Immortalizing an Ancestor the Sarah Hare Way

 

In 1744 Sarah Hare died of septicaemia, after pricking herself on a needle. In her will she requested that a wax effigy be made of her and displayed in the Holy Trinity Church, Stow Bardolph. Her wish was granted. 

She was a daughter of Sir Thomas Hare, whose family had a reputation for local philanthropy. Her ancestors built almshouses, and Sarah left each resident a small bequest.

This is wax Sarah in her cabinet

Online Search Engines are a Genealogist's Friend

Diane wrote to Olive Tree Genealogy with this question

These 2 ancestors [William and Martha Medcalf] emigrated from Ireland to Ontario Canada in 1819 with 10 children we think. They are from Delgany, Country Wicklow but have not been able to access any information about them before coming to Canada. Much appreciated for any suggestions.

Diane - this is where Google is your friend (or any other search engine you prefer). A quick search using search terms "delgany ireland church records" brought several results indicating that these records are online.

I downloaded the PDF files for the transcribed records of THE PARISH REGISTERS OF CHRIST CHURCH, DELGANY VOLUME 2 BAPTISMS 1777-1819, MARRIAGES 1777-1819 & BURIALS 1777-1819, I found the following baptisms for children of William and Martha:

23 Nov 1809 Eliz’th MEDCALF Will’m/Martha, Downs
27 Jun 1805 John MEDCALF Wm/Martha, Downs
9 Feb 1812 Henry MEDCALF Wm/Martha, Downs
16 Oct 1813 Will’m MEDCALF Wm/Martha, Downs

"Downs" is their residence. I am sure you can find much more by downloading and searching more records.

You should also search the Upper Canada Land Petitions to see if the family applied for land once in Canada. Their petitions may reveal more about their lives in Ireland. You may wish to read my tutorials on searching those petitions and finding the actual images onlline once you have completed your search in the index.

Using Land Petitions to Learn about an Ancestor

Finding an Ancestor in the Challenging Upper Canada Land Books

Searching Ontario Canada Land Records, eh? 

 In fact I did a quick search and here are the results for MEDCALF. Using my tutorials to guide you, you can now find the actual petitions online using the index information for any names below that are of interest.

 

It appears that one of William and Martha's sons (Francis Henry Medcalf) became a mayor in Toronto Ontario. There may be quite a bit of biographical information about him in Toronto archives or libraries.

Found an Ancestor in St. Marys Churchyard Brixham Devon

I just found an ancestor on a site Cowtown Brixham Graveyard that I didn't know existed until today.My 5th great-grandfather William Norman was buried in St. Mary's Church graveyard in Brixham Devon in 1836.

Brixham is divided into two halves, Lower Brixham, known as ‘Fish Town’ and Higher Brixham, known as ‘Cow Town’. Lower Brixham is a working fishing port which many people know as ‘the town of Brixham’. Higher Brixham was the original rural Saxon settlement. A thriving Victorian farming community developed centred around its medieval parish church of St. Mary’s.

A full database search engine website grant was funded by the Heritage Lottery. The database consists of all memorial inscriptions found in St Mary's church and grave yard in 2019. 13,000 names have been entered on the project register.
 
This is my ancestor's information and next I hope to spot a photo of his tombstone on the section of the site with images.

• Surname NORMAN
• First Name WILLIAM
• Date of Death 21/01/1836
• Age 80
• Relationship HUSBAND OF ANN NORMAN
• Plot PLOT 7 O04

If you are looking for births, marriages or deaths, see Featured Database Brixham Devon Church Records

There is more information photographs, family histories, walks etc on the Cowtown St Mary's 1850-1900 Project on Facebook. 

Revolutionary War Graves Lost and Found

Bones from as many as 11 unmarked graves have been found so far in an empty lot in the Adirondack village of Lake George, 55 miles north of Albany.

Two uniform buttons found appear to be from a Pennsylvania soldier in the 1st Pennsylvania Battalion. It is quite possible that the 11 soldiers died of smallpox at St. George.

Soldiers who went north to fight in Canada in 1776 were sent upon by a smallpox breakout, and were sent back to St. George to recover if they fell ill.

If you had ancestors from Pennsylvania who fought in the Revolutionary War, you might want to Google for more articles as archeologists uncover more details.

Burial Cards for WW1 American Soldiers

As part of a recent digitization project this series of burial cards is now available in NARA’s online catalog in the RG 92 Card Register of Burials of Deceased American Soldiers (NAID 6943087). These records are arranged alphabetically by name of soldier. 

The Newly Digitized Series : Initial Burial Plats for World War I American Soldiers consists of blueprints of survey maps and field drawings created by the 29th Army Corps of Engineers for the Graves Registration Service. The maps detail locations of scattered and isolated soldier grave sites. Each grave is identified by the soldier’s name, rank, serial number, and unit, if known. The plats also show surrounding landmarks, buildings, and other markers that could be used to identify the location of the burial.

The Initial Burial Plats for World War I American Soldiers series has recently been digitized and is now available online through the National Archives Catalog.

National Archives at St. Louis plan to start a multi-year project to digitize the series Correspondence, Reports, Telegrams, Applications, and Other Papers Relating to Burials of Service Personnel, 1/1/1915-12/31/1939 aka as “Burial Case Files” in RG 92 (NAID 595318).  The records contain correspondence, Graves Registration Service forms, headstone applications, Gold Star Mothers’ itineraries, and other pertinent information relating to the burial of members and veterans of the United States military, mainly the U.S. Army. Of the approximately 218,905 files, 30,922 files pertain to soldiers who died during World War I. The World War I files will be digitized first and will be made available in the National Archives Catalog on a rolling basis.

Dancing on the Dead

According to The Lady's Newspaper, by 1849 there were 52,000 deaths each year in London, yet the total space set aside for burial only allowed for 100,000 bodies.

Body-snatchers ran rampant and churches offered more secure burial sites in their basements and in tight spaces between buildings. Some churches showed between 1000 to almost 3500 burials per acre of land.

One man was convinced that the overflowing burial grounds were responsible for diseases such as cholera and maleria. The dead were buried in layers, on top of each other, in order to save space. Dances were held over top of burials - sometimes advertised as "Dancing on the Dead"
 
The new and improved 1852 burial act changed burials in England. Read the full story in The Disgusting Victorian Cemetery That Helped Change Burials in London Forever

A Short Life Remembered

 

The sisters Catherine and Mary Ann King lie buried together in a double grave in Arkell Cemetery.

Catherine was 5 years old when she died in December 1870. Her little sister Mary, aged 14 months, followed her in death 4 days later.

Their mother Mary Ann Kemble, died in childbirth in 1869 when little Mary was born. When Mary died, her husband Thomas King a 28 year old  widower with two young children. I don't think we can imagine how challenging and difficult the next year was for him.

One year almost to the day after little Catherine and Mary Ann were buried, Thomas remarried - another Mary - and their son Joseph was born in December 1872. Sadly baby Joseph died when he was only 9 months old. Another grave was dug in the Arkell cemetery.

Arkell Pioneer Cemetery Gravestones

Next came baby Mary born in October 1876, but this child too was fated to have only a short time on earth. 7 month old baby Mary died and she too joined her brother and half-sisters in the Arkell cemetery.

Thomas and his second wife Mary Ann did go on to have 3 more children, one of whom lived to adulthood. The only reminder of the little King children is their graves in Arkell.

Sewage Pipe Destroys Graves in Huronia Cemetery

The group Remember Every Name claims to have found evidence that sewage pipes have disturbed 150 graves in a cemetery attached to Orillia’s Huronia Regional Centre.

The centre was originally named the Orillia Asylum for Idiots and housed developmentally delayed individuals from 1876-2009.
 

From 1876 to 1971 over 4,000 individuals housed in the Asylum were buried with only numbers marking their graves. The Archives of Ontario has a list of people who died in the notorious Huronia Regional Centre, but won't release it without a freedom of information (FOI) request. This is the story of one of the children buried anonymously in the cemetery under Grave Marker 1751

Church Plans to Dig Up 400 Graves

Over 400 bodies are known to be buried under a parking lot in Hamilton Ontario.  Richard Beasley, an early settler, is one of those buried there.

Christ Church Cathedral now plans to dig up the graves, identify them, and re-bury them so that they can build a 12-storey condo.

“It’s time that we stopped parking on top of those people,” said the Very Rev. Peter Wall, rector of Christ’s Church Cathedral, in a presentation to councillors Wednesday. “They need to be released from asphalt hell.”

The graveyard opened in 1832 and 20 years later it was closed. Many headstones were moved at that time but the bodies were left behind. The Cathedral has gathered and saved 24 tombstones which they are storing in the church basement.

From a personal viewpoint, many of my Peer ancestors as well as my Burkholder ancestors died in the Hamilton area in the early to mid 1800s. I am hopeful their remains will be found and identified.

Continue reading the full story at Hamilton church aims to dig up hundreds of graves from ‘asphalt hell’ for condo tower

Credit: Image of Christ Church Cathedral in Public Domain found on Wikipedia

DNA May Help Identify Victims of Spanish Civil War

When the Spanish Civil War ended in 1939, many civilians had disappeared - executed and buried in unmarked mass graves. Some estimates suggest that 2,000 mass graves may hold the remains of up to 150,000 victims.

Gumiel de Izán is one of the known mass graves, and a few years ago, archaeology volunteers began exhuming the bones of those buried there. A social anthropologist was present to supervise the recording of memories of elders in the nearby village. Using DNA testing it is hoped that relatives of the missing will finally have answers as to where their loved ones are buried.

Read more at  Gathering the Genetic Testimony of Spain’s Civil War Dead

Image is a screenshot from the article on Scientific American (https://www.scientificamerican.com/)

Looking for Grave of King Henry I

An archaeological project is trying to find the tomb of King Henry I (1068-1135), son of William the Conqueror. Radar technology has found some intriguing evidence at Reading Abbey Quarter which was a monastery that was destroyed during Henry VIII's reign.

It is known that King Henry was buried at this monastery in January 1136 after his death in Normandy. The monastery is closed to the public for the dig but is expected to re-open in 2018. It will be very interesting to see what has been found when the results are made public. 

Read the following stories for more details:

MoJ plans to dig for Henry I's remains at Reading Prison

Graves discovered in King Henry I dig
 
Search Is On for King Henry I, Who May Be Buried Under a Parking Lot
 

A Second Way to Search for Canadian Burials and Cemeteries on Find-A-Grave!

Olive Tree Genealogy received this note yesterday:

Lorine, I've created a front-end for Canadians to use to search for cemeteries either by province or county using clickable maps. This is useful for either finding a cemetery to browse or to ensure a cemetery does not exist under a different name when creating monuments.  Regards, Bruce Gordon

I checked it out and it's terrific! The first page you see is this map of Canada. I chose ON (Ontario) which is clickable on Bruce's website Stalking the Dead.

 Clicking on ON took me to this page which has a search box and a list of clickable counties in Ontario:

 I typed in VOLLICK into the search box and the results showed all VOLLICK burials in Ontario on Find-A-Grave. What a time-saver this is!

You also have the option of clicking on the county in Ontario (or any other province) and seeing the complete list of cemeteries in that county that are on Find-A-Grave. Choosing Wellington County brought up this:

If you have Canadian ancestors, you will want to try this.  Search Canadian Cemeteries & Burials on Find-A-Grave

Image Credits: Screenshots from Bruce Gordon's website and Find-A-Grave search results

Digging up Bodies of Those Buried in Bedlam

The Bedlam mental health hospital was established in 1247. A burial site, called Bethlehem and the New Churchyard, was opened after graveyards around London started to overflow.

The poor from London and inmates from the asylum were buried there and recent excavations have uncovered bits and pieces of skeletal remains. Over 20,000 bodies are estimated to be buried. 

There are many amazing photographs and more details at
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3094990/What-did-die-Grim-job-continues-excavate-bodies-20-000-corpses-buried-Bedlam-uncovered-Crossrail-work.html#ixzz3dWBw4zjf

Medieval Burials and Facial Reconstructions

I love history and archaeology. Eerie reconstructions show faces and diets of medieval men and women in Edinburgh graveyard is a fascinating glimpse into 3 individuals buried in medieval times. One man, one woman and a teenage boy have been reconstructed and images of their faces are online. 

Mind you, I doubt these people looked so clean and fresh-complexioned in real life! I also suspect their hair would have been much more unkempt, longer and quite dirty.

Eight Canadian First World War soldiers to be buried on May 13 in France

Eight Canadian First World War soldiers will be buried on May 13 at Caix British Cemetery in Caix, France. 

The soldiers, from Winnipeg’s 78th Battalion,  were found in 2006 and 2007. A few were identified - Lieutenant Clifford Neelands, Lance Sergeant Oscar Lindell, and Privates Sidney Halliday, William Simms, and Lachlan McKinnon. 

I did some genealogy research and found the following in the online CEF database. Their attestation papers, front and back are also available. In some cases the full file has been digitized and can be downloaded:

Attestation Papers Clifford Neelands

Name:

• NEELANDS, CLIFFORD ABRAM

Rank:

LT

Date of Birth:

• 1892-01-04

Place of Birth:

Barrie ON Canada

Enlistment Date:

1916-05-25

Place of Enlistment:

Winnipeg MB Canada

Unit:

90th Battalion

Reference:

RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 7251 - 27

Item Number:

557547

 

 

Name:

• LINDELL, JOHN OSCAR

Regimental Number:

• 147186

Date of Birth:

• 1884-12-27

Place of Birth:

Sweden

Enlistment Date:

1915-07-01

Place of Enlistment:

Winnipeg MB Canada

Unit:

78th Battalion

Reference:

RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 5649 - 60

Item Number:

531784

 

Continue reading this story at Eight Canadian First World War soldiers to be buried on May 13 in France.

Lost African American Burial Ground Discovered in Philadelphia

Archaeologists in  Philadelphia unearthed what may be the resting place of nearly 3,000 African Amerians buried under a playground in the city’s Weccecoe Park.

Screen Shot from Liberty Voice

" Historian Terry Buckalew accidentally stumbled on a mention of the cemetery while researching the 19th century civil rights activist Octavius Catto for a documentary film project. He found a record of family members of Catto’s fiancé buried in something called Bethel Burying Ground, a site he had never heard of."

The names of almost half of those buried have been discovered and historians hope to be able to find the names of everyone laid to rest in that spot.

One stone that has been uncovered reads "Amelia Brown, 1819, Aged 26 years” with this epitaph: “Whosoever lives and believeth in me, though we be dead, yet shall we live.”

Continue reading this story at Thousands of African-American Graves Found Beneath Philadelphia Playground

Featured Database Brixham Devon Church Records

This is a very location specific database but if, like me, you have ancestors from Brixham Devon, you will be thrilled that it's online and free. My Brixham ancestors go way back to the late 1500s so this free set of records for St. Mary's Church in Brixham is a wonderful asset.


In case anyone else has Brixham Devonshire ancestors, here is my list of surnames from this area: 

Moses, Hooper, Petherbridge/Pethebridge, Helling, Martin, Lelton, Downing, Moxey,  Skynner/Skinner, Cundett, Lucas, Nowell, Harvey, Joll, Prowse, Norman, Williams, Doust, Cole, Burd, Lambshead/Lamsed, Pearse/Pierce. My ancestors were living there before 1850.
 
Follow the links below to search for ancestors in transcriptions of the Parish registers by Judith Smith and Marie Simkus, provided by the Brixham Heritage Museum:

Baptisms 1575-1631 Baptisms 1587-1646 Baptisms 1651-1698 Baptisms 1698-1739 Baptisms 1739-1765

Marriage Banns 1653-1662 Marriages 1556-1631 Marriages 1631-1646 Marriages 1653-1669 Marriages 1699-1742

Burials 1560-1631 Burials 1631-1647 Burials 1654-1697 Burials 1698-1738 Burials in Wool 1692-1730