Nellfield Cemetery Aberdeen

tishgibbons · Post by **tishgibbons** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 12:07 pm

Hi Folks,

looking for a favour! In my tree I have a Peter MITCHELL who died (suicide by drowning) on the 27th of October 1899. According to the death notice in the newspapers at the time, he was to be buried in Nellfield Cemetery. His widow and four sons are one of my brickwalls - they disappear after 1901 - so I hoped the headstone might help. However according to the local authority, some of the records for Nellfield have been lost over the years and he does not feature on the records which remain. As always with these situations, it gets worse, as I'm told the cemetery is very large so a physical search is not possible. I have a friend who takes a look around on the odd occassion when she is in Aberdeen but she says it's like looking for a needle in a haystack!

Can I ask anyone on this site who visits Nellfield that they might take a look at the graves surrounding their family ones and see if there is a Peter MITCHELL recorded on any one of them. I suspect that he might have been buried with his wife's family - she was from Aberdeen - and her maiden name was MC LEAN. Also I think there should be a heaadstone. Unlike the rest of the family, this couple were probably not impoverished. They had a shop in Banchory Ternan and his will and testament give the impression of a relatively well off family.

In exchange I can only offer a look around Galway City and surrounding cemeteries which are hardly likely to be of interest to anyone!

Tish

Post by **emanday** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 12:26 pm

Although he might have been buried AT the cemetery, he might not have been buried actually IN it. Suicides were sometimes not allowed burial in consecrated ground but some churches/graveyards had an area set aside for such things.

It might not apply in your case, but, if such an area still exists, it might be worth checking.

tishgibbons · Post by **tishgibbons** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 1:30 pm

Hi Mary,

yes, that used to occur here too. I think though that when I wrote to the Council I said how he died. I wonder would they have automatically checked the other location if it existed ?! So many questions and so few answers! Still, keeps me off the streets and out of mischief!

Tish

Post by **emanday** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 4:39 pm

Still, keeps me off the streets and out of mischief!

Och, Tish. A wee bit of mischief is good for the soul

Post by **Pandabean** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 3:55 pm

Tish,

When you phoned the cemeteries department did they check elsewhere in Aberdeen or was it just Nellfield?

Have a look here, not much but just a few photos of the graveyard:
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/nescotland/g ... nellfd.htm

Regards,
Andy

tishgibbons · Post by **tishgibbons** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 8:03 pm

Hi Andy,

thanks for that. I've gone to Colin Milne's site often but never noticed the bit about Nellfield! When I wrote to the Council I specified Nellfield as that was what was in the death notice in the newspaper at the time. I've also used the MI index at ANESFHS to try to find him but to no avail. I'm beginning to agree with Mary - and maybe a bit of mischief would be good for me!

Tish

Archiver · Post by **Archiver** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:51 pm

Which department did you write to? There are lair registers for Nellfield, but the burial registers are indeed a bit patchy. However, if they bought a lair then there should be a record.

Try the archives for assistance.

tishgibbons · Post by **tishgibbons** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 1:40 pm

Hi Archiver,

did you mean the Archives at Aberdeen Council?

Tish

Archiver · Post by **Archiver** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 2:46 pm

Yes! I do. They can be emailed (if you haven't already!) at archives @ aberdeencity. gov. uk (without the spaces!)