadway, and near some marked graves.

I accept that Ratho may be an exception that the unmarked graves are in a large grassy area that almost looks unused.

All the best,

Andrew Paterson