Obituaries in the 1800.....

[Allison]

Greetings all!
Not being familiar with how deaths were announced to the community in the 1800's I'm wondering how it was done? Word of mouth would seem to be the norm but on the other hand, how often would an obituary be posted? Were obituaries only written up if the person was wealthy or middle-class? Or was an obituary written for those who weren't so well off?

How do I find out if there was an obituary written for someone in my family tree? I noted in one discussion that someone had obtained an 1891 obituary from the Greenock Telegraph for someone he was researching. As it would seem that most of my ancestors are from Greenock for the time being, how would access those obituaries?

Also, how would I find out where someone was buried in Greenock or anywhere else for that matter? The death certificates I have seen so far don't list burial places so I'm not sure where to go to find out. Would I check the church records of where the parents were married, if it was a child that died?

Thank you for all your help to date. In a few short days, a huge brick wall has had a big hole put in it with your help and while it may not all come tumbling down at once, it looks like I might be able to climb over it.

Chaplain Allison Cline-Dean
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

[DavidWW]

Greetings all!
Not being familiar with how deaths were announced to the community in the 1800's I'm wondering how it was done? Word of mouth would seem to be the norm but on the other hand, how often would an obituary be posted? Were obituaries only written up if the person was wealthy or middle-class? Or was an obituary written for those who weren't so well off?

Newspapers were much more local back then, so that you would be surprised at the range of people for whom there was a short para. If you are particularly fortunate you will find a combined obituary/funeral report that lists the principal mourners and their relationship to the deceased.

When you find a note, don't stop there, but continue on for a few editions, as it quite often happened that there was additional info published a few days later.

How do I find out if there was an obituary written for someone in my family tree? I noted in one discussion that someone had obtained an 1891 obituary from the Greenock Telegraph for someone he was researching. As it would seem that most of my ancestors are from Greenock for the time being, how would access those obituaries?

Via the local library or archive, or the National Library in Edinburgh which has a comprehensive collection of many of the newspapers from across Scotland

Also, how would I find out where someone was buried in Greenock or anywhere else for that matter? The death certificates I have seen so far don't list burial places so I'm not sure where to go to find out. Would I check the church records of where the parents were married, if it was a child that died?

The location of the burial was recorded only on death register entries for 1855 to 1860. Before and after that, if there is a record, it's likely to be in the church records, but not reliably so. In the pre-1855 kirk session records there might only be a record of the hiring out of the mort cloth.

In rural areas there's normally only a small number of possibilities, but watch out for the strong Scottish tradition of burial taking place in the parish of birth. Obviously it's more problematic in cities, but that's balanced in Glasgow by the business being dominated by one company of funeral directors, Wylie & Lochhead, the records of which are held by Glasgow University Archives.

Again in Glasgow The Glasgow and Family History Room at the Mitchell Library holds the records of some twenty Glasgow cemeteries covering the period from the 18th century to the 1950's. There are a few also in the Glasgow City Archives, as well as lair plans and registers of burials in intra-mural burial grounds from 1870 to 1950. Records are arranged in chronological order and there are no indexes! A comprehensive listing, including location of registers and monumental inscriptions can be found in:- Burial Grounds of Glasgow: a brief guide for the genealogist by J Willing and J S Fairie - published by the Glasgow & West of Scotland Family History Society 2nd Revised Edition published in 1997.

Additional cemetery registers for Glasgow are kept by:- Cemeteries and Crematoria Section, Parks Department, City of Glasgow Council, 2 Port Dundas Place, GLASGOW G2 3LB (telephone 0141-333 0800)

It's well worth while investigating the similar situation elsewhere, - I realise that Glasgow may not be of too much assistance, but quote the above as an example.

I have a vague memory from a few years back of there being good cemetery/lair records out your way but can't recall if it was Greenock or Port Glasgow ..........

In the Libraries section on this site you'll find details of the various councils listed - http://www.talkingscot.com/links/libraries.htm . The contact details are for the libraries/archives but if they are not the correct point of contact in this context they should be able to re-direct you.

There is a Scottish National Burials Index (NBI) project but it's not always the highest priority for the local FHS, given the relevant paucity of the information in the OPRs and kirk session records. (Most OPRs don't contain much if any death/mortcloth info, - the OPR index and IGI cover only births/baptisms and banns/marriages.) A CD has been published by Fife FHS covering Fife - the local records are probably the best in terms of date and geographical coverage - and and I recall seeing something about some fiches relating to Argyll being published recently. Best idea is to contact the FHS covering the area of interest for the up-to-date position. See http://www.talkingscot.com/links/fhs-links.htm

And we haven't even covered MIs - monumental, including tombstone, inscriptions. For well over 100 years volunteers have been recording these, and many are published, but don't get too excited about your ancestors being recorded, - the combination of the cost of a headstone and the deterioration of the stone and inscription mean that in the early 1800s and before only a few percent of people are recorded in the listings that exist.

Thank you for all your help to date. In a few short days, a huge brick wall has had a big hole put in it with your help and while it may not all come tumbling down at once, it looks like I might be able to climb over it.

Good to hear there's a brick or three missing

Davie