How to find a burial in Johnstone.

[ziggymole]

Hello,

I'm trying to find a burial/ gravestone for my relatives and was wondering if there is a cemetery in Johnstone and how I would contact them for details? The family I'm interested in is listed below and I am led to understand that Thomas c1840 was a general contractor & quarry owner who built a house named "Skiffview" so it is likely that they could afford a gravestone/monument. At this date in England & Wales most burials were in large cemeteries rather than Churchyards, is this the same in Scotland? If so does anyone know who I should contact? If there is a gravestone I would dearly love to have a photograph.

Thomas BLACK c1840 - 28/10/1907 and his wife
Christine McFarlane BLACK 1841 - 14/4/1915

Their children
Ludovic 1872-1933
Thomas 1879-1882
Walter 1882-1945


Many thanks,
Jan

ps, I live in South Wales and would be happy to return the favour.

[Russell]

Hi Jan

And welcome to
I might be able to look up for Johnston memorial inscriptions if you can confirm that it is Johnstone in Renfrewshire rather than Johnston in Dumfriesshire
This is one of the many examples of multiple places with the same name. I'm currently grandson sitting so I can't access my MI books but will presume it is Renfrewshire and have a look later.
Most of my (and my wife's) ancestors were too poor to have a stone but you never know yours might have been slightly better off
Many Scottish churches had their own burial grounds so it often helps to know which church they belonged to. Some larger places, like Paisley, had privately owned burial grounds which were non-denominational. It was only with the development of Parish Councils in the late 1800's that municipal cemeteries were opened up. Records for these cemeteries are usually held by the local authority.

Russell

[ziggymole]

Hi Russell,

Thank you for your reply, yes it is Johnstone in Renfrewshire. I'm pretty sure that the family are buried at Abbey cemetery as this seems to be the closest to where they lived. Enjoy your grandson and don't hurry to reply, I'm going nowhere but the little ones seem to change and grow every minute.

All the best to you
Jan

[Russell]

Hi Jan

Grandson now returned home and bedded down for the night means I can concentrate on other important things

Johnston only became a separate parish in 1865 and the main burial ground was the grounds of the Established Church. I am not sure when exactly the last burials took place there but a large municipal cemetery was opened between Johnstone and Elderslie (Abbey Rd) I presume this is the last resting place of your Thomas Black.
Without any knowledge of where the grave is it would be possible to wander for hours without finding anything (something I have done several times in other graveyards )
I don't know whether Renfrew District charge for searches but with accurate dates little actual searching would be needed. Anyone out there with experience of Renfrew District search costs (if any)
If you contact
Renfrewshire Council
Environmental Services dept
Renfrewshire House
Cotton Street
Paisley PA1 1BR
or phone them 0141 840 3504
Ask for a Lair/Plot number and a map of its location I would be able to get you a photo as I live only a mile or two away.

Russell

[ziggymole]

Hi Russell,

Thank you so much for the information I will be on the phone tomorrow morning to see if there is any record of my BLACK family.

All the best to you
Jan

[carolineasb]

Hi

Just to let you know it looks like a photo of the grave of Thomas Black (in Abbey Cemetery) is on the Find a Grave in Scotland website (although sadly they charge for a copy).
I think other members of the family are on the same grave.

Also, had a look at "Skiffview" on Google Street View and had hoped that there might be a date somewhere on the house but no luck - but appears to be early last century.

Caroline

[LesleyB]

(although sadly they charge for a copy).
I think other members of the family are on the same grave.

I have no connection at all to the site mentioned, but the price being asked (a few pounds) seems very reasonable considering it is probably a lot less than someone would need to spend either on petrol, parking charges, bus/train fares or whatever to get there, not even taking into account the time which would need to be taken. Seems like a good buy to me, if it is a good quality photo and in a location you are not likely to be able to visit.

Best wishes
Lesley

[ziggymole]

Thanks for the info Caroline,

Yes this is my family and I have bought the photo as for me this is a lot cheaper than travelling up from South Wales. There were two other family graves in the cemetery so for £9 I have added a lot of detail to my tree.

I will still need to travel to Edinburgh though as it seems that researching the sasines will take more time than my daughter (who lives there) has available in her lunch breaks.

My thanks to everyone who has assisted me so far,

Jan

[LesleyB]

Hi Jan

Yes, I'd agree, any searching of sasines can be a long job - the sort of research task you'd be better to set aside a whole day for, so that you can really get into it. In a lunch hour you'd only just be settling down to the task in hand when it would be time to leave!

The index to the abridgements is now on the PCs at NAS and you can gather a lot of info from the abridgements alone, but often, once you have identified a document in which you are interested, reading through the whole document(s) can be very time consuming. Some of the sasines can be very short, but others can run to quite a number of pages. It is often well worth it though as there can be small gems of information hidden away in them - the kind of info you would not perhaps come across anywhere else!

Best wishes
Lesley

[carolineasb]

Hi Jan,

It occurred to me after posting that I had previously visited an Office of the Land Registry in Glasgow. When I googled for that I found that there is still an Office in Glasgow but you can actually order a search online - the website is www.ros.gov.uk (again there is a fee).

Hope this helps.

Regards

Caroline