Nothing weird about hunting dead people!

[peterd]

I love doing my tree on ancestry,and coming on here for a chat ,and lots of help from you all. Today on the morning news it was reported that Prvidence baptist chapel in West Bromwich was being dug by archaeologists,and they have found a mortsafe. Now that's WEIRD but interesting.

there still quite a few mortsafe about here one from cradley

DSC_0968.JPG (155.92 KiB) Viewed 2633 times

DSC_0978.JPG (145.42 KiB) Viewed 2633 times

[dudleytaylor]

Apparently there are alot in Scotland. Talking about creepy church yards there is one in Bewdley. Its deserted , and looks like something out of a horror film. I keep meaning to go there for a look. Must go this summer and look at the graves. I think it will be very interesting.

[snoopysue]

Nothing wrong with liking graveyards!
We were on holiday in Yorkshire in the mid 70's, over the road was a graveyard. They were busy digging a grave - my sister and I plagued our parents until we were allowed to go over and have a look!

[dudleytaylor]

I think its quite natural . I like to sit and think in graveyards .There is a sort of peace .

[snoopysue]

I think its quite natural . I like to sit and think in graveyards .There is a sort of peace .

There has to be greenery though, not mad keen on some of the continental ones where it's all gravel and headstones.
The danish ones have a little hedge round each plot and you don't get to be there for eternity - after a mimimum of twenty years they are reused! Some graves are "listed" if the person buried is important in some way.

[dudleytaylor]

oh thats sad.All the churchyards i go to have trees and flowers.Our church is in the countryside and its very peaceful ,and the lady that lived in my house before me, is buried there.I have seen some of the churchyards in France ,and they look barren and cold

[snoopysue]

oh thats sad.All the churchyards i go to have trees and flowers.Our church is in the countryside and its very peaceful ,and the lady that lived in my house before me, is buried there.I have seen some of the churchyards in France ,and they look barren and cold

They have trees too, some churchyards are very beautiful, and the danish burial records are great - they don't tell you what the inscription was, but what they do tell you can help loads. Most burial records I've seen have the parents, as well as the DOB, regardless as to whether the parents are dead or not. For married women the maiden name is also included. Danish church records are great (as long as you can read the writing) - the first few I looked at, had a strange date, usually with a unrecognised name recorded on the marriage record - it wasn't birth, christening or confirmation - I eventually found out that it was a small pox vacination, and the name of the doctor was included. The only place they do sometimes let you down, is with christenings, where female godparents are referred to as Mrs Jones, with no forname, and usually a common surname (as until about 1850ish) the kids surnames came from their fathers forename - so Jens' son or daughter would have Jensen as a surname, earlier still and a daughter would be Jensdatter - this I think is still the same in Iceland. Jensen, Madsen etc are still very common - a lot of people have a traditional middle name that may be a place or the farm their family came from, or maybe their mother's maiden name if it was more unusual.

[dudleytaylor]

I agree with having the maiden name on the census ,it would make it much easier.

[MarkCDodd]

You want the Australian indexes and certificates! They make life easier.

Death certificate lists all children including their married name and their age if still living.

Death certificates also list parents names (including mother's maiden name).

Date and place of birth are on the DC.

To who, where and when they got married is on the DC.

If they migrated, where from and when and how long they have been in the state the DC was issued.

[snoopysue]

The Danish records are church records going back generations, they seem to have "always" been this detailed. They even make sure that the parents are married when christening a child - they had to provide proof. The earliest records I've looked at are from the late 1700's. They're all scanned in, although it's not a searchable database - you have to know where to look. I'd love it if there was a really good searchable database! There is one the national archives have started, but it's limited and not every region is covered.

[Maths girl]

I love doing my tree on ancestry,and coming on here for a chat ,and lots of help from you all. Today on the morning news it was reported that Prvidence baptist chapel in West Bromwich was being dug by archaeologists,and they have found a mortsafe. Now that's WEIRD but interesting.

Ok so "mortsafe" means "dead and safe" but what exactly was/is one -- not heard of one before?

[dudleytaylor]

It was to protect your dead loved ones from being taken by grave robbers. Dt

http://bonesdontlie.wordpress.com/2012/ ... -mortsafe/

[Maths girl]

It was to protect your dead loved ones from being taken by grave robbers. Dt

http://bonesdontlie.wordpress.com/2012/ ... -mortsafe/

Thank you -- that was a fascinating article

MG

[dianel]

You want the Australian indexes and certificates! They make life easier.

Death certificate lists all children including their married name and their age if still living.

Death certificates also list parents names (including mother's maiden name).

Date and place of birth are on the DC.

To who, where and when they got married is on the DC.

If they migrated, where from and when and how long they have been in the state the DC was issued.

Mark, not all Australian certificates are equally helpful. The States each have different systems and they vary in the amount of information that they give. For example, Victorian certificates tend to have more information than NSW ones. I've found also that certificates from NSW are often not completely filled in - especially earlier ones - and some of my rellies even fibbed a little Maybe my convict heritage encouraging the " conceal and mislead" approach to officialdom.

[oscar]

OooooooooH thats my ephraim in that photo reminds me i must get down to cradley