Amelia Fyfe born Forfar1803 died 1887 Liff where is she buried?

[jenc]

Hi Guys
Sadly,  found my 3 x great grandmother Amelia Fyfe born in Forfar on the 18th June 1803, lived most of her adult life in the Royal Dundee Lunatic Asylum.  Found her on the 1841 as in inmate and still there through the decades and trying to find out ' why' ? She may have been ' incarcerated' before 1841.
She married John Grindlay in Forfar in 1826 Her youngest child David was born in Forfar in 1835. Could this be a clue....was she a victim of post natal depression, cured nowadays but a life sentence in Victorian times.
She lived to be an old lady and died in 1887 in Liff Hospital from ' senile decay'.  By that time  Dundee Asylum had been moved to the more modern Liff.
From her death certificate there is no mention of any family members being present, seems poor Amelia had been forgotten, and the informant was ' an attendant'
 What I would really love to know is where she is buried.......even though I know it probably is a ' common grave '  I would dearly love to go there ' wherever' and acknowledge her as family....that's what it's all about at the end of day....Any clues will be much appreciated
Regards Jenc

[MonicaL]

Hi Jenc

Have you checked whether any records remain for Amelia? http://134.36.1.31/dserve/dserve2/collections/thb7.html

Monica

[bleckie]

Hi Jenc

I wouldn't worry about the attendant informing the register about your ancestor's death this is what happened in psychiatric hospitals at the time.

I have one from 1911 and it was the attendant who signed the death certificate and the his family got the body for burial so she could be in a family plot.

Yours Aye
BruceL

[jenc]

Thanks Monica
I will check that out, and thank you too Bruce for that info.  I know there is a family plot in Newmonthills Forfar, the lair was  bought by Amelia's son Thomas Grindlay (my gt gt grandfather) way back in the late 1850's and I have details of the family buried there, but sadly Amelia isn't laid to rest beside them....
Seems she has been forgotten (until now)...but i'll do my best to find her. 
Warm Regards from Jen

[Forfarian]

Did you look in Deceased Online? I just did, and nothing comes up for Amelia/Emma/Emily Fi/yf(f)e. What this means is that there is no record of her burial in any of the books held by Angus Council and digitised by Deceased Online.

Therefore the likelihood is that she was buried in one of the cemeteries for which the City of Dundee is now responsible. Start with http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/supportservs/genealogyunit/

There is a small possibility that she is buried somewhere in Angus, but that either the record is missing, or Deceased Online failed to digitise it for some reason. But I'd try the Dundee route first.

[jenc]

Hi Forfarian
Yes I did try Deceased Online a wee while back and like you, no luck.  I will try that website though, she must be somewhere eh?  Thanks so much.
Jenc

[jenc]

Hi Folks
I'VE FOUND AMELIA    
 I tried e-mailing the Dundee City website but my message wouldn't send for some reason so I sent a letter to - Leisure Culture Dundee, Central Library, Floor 3, Wellgate Centre, Dundee DD1 1DB and they passed it on to the Burial Dept of Dundee City Council.  Just had a really nice letter back from them to tell me that my Amelia or Emily as she was recorded was buried on the 25th February 1887 in the common ground (poor ground) of Balgay cemetery, they kindly enclosed a map of the cemetery too.
I am so glad to have found her but sad too as it seems she was forgotten by her family in death as well as in life.  There was a family lair in Newmonhills cemetery in Forfar which was still being used right up to the 1930's, but of course in times past there was a real stigma attached to mental illness and asylums so I don't think Amelia's situation was very different from countless others
So thank you all for your help in pointing me in the right direction...I will be taking a wee trip up to Balgay soon to lay some flowers for my Amelia
Jenc

[MonicaL]

Well done Jenc for perservering  You have found her, so, she is not forgotten now is she...

Monica

[jenc]

Thank you Monica, and you're right she will never be forgotten now, i'll make sure of that.
   Apparently Dundee City Council have erected a memorial stone to the folk who are buried in the poor ground - around 10,000 burials between 1870 and 2004!!  So it will be there I lay those flowers and probably shed a few tears for my great great great grandma and welcome her back into her family
Jen