The Scottish GENES Blog (GEnealogy News and EventS): Top news stories and features concerning ancestral research in Scotland, Ireland, the rest of the UK, and their diasporas, from genealogist and family historian Chris Paton. Feel free to quote from this blog, but please credit Scottish GENES if you do. I'm on Mastodon @scottishgenes and Threads @scottishgenesblog - to contact me please email chrismpaton @ outlook.com. Cuimhnich air na daoine o'n d'thà inig thu!
This collection contains records from cemeteries in the county of Midlothian, Scotland, dated between 1834 and 1997. Most of the records are registers and lair books with burial information for several people on one page. Lair is the Scottish word for a burial plot in a cemetery, and there are some records of lair purchases and lair-holders. The collection has a series of cemetery maps and plans that show the location of sections and lairs. There are also minute books that record the creation and maintenance of individual cemeteries. The collection is not comprehensive. Some local cemeteries and burial places are not covered.
This collection contains a roll of honour for people associated with the University of Edinburgh in Scotland who served in the British armed forces during the First World War.
The roll of honour was published in a book that has three sections. The book begins with a “Roll of the Fallen” listing people who died while in the military between 1914 and 1919. The second section includes records of war service for university students and personnel who served in the armed forces and survived the war. The final section lists people who were awarded orders or decorations or were mentioned in dispatches. The rolls are organised alphabetically by surname.
This collection contains records from government poorhouses in Edinburgh, Scotland, dated between 1817 and 1852. The records include registers of poor house residents, lists of people receiving relief but not living in poorhouses, applications for relief, and questionnaires filled out by relief applicants.
Further details on all of the collections are available via the links.
Chris
Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.
This collection contains mortcloth records dated between 1780 and 1854 for St Cuthbert’s Parish and Burial Ground in Edinburgh, Scotland. A mortcloth was a ceremonial cloth that people would rent and drape over a coffin at a funeral. The records are in the form of registers arranged chronologically.
Records in the collection may include the following information:
Name
Age
Death date
Burial date
Purchase date
Name of spouse
Names of parents
The information in these records can help you learn more about your ancestor’s life and burial. Mortcloth rental records can be used as a substitute for death records, and these records may be especially useful because they predate the start of civil registration of deaths in Scotland in 1855. Though it’s important to keep in mind that the date of payment may not be the exact date of death.
By browsing the record image you may be able to learn more about your ancestor’s burial or their family’s financial status. Some records include the quadrant and section of the burial location, diseases the person may have had, and the amount paid by the family. You may also be able to use the information from this collection to find more records for your ancestor in Scotland, like birth records, censuses, or electoral rolls.
For further details, please visit the link.
Chris
Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.
Deceased Online (www.deceasedonline.com) has introduced a new monthly subscription rate. Whilst the site mostly has English cemetery burial records, there are some Scottish records from places such as Aberdeenshire and Moray, as well as cremation records from Edinburgh.
From the site:
The rolling monthly subscription fee is £9.99 for 15 standard views, which equates to 67p per view. This is cheaper than our current cost for pay per view purchases, which can be seen in our pricing schedule.
There is also the annual option:
If you would prefer to purchase our annual subscription, this is £99 for 250 standard views. This equates to 40p per view. With the annual subscription you can view any of the standard records within this time.
Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.
Amongst the additions to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) this week is the following:
Fermanagh Cemetery Records
We've added 1,170 more records to this Irish collection. They can reveal where and when your relatives were buried in County Fermanagh, their ages, and how to locate their graves in the listed cemetery.
Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.
RootsIreland (www.rootsireland.ie) has annoucned that it has added almost 12,500 new Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland and Presbyterian graveyard, baptismal and burial records.
The records are for the following areas:
Graveyards:
Middletown Pres 1841-1990 (88 records)
St John Evangelist RC, Lylo 1826-1984 (118 records)
St Mary’s Old RC Granemore 1811-1984 (273 records)
Tassagh Old Interdenominational 1750-1986 (129 records)
St Mary’s RC Mullaghbawn 1799-1997 (1838 records)
St Vindic’s CI Tynan 1625-1989 (676 records)
St Matthew’s CI Keady 1752-1993 (314 records)
St Mary’s New RC Granemore 1965-1989 (81 records)
St Patrick’s RC Keady 1817-1993 (1503 records)
Drumcree CI 1702-1995 (3140 records)
Dougher RC 1786-1986 (1455 records)
St Saviour’s CI Dobbin, Kilmore 1862-1989 (586 records)
11,660 Graveyard records
Baptisms & Deaths:
Montiaghs CI bapts 1822-1837 Reg 1 (419 records)
Montiaghs CI bapts 1842-1857 Reg 2 (375 records)
Montiaghs CI deaths 1822-1842 Reg 1 (118 records)
912 records
Total = 12,472 records
Chris
Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.
About the Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Burial Registers, 1766-1983
This collection contains over two hundred years of records for cemeteries and churchyards across Aberdeenshire from between the years 1769 and 1983. The burial registers list all those interred in a certain burial ground, along with identifying information about them (age, address, etc.). In addition to the registers, this collection also has the sales papers for "lairs" (or burial plots) which include the owner's name, the date of purchase, and the amount paid. The contents of the burial registers and sales papers may vary based on year and location. The records are compiled by burial space and then arranged chronologically.
Using this collection
This collection can hold a wealth of information for those buried in Aberdeenshire. You may discover the following information about your ancestor:
Name
Age
Date of death
Name of spouse
Names of parents
Occupation
Address
The following cemetery registers are included:
Allenvale Cemetery
Cairnie Cemetery
Drumblade Cemetery
Essie Cemetery
Fettercairn Churchyard
Fordoun Churchyard
Forgue Cemetery
Gartly Cemetery
Garvock Churchyard
Glass Cemetery
Grove Cemetery
John Knox Churchyard
Marykirk
Nellfield Cemetery
Nigg Cemetery
Old Machar Churchyard
Rhynie Cemetery Cemetery
Ruthven and Cairnie
St. Clements Kirkyard
St. Nicholas Kirkyard
St. Peter's Cemetery
Trinity Cemetery
Ythanwells Cemetery
Chris
Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.
Londonderry, Northern Ireland, City Cemetery Burials, 1853-1961 https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62771/ Source: Cemeteries. Tower Museum. https://towermuseumcollections.com/cemetery-records/ Accessed: Jun 2023.
This collection contains burial records from Londonderry, Northern Ireland between the years 1853 and 1961. Most records are in English.
Using this collection
Records in the collection may include the following information:
Name
Spouse's name
Religion
Death date
Death place
Burial date
Burial place
Burial location
Age
Parents' names
Birth date
Birthplace
Chris
Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.
MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com) has uploaded another 130 million records from around the world. Amongst them are the following burial records from Scotland:
Scotland, Gravestones and Memorials 615,974 records
This collection gathers together photographs and transcriptions of headstones and memorials from across Scotland, giving details of relationships and key life events such as birth or death, for many who died in or have a connection to the country.
The transcription field may contain names of relatives, as well as their date of birth and date of death. The values in the transcription field can be found using the keywords search.
Scottish gravestones (especially of the 18th and 19th century) are considered to be culturally unique, with the potential for incredibly ostentatious memorials, particularly in the lowlands. The relatively soft sandstone used in the area was perfect for carving symbols and designs. The photographs that accompany this collection can contain heraldic devices, craft tools, symbols of mortality or ‘memento mori’, and more. These symbols often represented other details of a life, such as their occupation or trade.
My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.
About Edinburgh, Scotland, Cemetery Registers, 1771-1935
General collection information
This collection consists of registers from Edinburgh, Scotland, cemeteries dated between 1771 and 1935. Individual records include the deceased person's name, other family members, and important dates in their life.
Using this collection
The following information is included in the collection: Name of deceased Name of spouse(s) Names of parents Birth date Death date Burial date Last residence Parish and cemetery of burial
Cemetery records can provide a wealth of information about a deceased person's family. Learning the names of spouses and parents may lead to new branches on a family tree and can also lead to their burial records, which may reveal grandparent names.
Cemetery records that include a person's last place of residence and the cemetery where they were interred narrow down the geographic search for other records, such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, and wills.
The following cemeteries are included in the collection, with the year range covered stated:
Calton, 1841-1887
Canongate, 1855-1885
Colinton, 1885-1914
Comely Bank, 1896-1923
Dalry, 1846-1906
East Preston Street, 1820-1872
Edinburgh and Leith/Rosebank, 1846-1927
Edinburgh Southern Cemetery-Grange, 1846-1923
Greyfriars, 1771-1842
Liberton, 1862-1900
Morningside, 1878-1935
North Leith, 1855-1911
North Merchiston, 1874-1921
Portobello, 1877-1933
Restalrig, 1818-1901
South Leith, 1843-1889
St. Cuthberts, 1804-1890
Warriston, 1843-1903
Chris
My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.
Belfast City Council has redesigned its burial site interface, and given it a new address at https://online.belfastcity.gov.uk/burialsearch/BurialSearch.aspx. The site includes searchable burial records transcriptions for the City Cemetery, Roselawn Cemetery and Dundonald Cemetery. Searches are free, but for records older than 75 years you can purchase the actual burial records for £1.50, which often includes more details than a death certificate.
I'll be honest, I'm of the school that thinks if it isn't broken, don't fix it! This new version does seem to have enlarged everything, there seems to be a bit more navigation required to move around it, but the core functionality is still the same, which is the key thing. (I'm assuming they are going for the tablet crowd, the page is a lot more vertical!)
Happy hunting!
(With thanks to Allie Nickell @alliethinks via Twitter)
Chris
My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.
In June 2019 I wrote on my previous news blog, Britsh GENES, that I had been absolutely stunned to discover, thanks to MyHeritage, that a headstone for my great grandfather Robert Currie, and for his son of the same name, existed at Riddrie Park Cemetery in Glasgow.
I was stunned for the simple reason that when I first started my family history research two decades ago I had contacted Glasgow City Council to enquire about where he was buried, and had been told that it was at the Eastern Necroprolis - I even met up with a council worker who took me to the spot, which had no headstone. An email from MyHeritage had suggested that they had a match on BillionGraves.com for Robert, and that the Council, and therefore I, had got it spectacularly wrong (See http://britishgenes.blogspot.com/2019/06/finding-gravestone-that-doesnt-exist.html)
It had been my intention to take my father to the grave, but as he was ill at the time, this could not immediately happen. Covid then hit in early 2020, and a year ago, my father passed away, having contracted the virus on top of other medical complciations.
On Sunday I finally managed to make it to Riddrie Park Cemetery and paid my respects to both my great grandfather and great uncle, on behalf of myself and my father. Here's to ye lads...
My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.
This brand new index is an online exclusive, and contains over 17,000 burial records from the county of Waterford, south east Ireland. It details burials from three different cemeteries - St. Carthage's Cemetery, St. Declan's Cemetery, and St. Otteran's Cemetery. The information varies between records, but you may be able to discover death date, burial date, age, and more.
Views of Ireland
Entirely free to view, Views of Ireland is a collection that transports you to the stunning scenery of Ireland's most picturesque landscapes. Containing 117 images, it comprises both colourised photos and illustrations between 1800 and 1900.
My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.
We're delighted to wish our customers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with Buy One Get One Free on pay-per-view voucher purchases at www.deceasedonline.com. The offer runs from now until midday on Tuesday 4th January 2022.
To take advantage of the offer, add vouchers to your basket and click "add promotions code".
Enter the code MERRYCHRISTMAS and click "add to basket".
Then complete your voucher purchase as normal and your free vouchers will be added to your account.
Deceased Online has some great records on it, but it can be a difficult site to navigate if you have not taken out a subscription of any kind. Here's how to identify what is on the site if you have purchased some credits:
Get the most out of Deceased Online
To narrow searches down to an area or to a specific cemetery or crematorium use the advanced search facility. For example, to search records in Salford, select the following:
Country - United Kingdom Region - North West County - Greater Manchester Contributor - Salford City Council (for all Salford records) or Cemetery - Agecroft Cemetery, Salford (for Agecroft Cemetery only)
It's been a while since I have used the site, but from the top of my head it is great for records in Scotland for Aberdeenshire and Angus, and I believe it also has some crematorium records from Edinburgh. The site also offers access to records from Scottish Monumental Inscriptions (https://scottish-monumental-inscriptions.com).
Chris
My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.
There is an article in a recent edition of Shetland News about a project by Shetland Family History Society (www.shetland-fhs.org.uk) to photograph every surviving gravestone in the islands.
My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.
My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.
Halloween is almost upon us, and to celebrate, MyHeritage is providing free access to all death records added to MyHeritage before October 2021 for one week only: October 27–November 2!
The records in this category include death, burial, and cemetery records as well as obituaries. These records are crucial sources of information for family researchers. Death certificates are typically issued within days of a death and can contain many details about a person’s life, such as their age at death, place of birth, parents’ names and origins, and the cause of death. The name of the person who provided these details may also be mentioned, and this can also be an important clue that can help you locate new relatives.
Burial and cemetery records can supplement death certificates and offer additional information, while obituaries may provide rich details about the person’s life: their interests, profession, passions, and connections in the community.
From last Halloween until the beginning of October, we added more than 37 million records to an already enormous collection of death records, burial records, cemetery records, and obituaries — bringing the total to 586,664,785 records. During that time, 11 collections were added or updated, including collections from Brazil, New Zealand, the United States, Poland, France, and more. So even if you’ve had a chance to peruse MyHeritage’s death record collection in the past, it’s worth taking a look to see if there’s anything new concerning your family history.
My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (www.cwgc.org) has apologised for 'prevasive racism' in its historic burials practice by its predecessor, the Imperial War Graves Commission, with regards to black and Asian personnel who served on the side of the British Empire, following an inquiry set up by it in the aftermath of a Channel 4 documentary which first revealed the organisation's failings in 2019.
The evidence recorded here provides a preliminary exploration of cases of unequal commemoration and non-commemoration, and the IWGC’s role in bringing them about. It demonstrates that diver-gences from the organisation’s principles exist outside of Europe and across its estate, principally falling into two categories:
• In the first instance, it is estimated that between 45,000 and 54,000 casualties are or were commemorated differently across East Africa, West Africa, Egypt and the Middle East – usually collectively via memorials when some might have had marked burials, or by recording the names of the dead in registers rather than engraving them in stone.
• In the second instance, it is estimated that at least 116,000, but potentially as many as 350,000, casualties may not be commemorated by name or may not be commemorated at all, primarily across East Africa and Egypt.
Both issues are the result of decisions owned by the IWGC, albeit decisions influenced by a scarcity of information, errors inherited from other organisations and the opinions of colonial administra-tors. Underpinning all these decisions, however, were the entrenched prejudices, preconceptions and pervasive racism of contemporary imperial attitudes.
The following is the inquiry's statement on its findings:
PUBLICATION OF REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON HISTORICAL CASES OF NON-COMMEMORATION
A report by a Special Committee, established by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in December 2019, has concluded that 116,000 casualties of the First World War were not commemorated by name or possibly not commemorated at all outside the European theatre of war.
That figure could be as high as 350,000 and the Committee’s report has found that between 45,000 and 54,000 additional casualties were also commemorated unequally. The report provides ten far-reaching recommendations for action by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), in light of its findings.
Highlighting the complex situation on the ground, during and after the war, the report makes clear that there were several contributing factors. These ranged from the legacy of poorly marked wartime burials andthe treatment of some groups by the military authorities, to the actions and demands of colonial administrations and the impact of contemporary imperial attitudes on Imperial War Graves Commission decision-making. However, despite the many practical complexities involved, the Special Committee is unambiguous and uncompromising in its findings on the role of the Imperial War Graves Commission.
The Special Committee, chaired by Sir Tim Hitchens, Commonwealth War Graves Commissioner and President of Wolfson College Oxford, says that: “Though there were clearly unique challenges and difficulties faced on some of the battlefields outside of Europe, there is also evidence that manycasualties in these regions were denied named commemoration where it was possible, and somewere deliberately treated differently. In short, these men were deprived of the equality in death promised by the Imperial War Graves Commission and of the opportunity for their story to be told”.
CWGC’s predecessor organisation, the Imperial War Graves Commission, included in its founding principles a commitment to equal commemoration for all in death, regardless of their rank or religion in life. In light of the inconsistency between the report’s findings and those principles, the Committee concludes that “more than a century since this work began, it is time to put right the mistakes and bad decisions of the past.
”The Committee’s Chair, Sir Tim Hitchens, said:“I would like to thank all those who gave their time, energy and expertise to the important work of the Special Committee. The Committee has gone about its work with the utmost professionalism and diligence, providing a comprehensive set of recommendations for action”.
He continued: “The implementation of our recommendations would start to put right the wrongs of the past and we know that the Commission will consider them very seriously, as it continues on a mission as important today as it was a century ago. Our report is designed to provide a clear roadmap for tackling these important issues and building on its many remarkable successes.”
And the CWGC's response:
COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION ACCEPTS SPECIAL COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS IN FULL
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (the Commission) has today welcomed the report produced by a Special Committee formed to review historical cases of non-c ommemoration and committed to implement the Committee’s ten detailed recommendations in full.
The Commission established the Special Committee in December 2019, following a Channel 4 Documentary Unremembered – Britain’s Forgotten War Heroes – first broadcast in November 2019. The Committee’s mandate – agreed by the Commission’s six member Governments – was to produce a report on the commemoration by name of all Empire war dead of the two World Wars, identify gaps in that commemoration and propose how any such gaps could be rectified.
The report finds that 116,000, and potentially as many as 350,000, of those who died while serving the forces of the then British Empire during the First World War remain unmemorialised, a century after their passing. The vast majority were of African, Indian or Egyptian origin. Of those who were commemorated, up to 54,000 individuals were deliberately commemorated differently fromEuropean combatants. This was in direct contravention of the core principle of equality of treatment in death, on which the original Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC) was founded.
Publishing the Commission’s official response to the Committee’s report, Director General, Claire Horton, CBE, said: “The Committee has produced an excellent report, which pulls no punches. Our response today is simple: the events of a Century ago were wrong then and are wrong now. We are sorry for what happened and will act to right the wrongs of the past. We welcome the Committee’s findings and embrace fully its detailed recommendations”.
Ms. Horton added: “Many of the recommendations can be acted on at once, others will require further work and investigation. We are already prioritising several areas simultaneously for immediate action, building on activities already put in train over recent years to tell the stories of those who died. As we do, we will continue in our mission to live up to a promise made more than a century ago and inscribed in stone at CWGC sites around the globe: “THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE””.
In accepting fully the findings and shortcomings identified in this report – and apologising unreservedly for them – the Commission also committed itself to positive, pro-active and inclusive action, and to engaging directly with the communities affected to address the issues raised.
At the same time, the Commission renewed afresh its abiding commitment to equality for all in commemoration, in perpetuity, building on “the world-wide work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission that has for over a century, maintained a global remembrance landscape and helped shape the deeply felt values and culture of commemoration and remembrance we know today”.
Commenting on the report, the Commission’s Vice-Chairman, Lt Gen Sir Bill Rollo KCB CBE, said: “I would like to thank the Members of the Special Committee and its Chair, Sir Tim Hitchens, for this very thorough, detailed report, and its very clear recommendations.
One hundred years ago our predecessors set out a clear commitment to commemorate the First World War dead equally, by name, in a way which had never been done before. They succeeded remarkably in Europe, but as the report makes clear, they fell short in a number of other parts of the world”.
Sir Bill continued: This report will enable us to continue and, ultimately, complete our work to commemorate and recognise all those who lost their lives in this catastrophic conflict. Where names can be found they will be. Where they cannot, the Commission, working directly with the communities affected, will seek alternative means by which their memory can be properly preserved. We will also widen the search to cover both World Wars.
Above all the knowledge of what went wrong, and the need to put it right, will shape our approach to the future, arming us with a renewed determination to ensure that we fulfil the original promise to commemorate equally all who died in the two World Wars.
The CWGC's Director general, Claire Horton, has recorded the following message:
The CWGC has also set up a dedciated section on its website, incluiding the report and details on how it will address its findings. You can find this at https://www.cwgc.org/non-commemoration-report/.
Last month Dr William Roulston of the Ulster Historical Foundation gave a superb talk online about the churchyards of my home town of Carrickfergus. Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has now madethe talk available online. You can find it at https://youtu.be/kQpr8dnTGzk and presented below for convenience.
(At 14 minutes and 40 seconds in you'll see Joymount (2nd) Presbyterian Church, where my parents married in 1969, and where I attended the Boys Brigade for 2 years before switching to a different company in the town's North Street based First Presbyterian Church, also mentioned later in the talk. Joymount Church is located at the end of Robinson's Row, where my grandmother lived until she passed away in 1978, and where I briefly lived from 1979-1981!)
A couple of interesting additions to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) this week, the first concerning a British Army regiment I'm somewhat familiar with, in that one of my four times great grandfather was a member from 1819-1831:
Caribbean, 1st Bn Royal Regiment Of Foot Deaths 1801-1811
These unique records reveal names, ranks and death details of British Army soldiers stationed in the West Indies in the early 19th century.
The 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Foot was the predecessor of the Royal Scots and it appears that many of the men listed in the records hail from Scotland.
And if your ancestors ended their days down south:
National Burial Index For England & Wales
We’ve added over 3.4 million new records to this useful Family History Federation collection and you won’t find them elsewhere online.
