MIs or similar Renfrew

[Russell]

Hi Trish

We think we suffer from dedication to our ancestral search. We stop short, usually, with our own ancestors.
John and Sheila Mitchell researched, and tramped through dozens and dozens of burial grounds and recorded every pre-1855 stone they could find. All this on behalf of the Scottish Genealogical Society. Their records were published as a set of books covering Scotland county by county and form what is the most comprehensive resource anywhere of memorial inscriptions. They added to their list acknowledging recordings by earlier researchers especially where stones had fallen or were no longer legible. Their family carried on the work after them.
Scottish genealogists, professional and amateur, owe them a huge debt. Most local libraries carry copies at least for their own locality and the Mitchell in Glasgow has the whole set.
Unless all your rellies lived within the one county most folk stop short of buying a copy for the one or two relevant entries it 'might' contain. I hold a copy for Renfrewshire(2 Volumes) for my local Family History Group so it was sensible to offer a quick look-up.

The wall mural is simply a memorial stone set into the wall surrounding the graveyard(The church no longer exists). You had to be reasonably wealthy to have this type of memorial as a mason had to be employed to set the stone into the wall. Usually the stone would be placed against the wall.

Russell

[trish1]

Hi Russell

Many thanks for the story - and it does seem a job well beyond the usual - I have recently been through 1 small cemetery with about 500 headstones - and it is taking me quite some time to document all - just one cemetery and the earliest headstone is 1845 so a large % in good condition. Until 5 years ago I had no idea what the IGI was meant to be and as mentioned, my first hand knowledge of Scotland was based on a 5 day tourist trip to Edinburgh. After the event my questions often seem somewhat "dumb", so I do appreciate all the folks who take the time to explain things to me.

Most of my Scottish folks come from Renfrew and/or Fife. The only places outside these counties that they moved to seem to be Edinburgh and Glasgow (and Australia) but that was all 1800s. At later times they may well have moved further.

I obviously need to come and see all these places I think about & try to research - one day perhaps.

Thank you for the help

Trish

[LesleyB]

There is an obituary for Sheila Mitchell here which may be of interest:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/peopl ... 30218.html

[Russell]

Thanks Lesley

I often wondered what drove the Mitchells to take on such a 'monumental' task (pun intended). Now I have delved deep into my own ancestors varied places of abode I have gathered lists of burial grounds and assorted inscriptions myself and realise the fascination of old stones.

Trish
My ancestral lines include Fife and the fife FHS Deaths CD can be very useful even if some of the information is very limited at times.

Russell

[trish1]

Many thanks Lesley & I do have the Fife CD Russell - has solved a few puzzles for me (and created a few more)

Trish