(*Completed with thanks*)Burial Place of Alexander Taitt died Sunderland 1856.

[Ryhopelad]

Hello there

I am researching the men and boys who were killed in Sunderland shipyards, one such person was Alexander Taitt who died on the 29th January 1856, the newspaper report states he was a retired Master Mariner who resided in Greenock. Alexander was sent to Leithead's shipyard in Sunderland to inspect a barque being built for Richardson & Co. of Glasgow, sadly during the inspection he met with an accident and lost his life.

Have been unable to find a burial in Sunderland and believe his body was returned home, is there  anyone researching this family or someone who may know where and when Alexander was buried and if there is a headstone?
I would be more than grateful for any information received.

Thanks

Ryhopelad
 

[Skoosh]

Ryhopelad, Taitt sounds as if he might have been a Shetlander, many settled in Leith, try....

www.bayanne.info/shetland/

Skoosh.

[Ryhopelad]

Thanks for the quick reply Skoosh will look into the site  mentioned.

Thanks again

Ryhopelad

[MonicaL]

Hi Ryhopelad

Can't see an age for him on the freeBMD death index. Do you know how old he was when he died?

If his body was returned to Scotland, you may need to find some more info about him and what family he had. This might give you further clues on possible burial places. Have you tried finding him on the censuses? You have a reference to Greenock as a residence for him at the time he died.

Closest entry I can see in 1851 is this one here:

Alexander Tait 65 Retired Ship Master b. Pettonweene, fifeshire
Janet Tait 63 b. Colinsburgh, fifeshire
Janet Wright/Tait daughter 43 b. Port Glasgow, Renfrew
Jessie G Wright 19 Grandaughter b. Greenock
William T Stout 6 visitor b. Calcutta, east indies
Jane Parrot 16 servant

Address:    No 3 Captain Street, Greenock West, Renfrewshire

Monica 

[MonicaL]

1861:

Janet Taitt 75 b. Colinsburgh, fifeshire
Janet Wright 50 daughter
Jessie Taitt 6 grandchild
Alexander Taitt 11 grandchild
William Stout 17 boarder
James Stout 12 boarder
Mary Mccartney 10 servant

Address: 5 Captain St, Greenock West, Renfrewshire

Checking on here, www.inverclyde.gov.uk/community-life-and-leisure/libraries/archives-local-history-and-heritage/family-history/intimations - nothing on Alexander Snr but for wife Janet:

TAIT Janet 1866 Janet Gourlay, widow of Captain Alex Tait, died at
5 Captain Street, Greenock on 13th November
1866 (Greenock Advertiser 15.11.1866, Greenock
Telegraph 14.11.1866)

Not sure if this connects to the Alexander Tait you are looking for though.....

Monica

[MonicaL]

Ok, was it Captain Alexander Tait who died in Sunderland or Captain Robert Tait:

TAIT Robert Accident 1856 Captain Robert Tait senior, Greenock, died
from an accident while inspecting a ship for Richardson & Co, Glasgow at Leithhead, Sunderland on (Greenock Advertiser 1.2.1856)
www.inverclyde.gov.uk/community-life-and-leisure/libraries/archives-local-history-and-heritage/family-history/intimations-ii

This is from the accidental deaths database.

I wonder if there was some confusion? FreeBMD certainly shows a death for an Alexander Tait in 1st Qrt 1856 in Sunderland. Alexander Tait looks to have had a son, Robert, born in Port Glasgow c. 1808-10. Son also shows as living in Captain Street in 1851, and is also referred to as a Captain Robert Tait in some references.

1851 here:

Robert Tait 41 ship master b Port Glasgow
Agnes Tait 27 wife
Agnes Tait 3
Alexr I W Tait 0
Sarah Blue 18 servant

Address: No 3 Captain Street 15, Greenock West

Monica

[Skoosh]

Well done Monica, Taitt doesn't figure on the Bayanne site, plenty of Tait's though & Stout's also a Shetland name.

Skoosh.

[Ryhopelad]

Hello Monica

The Alexander Taitt you found on the 1851 census in Renfrewshire is the one I am looking for, my local paper the Sunderland Echo gave his forename as Alexander stating he was a Retired Master Mariner.

Do you know if municipal cemeteries in the area were open at the time of Alexander's death (1856) or was it still mainly churchyard burials? It does state in the article that he was highly respected and I was hoping to find an article in either the Herald or the Advertiser of his funeral but with no luck.

I think my next step would be to contact the site you mentioned they may have records which are not yet available online.

Thanks so much for your help

Ryhopelad

[Forfarian]

Try the Watt Library

Watt Library (local history reference library)

9 Union Street
Greenock PA16 8JH
Phone: 01475 715628
Email: library.watt@inverclyde.gov.uk

http://www.inverclyde.gov.uk/community-life-and-leisure/libraries/archives-local-history-and-heritage/local-history

Their web site includes a ship index and a newspaper index.