Edinburgh M.I. Look up please

[jac2]

Hi
I'm wondering if anyone has the Edinburgh M.I.s and would be willing to look up a couple of people. I'm checking to see if theres a headstone with more info on it, also exactly which cemetery or cemeterys they're buried in

9 October 1846 Elizabeth Bell, relict of Andrew Donaldson aged 85, place of death Writer's Court, High Street,

Edinburgh parish: Andrew Donaldson 76 years  Lawn Market 9 October 1832, buried 10 October

Thanks in advance
jacci

[jessden]

Hello
 Could you please state the source of your information about the dates of death/burial? If it has come from the records of deaths pre 1855 that has now been made available on ScotlandsPeople, perhaps you could give the reference - probably starting with 685. The OPRs record burials rather than deaths so the reference should point to the place of burial.  I would doubt if these people would have a headstone but you never know!

If you can give this information, I will check it out for you - I will probably have the opportunity to do this tomorrow.

Jessie

[jac2]

hi jessie

the source is scotlands people and the reference numbers are

Elizabeth Bell  GROS 685/02  0279
Andrew donaldson GROS 685/01  0252.

thankyou for taking the time to look for me.
jacci

[jessden]

Hello again

Your 685/1 record for Andrew Donaldson is easy enough.  He lived in Edinburgh Parish and was buried there.  There was only burial ground in the parish - Greyfriars Churchyard.  I found him with no difficulty on the film for 1832.  I think that the chances of him having a gravestone are remote.  Looking at the burial records concerned, I marvel at the fact that the gravediggers were able to pack so many in! There are monuments and stones in Greyfriars but these are for people who would have been wealthy enough to buy their own plots.
The 1846 record for Elizabeth Bell is more difficult.  The reference 685/02 indicates that this was record for St Cuthbert's Parish.   This parish surrounds the Old Town of Edinburgh and extends to areas several miles away. By 1846 there were several burial grounds in St Cuthbert's Parish - the churchyard at the parish church, a burial ground connected with the Buccleuch church and several new cemeteries. St Cuthbert's OPRs run to about 60 volumes and each of these burial grounds would have its own burial record relating to the period circa 1846.  I had a look at the volume realting to St Cuthbert's churchyard for 1846 but could not find Elizabeth Bell.  If we had the volume number, something like 685/02/58, it would be quite easy to find her but otherwise its a big job but I will look again next time I have the opportunity.


Jessie

[jac2]

hi jessie
thanks for that.

the chances of andrew and elizabeth having a stone are great, andrew was a master tailor, and in 1833 the year after andrews death his daughter bought a piece of land in her own right in glasgow. so theres been money in the family.

jacci

[jessden]

Hi Jacci

I hope you are right but I would point out that since Andrew and Elizabeth were not buried in the same burial ground, a joint stone is unlikely. I am more familiar with the St Cuthbert's records than the Edinburgh ones and have found there that if someone purchased a plot, this was indicated in the burial record as was a burial in a plot or tomb already owned by a family.  Andrew's burial record did not look to me to be any different to any of the hundreds of others the same year. I think that there is an old book of Greyfriars MIs in the Edinburgh Room in Edinburgh Central Library and I'll have look at it next time I'm there.

Regards

Jessie

[jac2]

hi jessie

not sure if this would be the plot number.
Edinburgh parish: Andrew Donaldson 76 years N529   Lawn Market 9 October 1832, buried 10 October

jacci

[jessden]

Hi Jacci
I've had a look at a book published in 1869 on Greyfriars monumental inscriptions and found no record of one for Andrew Donaldson.

I don't know what the number that you quote means.  I don't think that they had plot numbers in Greyfriars like in a well ordered cemetery.  Burials had been taking place there for about 200 years and by 1832 but must have been rather full - I think that apart from people who had their own family tombs, burials were just done wherever a suitable space could be found.  The burial records show where a person was buried in terms of a distance and direction from some fixed point in the kirkyard - usually somebody's stone or tomb.

Regards

Jessie