My interest in cemeteries started when I was a young child. I cannot tell you why, but the stones with their chiselled names and dates always intrigued me. I would find myself wondering about the people buried beneath those very stones. What their lives where like, what they did for a living and whether they knew their earthbound neighbours in life as well as death, how they died and who was left to mourn them.
Mysteries bother me.
Researching my own family history opened up the opportunity for me to finally answer those questions that had troubled me. It was then that I set out to research those buried in my local cemeteries and graveyards, in part to satisfy my curiosity and in part to preserve the rich social history that is so often lost to us through vandalism and decay, so that it may be available for generations to come.
Through my wanderings I have discovered many fascinating stories. Stories of love and friendship, of betrayal and revenge, murder and suicide.
So take a walk through your local cemetery. You never know what you may find...
I get it. I have a collection of mostly my own photographs of local cemeteries on Pinterest. My father was a pastor, and I remember going to a lot of funerals. My parents treated death as natural and a part of our journey. I think more people than would admit it do find death and its trappings fascinating.
ReplyDeleteHi - you might like Ridgeway Cemetery in Fishponds area of Bristol. It was opened in the 1890's. The older section down the hill is very overgrown and contains the grave of William Bow a Bristol Diarist who sadly died aged 33 in 1897. His diary was published a few years ago. Unforunately no map of the cemetery which is a pity as we no the number of his grave no20.
ReplyDeleteThere is something beguiling about cemeteries. So many stories; so many dreams; so much of life is there.
ReplyDeleteMis sentimientos hacia el último gran acto de nuestras vidas, como lo es la muerte, son muy similares a los suyos.
ReplyDeleteAl observar la inscripción de un monumento funerario, mi mente hace un rápido resumen de la vida de esa persona. Desde lo que debió ser su nacimiento pasando por su niñez. edad adulta y todas las vicisitudes que debió sufrir hasta la hora de su muerte.
Hi Nicola, I enjoyed your mention on BBC News.
ReplyDeleteI am also a grave weirdo in nearby Bracknell.
I have uploaded systematically all the graves for Warfield Church, Bracknell, St Mary's Slough, St Mary's, Winkfield, Berkshire and now Cranbourne.
Here is one I uploaded today for Billy Smart of Circus fame.
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=179345476 https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Smart&GSiman=1&GScid=2399547&GRid=179345156&