Anyone with Speirs in their tree?

[LesleyB]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/gla ... 525496.stm

Tesco has been given approval to exhume 19th Century human remains as it starts construction in Linwood, Renfrewshire.
.....When the site was discovered Tesco put a camera into the vault and established that there were four lead-lined coffins and debris which may be the remains of one or more wooden coffins.

The firm believes the vault contained five members of the Speir family.

[Russell]

Hi Lesley

Thanks for that tip off. We were just talking about the Speirs family and their connections in Kilbarchan at my Family History Group last night.
I'm not sure whether the burial site falls within Kilbarchan parish as it was back then or is within the wider Abbey parish remit.
Hey Ho Another local history mystery to pursue.

Russell

[AndrewP]

Hi Russell,

In the 1890s the parish boundary followed the Black Cart Water, and places the whole of Linwood village in Kilbarchan Parish. So if Tesco's development is north or west of the river then it was in Kilbarchan Parish.

See http://www.nls.uk/maps/os/view/?sid=74400786 for the 1890s map.
And http://www.nls.uk/maps/os/view/?sid=74400924 for the 1850s map.

All the best,

AndrewP

[Russell]

Thanks Andrew
I was not able to suss out dates for the crypt from the BBC info. So I was unsure when the parish boundaries were altered.

Russell

[Currie]

I wonder what they spent on all the legal proceedings and what the delay actually cost them. For probably much less money they could have raised the whole kit and caboodle to ground level and have it in the centre of the sporting goods department, or whatever it is they sell at Tesco, where it would be closer to home and perhaps attract a few extra customers.

Perhaps a memorial plaque in a prominent position within the store should be the bare minimum.

Hope they haunt the place,
Alan

P.S. Did they really need a forensic pathologist to tell them that 150 year old remains “would be in an advanced state of decomposition and possibly reduced to skeletons”?

[Russell]

Hi Alan

Across here the rule when a human skeleton is found all activities must cease and the Procurator Fiscal is informed. The Fiscal's Office will decide on the next step.
Here in Kilbarchan a wall bordering a road separating it from the church graveyard needed urgent repairs. When they took down the wall the remains in the nearest lairs were exposed (Bones sticking out at all levels !)The Fiscal's Office decided that a forensic osteologist should be brought in from Glasgow University to establish the ages of the various human remains. After it was established that they dated from about 1500 up to the 1800's the workmen were allowed to continue their work. It took several months for the forensic work.
What they were ruling out was that there were no recent remains. They already knew that there were several layers of burials there(What do you expect in a cemetery )
Its an odd way of working but it brings in an independent arbiter to review the known information and plan the future approach.
In this instance my only regret was that they still didn't turn up the ancient lair records for the graveyard which would have been a stupendous find for us genealogists.

Russell