Is Granny in St Quivox churchyard, and my dead baby sister?

[islay 1]

   I hope I am not posting in the wrong place but am not very good with computers! Some years ago I asked for a look up in St Quivox, and was kindly given the details of lair 300 for Catherine Cameron McCracken d 1923,and her parents Thomas McCracken d 1937 and Mary Cameron his wife, d.1937.

    My Granny, Mary McCracken Harvey, was another daughter of Thomas and Mary, and sister to Catherine. After Granny died her coffin was brought to Ayr, but I have been unable to locate it to see if there was a headstone and to know her final resting place. I have tried a contact with Ayrshire Cemeteries but have been unsuccessful.She was born Mary McCracken in 1884 at Tarbolton, Ayrshire,and Granny died as Mary McCracken Harvey in November 1963. There was talk of a family lair, and I wondered if this was the same one as the earlier mentioned  McCracken one, if she had been put alongside these other members of her family. Is there anyone who could look up this to help me?

    My parents also had a stillborn daughter born in November 1945.I have seen a receipt for a coffin for Baby Harvey, although Mum's married name was Smith, she had married the previous year in 1944 in Ayr.

     We have never known where the baby was buried, if indeed she was ever given a name, and my parents are both dead now, and my sisters and I would love to know where our sister and Granny are lying now. Is there anyone who could help? It is just a long shot that they were added to the family lair in St Quivox. With much appreciation, thank you for reading this, best wishes, Islay.

[pharmaT]

I know that in Ayrshire, particularly around the time you are speaking of it was traditional for babies who died to be buried with a woman who died around the same time. If a family member has died around the same time she'd be chosen but wasn't always family.

Have you tried contacting the council? There is a large cemetery in Ayr thst is still administered by South Ayrshire council.

[dowdstree]

Hi Isla,

Sorry I can't help you with the burials but it should be possible to get a death certificate for your stillborn sister.

If you go to www.nrscotland.gov.uk/registration/registering-a-stillbirth you can download a form of application. It can only be done by parents or if they are deceased a sibling. There is a fee for this of around £10.

Hope this is of some help to you.
Dorrie

[islay 1]

    Thank you, dowdstree and pharmaT for both of you taking the time to help me. I did contact Ayrshire council, but with no luck. Will try and get a death certificate for my baby sister as you suggested, thank you. I wonder if anyone could look up Mary McCracken Harvey 1884-1963 to see if she is buried at St Quivox for me? I would be very grateful, Islay.                                                                                                                     

[loobylooayr]

Hi Islay

First of all, my grandparents had a still born baby, then a year later a baby (probably premature) who died hours after birth.  Both babies were buried in the same lair as their great-grandparents in the local Ayrshire cemetery  They were not wealthy people - mill workers. However these births were also home births.
Do you know if your sister was born at home or in a hospital ?
You could find your sister's death on Scotland's People website - there is a death in 1945 for a female Smith aged 0 born in 1945 registered at Irvine in Ayrshire. Irvine Central/Ayrshire Central hospital had maternity wards. I know from a couple of older relatives who sadly had stillborn babies at this hospital that the burial of their babies were taken care of by the hospital. Neither mother knew where their baby had been buried .
Lastly, a friend of mine recently used East Ayrshire Council Bereavement services to locate a burial in East Ayrshire. The response was prompt and they had an answer with a cemetery name and grave number in a day !
If you have the exact date of death and location for Mary McCracken Harvey, I would suggest you contact http://www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/council/charters/registration-bereavement.aspx   Perhaps this is who you contacted already 

Best wishes
Looby

[islay 1]

Thank you for that information, loobylooayr. I will follow it up tomorrow.
     You obviously took a lot of time writing your reply, and I am so grateful for your help. Best wishes, Islay.

[Agnes14]

It's been a wee while since you posted this request but just in case you haven't got very far, this is just a thought.  I believe there is a register of still births in Edinburgh, I understood a still birth wasn't included in the register of deaths because if the baby was dead at birth, it was deemed never to have been alive so a cert not issued. I didn't get one for my daughter.
Because it upset the national statistics, still births are now recorded.  My daughter was buried in Knagerhill cemetery in Irvine because that was the nearest to the hospital and they have a special area for stillborns, and a memorial.  I think things have changed a little bit now though http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/registration/registering-a-stillbirth

[islay 1]

 I would be so grateful if anyone could look at the records at St Quivox for my grandmother. It is a while since I last enquired, and maybe new records have been released. I have tried Ayr cemetery with no luck. It is possible that she is in St Quivox as her parents and sister are there.

   Mary Cameron Sproat McCracken Harvey

   Born 1884 Tarbolton, Ayrshire

   Died 21 September 1962

   I cannot find her anywhere, and I know her coffin definitely came to Ayr for burial in October 1962. Please could anyone help me find where she lies and if she has a gravestone?

   Thank you for reading, Islay

[CaroleW]

Your earlier post says she died in 1963

Threads merged.

and Granny died as Mary McCracken Harvey in November 1963.

Scotlands People is not showing a death in either 1962 or 1963 with a middle name of McCracken so where and when did she die?  Do you have a copy of her death cert?

There is a Mary Harvey death in 1962 Maybole aged 78 which fits an 1884 birthyear but is it the right entry?