Southern Necropolis, Glasgow

[daj]

I went to a local cemetery (Southern Necropolis) on Monday afternoon to see if any of my relatives were burried there. Having never been in the Gorbals area it took me some time to find it.

I know I can ask the council to do the search for me (and I understand they take a fair few notes for their efforts) but I thought it would be nice to wander round and take it all in.

How disappointed I was -- it was such a mess and in a really poor state of repair. I would say at least 50% of the stones had fallen or were pushed over. So many of them were surrounded by shrubs and trees too.

I'm not sure what the local councils obligation is, but clearly they think it only extends to grass cutting on a sit on mower by someone who has one eye and has no respect for their surroundings. (I know, that's a very harsh and sweeping statement and I am sure there are many lovely sites but it summed up my feelings at the time) I was also appalled at the clear lack of respect by those who engage in tipping the stones.

Rest assured I will not be back as it really upset me. Surely if 'the caretakers' of the cemetery re-erected stones at the time it would be an easy job to keep on top of. Now it seems an impossible task. Such a shame as headstones are not cheap and I'm sure lots of people struggled to pull the money together for these at the time.

I have no idea if my relatives are there. I think they had little money so there may be no headstone; in fact I'm not even sure what happened to those who had little or no money for a funeral. The end of the 1800's was a tough time for my family (and countless others too)

rant over! sorry

[paddyscar]

Hi David:

Sad that it's been let to go! Here is a link that may help in tracing your folk without having to make a return visit.

http://www.southernnecropolis.com/

Frances

[LesleyB]

Hi David

The "stone tipping" may well have been carried out by the council, not vandals as you may have suspected. There was much outrage concerning this practice a few years ago. The reasons given by the respective councils was along the lines that the stones were unsafe and presented a health and safety risk, following on from a couple of injuries and I believe one death from children playing in cemeteries. There were various outraged articles in the Scotsman & etc where members of the public had witnessed council workers pushing stones to see if they could be knocked over.

I'm afraid my view is that small children should not be playing unsupervised in cemeteries and that children of all ages should be taught to respect the resting places of those who have gone before them. It just seem plain wrong that stones and graves should be desecrated because a few folk cannot show due resepect. Oh, dear... this is a subject which fair gets me going....I should not even have started....
I had a wee rant on the same subject a couple of years back
http://talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic. ... =warriston

There is a web site listing some of those buried there, but certainly does not list all, as I have some folk buried there in the 1855- 1870s and there is no sign of them in the list.
http://www.southernnecropolis.com/


Best wishes
Lesley

[daj]

Hi Lesley -- I share you views on how people should treat a cemetery.

Thanks to both for the weblink -- It looks like it has not been updated in a few years which is a shame but at least there are some records on the headstones (although sadly none for my family)

[melody]

Hi David,
i was to the Southern Necropolis last month and it IS a complete and utter disaster. My heart sank when I saw the place. However I was very, very, lucky, I found my great great grandparents and their son. This is how I did it. First go to the Mitchell Library. Ask for the microfilm of burials for the Southern Necropolis. I knew the year Frederick Campbell had died, and the date , so it didn't take long to find his burial. (After having exhausted the lair boooks, etc. of several other cemeteries, as I didn't know which one he was buried in.) If you have to troll through the microfilm year by year it is daunting, especially if you are not sure they are there, so do try to find their death dates first. However the Mitchell also has books recording lair owners, you can look there first and see if they bought a lair, and when. My ancestor did not buy a lair, it said the lair he was in was owned by the late John Bul... I could not make out the rest of the name, but it was #4000 in the eastern section. The nice staff at the Mitchell gave me a pamphlet of the Southern Necropolis, (Southern Necropolis Heritage Trail) so I at least knew which section was which. I was unable to follow the first few graves of the heritage trail but perhaps with more time and patience I could find those graves. However my time in Glasgow was short and I had come so far so I decided to spend my time searching for my Campbells.( I had a very good guide when I went to Sighthill cemetery in Glasgow in 2008, and he told me to look at the bottom of the plinths or stones to see the grave #.) So I started scraping in the grass. Most of the plinths had no number that I could find, but about every 6th or 8th one did. I was not able to discern the # pattern as I didn't find enough of them in any one area, but I knew I was in the high 3000's. Luck and persistance, (isn't that the key to genealogy anyway?), i found a large heavy plinth with #4000 on it, and right next was the stone with their names on it!!!! The reason it was still there and readable, (though whatever had once perched on top was gone,) was that it was a big heavy square thing, well not exactly square, it tapered a bit at the top.

The pamphlet says that free guided tours of the Southern Necropolis are conducted by the Park Rangers, phone 0141 287 5064, perhaps they have some information that would help you? Anyway, hope this helps.

Melody

[melody]

I forgot to add, I asked the council if they could do a search, and they quoted me 60 pounds, perhaps it is less if you know which cemetery, as I wasn't charged anything for supplying me with a grave # and a guide once I knew the cemetery. (That was an ancestor at Sitehill.)
Melody

[dizzybint]

I find it disgraceful that you have to pay for this kind of thing.. a woman in England tried to find details or her great grandparents in Dalbeth but was asked for money, I went for her to St Peters in London road, had the lair no and asked the man in the office if he could direct me to it.. not only did he direct me he sent two workers to show me exactly where the plot was as Id never have come across it on my own as it had no stone.. , If anyone has lair numbers for Dalbeth Id be glad to go along and get photos for you.