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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition => Topic started by: cristeen on Monday 08 April 19 16:06 BST (UK)
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Any help with reading these very much appreciated. It's the column describing the place of burial within the burial ground. Also the cause of death on one of them is eluding me
I suspect these two were husband and wife
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Can't decipher it, sorry. As the images seem to have come from SP, I'd contact them and explain the problem, I have done that a couple of times and they are 'very' helpful.
Do it via the 'problem with an image' link, response wont be immediate but they will usually review it for you as soon as they can and, if they deem it necessary, will re-scan it.
Boo
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Tickettyboo, at least it's not just my eyesight. I've reported such things before & SP have been great at rescanning, I'm just a little impatient! Since posting I have found a corresponding will for one of the burials which confirms the family so at least one is correct!
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So while awaiting a response from SP regards a rescan I had a go at reading this. I think it says
Alexr Mitchell ground in which the cord? was
lead? in north grave below the saying?
stone Alexr Mitchell father? weaver?
Cause of death I see Ass???el
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This is a good one, isn't it?! ???
I thought the same as you about the first snippet, apart from thinking that it looks more like "bord" than "cord".
His letters are terribly inconsistent...
I was also unsure about "ground" after the name - there are too many strokes for it to be "ound" and the "r" is different from others on the page. (Which doesn't mean much...)
However, in the second one, it does indeed look like "ground".
In the 2nd one, I see:
Harriet (Holm?) ground in which
the (bod?) was in (need/used?) graves (if the?)
ground and is north side of (???)
(???) grave Alex Mitchell mother (or possibly another)
uneven?)
Crumbs...
Could bord/bod be some kind of old Scottish word for body?
COD in the first one looks like Assamel, so I assume I'm seeing that wrong! ::)
I wondered if it was assault, but the letters don't work...
Best regards,
Karen
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Karen, thanks for the input. I think the name on the second snip is Janet Hobe but this may be wishful thinking on my part. The Alexander Mitchell in the first record was married to a Janet Hobb and he died before her. The reference to Alexander Mitchell in her burial makes me hope it is her.
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I had a go at Janet's before reading Karen's reply, and we are quite close.
Janet Hobe ground in which
the bod was in (used? need?) grave of the
ground and on (south or north) side of ? ?
? ? of ground Alex Mitchell mother
xxxx (possibly signature of the person making the entry)
The letters at the start of line 4 look like ue, which makes me wonder if it's a continuation of the last unknown word in line 3. Statue came to mind, but that isn't a word for gravestone.
As for the "assumel word on Alex's.... I wonder if it should be "assumed", and he didn't bother writing in more info ... such as assumed heart attack, etc.
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I'm still unsure about her name. I thought Janet at first, but I see too many strokes in the middle of the word for it to be just an "n"... Now I can only see "Harriet" with a bit of a vague "H". ::)
I think this one is going to occupy us for a while..!
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As for the "assumel word on Alex's.... I wonder if it should be "assumed", and he didn't bother writing in more info ... such as assumed heart attack, etc.
Have to say this thought crossed my mind.
Thanks again for the input & thoughts
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Cristeen, can you post the index info for both of these please?
The only one I could find for an Alex in 1844 was:
MITCHELL ALEXANDER M 27/02/1844 319/50 438 St Vigeans
I can't find anything for your Janet.
I am hoping to narrow the field to see just how many Alexander Mitchells were buried in the area to rule them in or out. (Or do you already know for sure these two are in the same cemetery/churchyard?)
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Hi bbart
The reference for Alexander is 08/07/1844 Mitchell Alexr 288/ 90 258 Forfar
The reference for Janet is 19/02/1850 Hobe Janet 288/ 90 521 Forfar
'My' Alexander married a Janet Hogg but she has been transcribed as Hobb & variations so I thought this Janet Hobe might be worth a bet, especially as an Alexander is mentioned in her burial record.
Alexander Mitchell's will & inventory were registered on 18th March 1850. It states that he was a weaver, East Town End Forfar and that he died 5th July 1844 so I am pretty certain of his burial record. The registration date is so soon after the burial of Janet Hobe I am hoping her burial record 'ties in'
I've done the usual newspaper searches for death notices with no joy.
Thanks for your help
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There seems to be two entries for Janet. The one you have is:
19/02/1850 Hobe Janet 288/ 90 521 Forfar (age 59)
but two days later, but two pages earlier, there is:
HOBE JANNET ALEXR MITCHELL age 59 21/02/1850 288/ 90 519 Forfar
It would seem to be the same person, but I'm wondering if it is worth spending credits to see if it has more info, or is just a duplicate?
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bbart, good spot thanks. Sadly it is exactly the same record, I have reported this to SP :(
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bbart, good spot thanks. Sadly it is exactly the same record, I have reported this to SP :(
Hopefully they reimburse your credits.
One good thing came out of it.... Karen mentioned the "extra" line in the first name, so it could be that it is not extra, but there is a line too faded to see, and it was actually spelled Jannet, as one transcriber recorded it.
On the index for Alexr, they (the transcriber) has put there is a reference to a Mary Mitchell, which must just be them reading the second mention of Alexr in the entry incorrectly?
My thoughts, however incorrect they may be:
Looking at the index results for (all names starting with Alex) Mitchell's buried at any time before 1851 in Forfar, there are surprisingly only 3. Two are in "book" 80, and are both children, the third being in "book" 90, and the one you posted, so unless there are missing entries, it's looking promising that this Janet is buried with your Alex. If she were buried with one of those children, she should be in "book" 80.
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It's a long shot, but what about emailing the Parish Church under the assumption that is where they are buried? According to Findagrave, there were no more burials there after 1850 unless you were a close family member. The website for the Church doesn't state the year, but just says there has been no burials in many, many years. I could only find one picture of the graves on their site, and the stones are still standing, so perhaps they are still readable.
https://www.thebigkirk.co.uk/church-information/contact-information/
https://www.thebigkirk.co.uk/content/pages/uploaded_images/92.jpg
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It's a long shot, but what about emailing the Parish Church under the assumption that is where they are buried? According to Findagrave, there were no more burials there after 1850 unless you were a close family member. The website for the Church doesn't state the year, but just says there has been no burials in many, many years. I could only find one picture of the graves on their site, and the stones are still standing, so perhaps they are still readable.
https://www.thebigkirk.co.uk/church-information/contact-information/
https://www.thebigkirk.co.uk/content/pages/uploaded_images/92.jpg
I had also read that there were no burials after 1850 except for close family and contacting the church direct is on my list of next steps. Great minds and all :) I think there is a member of RC who lives in Forfar, if so I will ask them if they'd mind having a quick wander round the churchyard