Photos of Old Dalbeth Cemetery

[gerryfarrell]

I hadn't noticed the laundry, Thats actually in the back garden of a house whose boundry walls share that of the cemeteries.

[annnie 3]

Fantastic photos Gerry.

What a shame the cemetery has been neglected for so many years.

Still there is always hope that one day it will be re-opened although it looks as

though it could take a long time.

 Looks like G.g.g. macgunnigal will have to wait  a little longer for me to find her

vault.

Does anyone know how many graves there are in this part?

How many years has it been closed?

Thanks look forward to seeing more photos

Well done.

[gerryfarrell]

Annie,

The old part of Dalbeth has been closed for over 100yrs now with the exeption of a few interments in family plots in the early 1920's. I havent managed back down to see if yours is one of the wall vaults in the early part of what commonly called St Peters due to the weather but I have the details in my wee book and will as soon as I can

Gerry

[annnie 3]

cheers Gerry. Although if the weather's as awful as it is here it mught be a

while before you can return!

[lcon]

My husband and I went up to Old Dalbeth last october and were shocked at the state of it. We decided to go back up on saturday to see if any progress had been made. We jumped the wall and actually got in to look at the headstones which we also did last year. Yes some progress has been made but we are now wondering where all the broken and fallen headstones are. Have they just been dumped somewhere or have they been put somewhere for repair? My husband's GR.Gr.Gr Granfather, his sister,his son a Roman Catholic Priest and also his daughter are all buried there and we can find no trace. We have lair numbers but the Archdiocese don't want to know, they say they can't give us any info as we are not the lair owners, we can pay to become the lair owners but then we would be liable for the upkeep of the graves which at the moment is not viable. We are trying to contact someone at the Archdiocese to find out what is going to happen and if we get no answers we will take it further.

[lcon]

My husband phoned a Mr McIntyre at Dalbeth Cemetery this morning, he is doing all the work off his own back with no financial help from the Archdiocese. He is going in to do the work when time and weather permits but is hoping to have the West Side grassed in the near future and the grass will be cut fortnightly. He fully understood our concerns and told us that the upturned graves were buried where they had fallen and all the granite stones will hopefully be uprighted if the Archdiocese provide the funds for this. We'll just have to wait and see what happens next.

[DOUGLASPARK]

Can I thank you for posting the photograph of my Great Uncle's headstone on the web. My great uncle is Charles E Campbell. I did not know where he was buried and I found the picture of his headstone on the 90th anniverasry of his death, which is quite spooky. Charles whom I have never met was conscripted when he left school, St Aloysuis' College. He was in the communications section of the RN and died as a result of illness just before the war ended. The facts of his family details are incorrect, his father, my great grandfather died in 1920. I can only assume these details were recorded after 1920. Charles's older brother joined the HLI and was mentioned in dispatches and received the Military Cross. Many thanks again and it is so sad to see a young life ended and I can only imagine how his life would have turned out if there had been no war. I plan to visit his grave.

[gerryfarrell]

Douglas,
This is what makes my efforts so worthwhile. I was so saddened to see the headstone in Old dalbeth as the graveyard had been in such a sorry state, These men gave up their lives for us and deserve far better rememberance than what Charles previously had. I'm very pleased to say that the resoration work at Dalbeth is going well and already you can see quite a difference. I have another thread which shows some pics of it in its current state.
If you send me your email address by private message I will send you the higher resolution pictures of the headstone.

Gerry

[mcghee67]

Hi Gerry,

I have been watching the programmes on BBC 1 about celebrities finding out the stories of their ancestors that fought in WW1, what a terrible war and all those young men dead, but they did so we could be free. I personally would write to Glasgow district council about the neglect of the cemetry and even highlight it in a newspaper being the 90th anniversary you could get something done about it.
You must be proud of your Grandfather.  I feel I know your name are you from Bellshill or Motherwell?