Rothwell Holy Trinity

[superbr]

IT APPEARS THERE ARE NO RECORDS OF WHERE PEOPLE ARE BURIED IN THE GRAVEYARD - NO MAP OR HOW MANY IS IN EACH GRAVE. UNLESS YOU FIND THE DETAILS ON A STANDING GRAVE THERE ARE NO RECORDS TO SAY WHO IS DOWN THERE - SO SAY WYAS. DOES ANYBODY KNOW ANY DIFFERENT PLEASE. I AM LOOKING FOR A SPINK FAMILY GRAVE WITH THE LAST TWO ENTRIES BEING ELIZABETH SPINK AND JOHN SPINK BOTH DIED IN 1870. ITS IN THERE BUT WHERE?

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http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,123033.0.html

[LizzieW]

Not knowing Holy Trinity, Rothwell, this might not be sensible advice, but I've always found the best place to start is with the Vicar of the church.  He/she will know whether any records exist and if they do, who is holding them.

Lizzie

[superbr]

Hi Lizzie - I have tried all the normal routes - the vicar told me all the parish records for Rothwell are with WYAS nothing is kept on site anymore. I believe the original records are lost and the only ones to survive are the ones that WYAS received and recorded which are the births /marriages/burials which is adequate for most enquiries. My problem is there surely was a graveyard map and the amount of people in the graves were logged but that appears to no longer exist. Somebody out there might know different.

[LizzieW]

Not sure who WYAS are, presumably West Yorkshire Archive Society.  I would assume there would be a graveyard map.  I guess the problem arises because Yorkshire has been split into unitary authorities now, so there is no overall body for Yorkshire and somebody somewhere decided the records you want (and probably hundreds of others) weren't important enough to keep.

[cjl]

May I suggest that you take a look and maybe post a message on the web site www.yorkshireindexers.co.uk

The web site contains an online burial data base for some areas of Leeds for which a small annual subscription is required. 

The web site also contains message boards and I feel sure that if you posted a message, someone with knowledge of the Rothwell area may be able to advise you.

Good luck with your search.

Best Wishes
CJL

[superbr]

Thanks cjl - I shall try that.
Lizzie - somebody probably has the Rothwell Holy Trinity graveyard map up on their wall as a poster. The more I delve into this churches past the more funny goings on I uncover. Local heresay has it that early photographs of the church show lots of box type tombs at the front of the church - these all vanished and the front landscaped with all the stones and occupants carted off to landfill - so much for consecration! If you cant see it - it aint ever been there! and they were burying here from the 1500s to the end of the 1900s.

[LizzieW]

superbr - You could be right.

[yorkshire liz]

Rothwell parish church has it's own website, found easily enough by Googling or there is a link on the Genuki website.  It mentions that work on a map of gravestones is ongoing but a job for the winter months, whatever that means.

I visited the church about four years ago and the churchwarden mentioned then that they were working on a graveyard map, so it's obviously a long-term project.

Genuki also has a link to Rothwell's Local History Society who may have more information, chances are they're the ones who are organising the project.
Best wishes
Liz

[Tom Piper]

I'll have a look for you next time I am in the church yard. It's very over grown at the moment, many gravestones knocked over, if I get lucky I'll let you know. Of course they may be buried there but were they rich enough to afford a gravestone, and without a map someone has really to be smiling at me!

Tom