Author Topic: whitburn cemetery, west lothian  (Read 15475 times)

Offline libbyjones

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whitburn cemetery, west lothian
« on: Tuesday 19 August 14 13:31 BST (UK) »
I have just found out I was named after one of my father's siblings who died young and it was my sister who attended my cousin's funeral in whitburn a couple of years ago, who got the shock of her life to see my name on the headstone as my cousin was interred in the burial plot.     I would like to know how I can find out when my Aunt Sheila Dickinson died.   I thank she was born in 1925 and I was born in 1948 so somewhere between those dates she passed away.   Any help is most appreciated.

Offline carlineric

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Re: whitburn cemetery, west lothian
« Reply #1 on: Tuesday 19 August 14 13:49 BST (UK) »
Nothing showing up on the West Lothian Family History Societies burial CD for Whitburn which covers 1862-1975. There is only one Sheila being shown as being buried in Whitburn, a Sheila Smith in 1929 and no Dickinsons. In fact I cannot find a burial for an Dickinson anywhere in West Lothian. A quick search of ScotlandsPeople brings up no deaths of a Sheila Dickinson between 1925 and 1948. There are three deaths between 1948 and 2013 none in West Lothian.

Eric

Offline libbyjones

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Re: whitburn cemetery, west lothian
« Reply #2 on: Tuesday 19 August 14 16:22 BST (UK) »
Hello Eric, thank you so much for your swift response to my query.     I have checked with my sister and she is sure that the burial plot where my cousin was interred had the headstone with my name on it, Sheila Dickinson and we both knew that my Dad did have a sister named Sheila and  I did find a certificate of birth on scotland's people when Sheila Dickinson was born in Errol, Dundee in  1925 but when I entered the details for a death certificate nothing came forward, hence the roots chatroom.
I am visiting scotland at the end of next month for a few days and I think I will visit the whitburn cemetery and see for myself the details on the headstone.  My cousin Andrew Woods was buried in the same burial plot a few years ago.     It is certainly a mystery Eric and thank you for your efforts to help.     Regards Sheila

Offline MonicaL

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Re: whitburn cemetery, west lothian
« Reply #3 on: Tuesday 19 August 14 22:24 BST (UK) »
Hi Sheila and Eric

Eric, maybe the death was later than you have on the CD?

There is a death showing on SP for a Sheila DICKSON in 1997 with a birth year c. 1926. The death was registered in Bathgate, West Lothian. I haven't viewed the search results on SP. There may an additional name showing if she married. Not available to view online unfortunately given the years and the cert would need to be ordered.

Monica  :)
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Offline MonicaL

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Re: whitburn cemetery, west lothian
« Reply #4 on: Tuesday 19 August 14 22:26 BST (UK) »
Sorry, re-reading... :P

Sheila, why do you think that your Aunt Sheila died before you were born in 1948? Was this from an inscription on the stone that your sister saw?

Monica
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Offline libbyjones

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Re: whitburn cemetery, west lothian
« Reply #5 on: Wednesday 20 August 14 14:43 BST (UK) »
Thank you so much for your posts.    I spoke with my sister and she confirmed seeing the headstone, very old headstone, with the name Sheila Dickinson on it, when she attended our cousin's funeral a couple of years ago.   Definately Whitburn Cemetery, West Lothian.   She just assumed our cousin Andrew Wood was interred in the burial plot of Sheila Dickinson, as she was our Aunt, my dad's sister.     I did find a Birth Certificate for Sheila Dickinson born in 1925 in Errol, Perthshire, Scotland and in fact all my dad's siblings 2 brothers and 2 sister and himself, were born in Errol.    I was born in 1948 and given the name Sheila and assumed it was in memory of my dad's sister who died.    I tried to obtain a death certificate for Sheila Dickinson but to no avail.   Now if she was born in 1925 and I was born in 1948 I thought she must have died somewhere in between.  Also, my sister is adamant that the name on the headstone was Sheila Dickinson in Whitburn Cemetery and I am now  trying to find out burial details for my cousin and maybe I will have success there because he was buried in the same plot.      regards Sheila

Offline libbyjones

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Re: whitburn cemetery, west lothian
« Reply #6 on: Wednesday 20 August 14 14:49 BST (UK) »
I should have mentioned that my sister got such a shock seeing my name on the headstone that she tried to ask my mother about it but my mother was very poorly that day and in fact she died in June this year, and she didn't get the opportunity to return to the cemetery to take details.   She wished she had of course but I thought it would be easy to find out myself but it is becoming a bit of a challenge.    regards Sheila 

Offline Forfarian

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Re: whitburn cemetery, west lothian
« Reply #7 on: Thursday 21 August 14 12:52 BST (UK) »
A couple of thoughts.

It would almost certainly be useful to note the date of death from the stone before taking things further.

People are sometimes named on a stone even though they are not actually buried there. Maybe they died overseas, or maybe they were cremated and ashes scattered somewhere, but the family still has the name added to the stone.

West Lothian Council has all the recent burial records for West Lothian, including Whitburn, and they are very helpful. Why not contact their burial grounds department and ask if they have a record of the burial of Sheila Dickinson?

Never trust anything you find online (especially submitted trees and transcriptions on Ancestry, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and other commercial web sites) unless it's an image of an original document - and even then be wary because errors can and do occur.

Offline libbyjones

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Re: whitburn cemetery, west lothian
« Reply #8 on: Thursday 21 August 14 15:09 BST (UK) »
Thank you so much for all the helpful information and I will contact Whitburn Council and enquire about the burial plot.   It's a very old headstone with my name on it and of course my cousin was buried there in 2008 and so it should be easy I hope to find out who is in that plot.      I did try scotland's people birth register and found sheila dickinson born in Errol, Dundee, in 1925 and when I input details for a death registration it came up with a sheila dickinson but the date of death showed as 1990 city of dundee and Errol is outside Dundee and the strange thing was that her mother's maiden name was shown as Gilchrist and that is correct.     To be honest I don't know what to think now and I shall continue with a Whitburn Council enquiry and see if I can find out more about the burial plot in Whitburn.    regards Sheila