Saturday 29 June 2019

Graveyard Jaunts

Michael Collin's grave at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin
 
Family history research inevitably involves trawling through graveyards, something that may seem strange to those not in the game. Most people ride past a graveyard with barely a second look while genealogists crane their necks hoping for a glimpse of a familiar name. I have visited many a cemetery through the years, from small burial grounds surrounding a church to graveyards which take up many city blocks. 
 
Whether big or small, you sometimes need help finding the right grave. Last year's trip to Ontario included a jaunt to the Greenwood Cemetery in Owen Sound on the hunt for the resting places of some of my Thomson relatives. I know many photos of the stones are available on Findagrave but there is nothing like an in-person visit, if you can find the grave. There were maps in the Greenwood Cemetery but I couldn't figure out the system. I was lucky there was someone in the office to confirm my Thomsons were there and there was a stone to find. Once I rethought my search, I found them all on one stone and right beside them on another stone, almost swallowed by a bush, was a stone for the Harkness family which included Elizabeth Thompson Harkness, also a member of the Thomson family that I was interested in. I wouldn't have known to look for the Harkness stone without actually being in the cemetery.
 
Online searches can show you a lot but nothing is really the same as being there. If you visit in person, you are in even more luck if you have a guide, like I did in the Welford Road Cemetery in Leicester this year. My cousin was able to point out our family stones there as well as those of some of the more well-known permanent residents. 
 
As for well known parties found in cemeteries, one of the tours from my recent trip took in the Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin. There are lots of famous people buried there, many with connections to Ireland's risings and rebellions. *Our tour included a reenactment of the Patrick Pearse oration given in 1915 over the grave of Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa as well as visits to many famous and infamous person's final resting places, proving, to me at least, that cemeteries can add a lot to our understanding of history.
 
Yews are traditionally found in cemetaries
 
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