Hawkhead Asylum, Paisley, Govan - Burial Records

[Tara Claire]

Hi Carolineasb Yes I checked that he wasnt buried at Hawkhead Cemetry, Renfrewshire and Abbey Cemetry I have e mailed Renfrewshire again to check all their records if the they can. As you see there is no records on SP for him although there is his death certificate. He was RC yes.
The hospital records do not record a place of burial.
I have heard that if bodies werent claimed that they were buried in unmarked graves in local cemeteries however his estranged wife did register his death and he had an army pension so she should have been able to pay the funeral cost I would have thought?

[whiteout7]

Have you checked the estranged wifes home village cemetery?

[carolineasb]

The other option is to ask any Undertakers that have been around for a long time in the area? J & W Goudie in Paisley (although now owned by the Co-op but keeping their old name to ensure Paisley Buddies keep coming to them as they are a well-known Paisley family) has been around for ages and may just have their records back to then.

I had thought it may have been Hawkhead as any RC burials I have been to have been there. Abbey, I would have thought would have been too far away anyway in Elderslie.


Where was he staying just before he went into the Asylum? What about writing to the nearest RC Church?

[deebel]

St Convals Cemetery in Barrhead is only 15 mins away from Leverndale (what was Hawkhead Asylum)

It is currently in East Renfrewshire but I think was in the old Abbey Landward parish of Renfrewshire before boundary changes etc.

[loobylooayr]

Is this him?

Edward Sweeney, clerk, Robertson Street, Glasgow, Lanarkshire   17   Glasgow   Accused   1855.

The age seems right for a man aged 28 to die in 1920

Gives his birthplace as Glasgow though, which could be wrong in this record

Sorry I'm not able to assist with pointing you in the right direction for a burial place for Edward Sweeney.
But I'm confused by the above     How can the Edward Sweeney aged 17 in 1855 be the same Edward Sweeney who died aged 28 in 1920?  I think Whiteout has got a bit muddled with the dates.

Looby

[RJ_Paton]

St Convals Cemetery in Barrhead is only 15 mins away from Leverndale (what was Hawkhead Asylum)

It is currently in East Renfrewshire but I think was in the old Abbey Landward parish of Renfrewshire before boundary changes etc.

Although correct, unfortunately St Convals wasn't established until 1938 which would seem to rule it out for this persons death in 1920.

[deebel]

Good point.

There are burials in the old St Johns yard but they may predate this individual. Did the Neilston Parish cemetery not have an RC section?

[deebel]

OP didnt mention cause of Death.

just a thought this being at the end of the Spanish Flu pandemic 1918-1920. Glasgow was evidently the gateway to the UK for the virus which came from US.

I am not well versed on the subject but I did read once that the shortage of doctors at that time meant only a handful of GP's (many still in uniform)  responsible for tens of thousands of patients in the Glasgow area . Certainly in US there is evidence of mass graves being used because of the volume of cases as undertakers simply could not cope.

[RJ_Paton]

Good point.

There are burials in the old St Johns yard but they may predate this individual. Did the Neilston Parish cemetery not have an RC section?

I think the key lies in who actually paid for the funeral.

If it was the Parish then I think we must look at Glasgow given that Hawkhead was firstly Govan Parish and then taken over by Glasgow Council - it is very unlikely that the ones holding the Parish/Council Purse strings would pay to have the body transported and buried in another council/parish area. As far as I am aware there are no recorded burials within the grounds of Hawkhead and while the Renfrewshire cemeteries are certainly closer the boundary problem pops its head up

Just realised that originally the gentleman was from Coatbridge - it seems strange that he ended up in Hawkhead given that it was Govan/Glasgow controlled. Going back to the payment situation the net is widened slightly in trying to discover who paid for his care and then his funeral.

If it was the family who arranged and paid for the funeral the net widens considerably - areas associated with the family then come into play.

Could the archives at North lanarkshire help ? ( https://culturenl.co.uk/museums/archives-and-local-history-museums/north-lanarkshire-archives/ )