Lairs

MissNUFC · Post by **MissNUFC** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 12:33 am

Hi Everyone

Ok i'm confused, how do these lairs work?

A very nice man emailed me a copy of a Wright Family Lair and it turned out i had 3 relatives on it. Which was great because i didn't even know about one of them

The lair was bought on the 4th August 1857 by Dougald Wright (W62), Robert Cameron and James Wise for the price of £1.10s.

The connection with me is the Wright name, but does that mean the others are related too and does it mean i'm related to the Dougald Wright who bought the lair, there's 29 in the lair but i can only find the connection with the 3 ???????

So many questions

Vikki

Post by **emanday** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 12:52 am

It's possible some, but probably not all, of the people in the lair are related to you. Maybe the three who paid for it are husbands of three sisters?

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 9:28 am

A lair is a space in a cemetery, normally wide enough for one grave, but it can be wider.

As many as can be "accommodated" can be interred in the plot involved once the lair has been purchased.

The number depends on the local geological conditions, i.e. how deep is it possible to go, - 10 or 12 feet is not unusual; and the cemetery's policy towards removing old coffins and reinterring the bones (back in the lair), freeing space for more interments.

Sometimes ownership is time limited, e.g. 30 or 50 years, after which the lair can be used by others; sometimes the ownership is "for all time".

Although not a situation I've come across, I believe that it can be the case that there are annual maintenance fees, or that the ownership can revert to the cemetery owners if the headstone, etc., are not properly maintained.

In the case of the lair that I've inherited in Girvan (originally that bought by my paternal grandfather), however, ownership is for all time, and there are no charges, - all maintenance is at the cost of the town council.

David

Post by **emanday** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 12:43 pm

David,

Your explanation has raised a question about one of our family lairs in Rutherglen.

It was bought by my Great Grandfather in 1920 for his recently deceased daughter. She and my Grandfather are both interred their, as well as a wee boy whose name I didn't recognise, but later discovered was also rellie. However, my Great Grandfather must be somewhere else.

They are the only people interred there. It does still belong to the family, although the officials would not tell me who, so is probably "for all time".

I just wondered why, with such a big family as these came from, why the lair might never have been used again? Was it possible for the owner to dictate which members of the family could be interred?

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 12:48 pm

emanday wrote:......snipped..........I just wondered why, with such a big family as these came from, why the lair might never have been used again? Was it possible for the owner to dictate which members of the family could be interred?

As far as I'm aware the lair owner had to give their permission for any burial.

In addition, that fact that this lair was owned by a family member may have been forgotten.

David

Post by **emanday** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 1:14 pm

I don't think its ownership has been forgotton, David.

My Grandfather was buried there in 1964 and other members of my Grandmother's family have been buried in a nearby lair as late as 1995 (I think that was the year).

Anyway, the lady who gave me the info said that, from the names listed, ownership had apparently passed down the family over the years.