Cemetery admin records - help required please

[kmr2018]

Hi all

Merry Christmas to you all.

Last night I was reading a fiction book and it got me thinking.  I've been trying to find the birth,  marriage and death of a great great aunt.  It's a complex story (when isn't family history complex!). My x3 great grandfather (James Watt b 1822, d 1879 - cabrach) fathered my x2 great grandfather with his cousin (Ann Henry).

He later went on to have a daughter (Jessie Watt) with ?. In the 1861 census they lived in Huntly (Jessie was 7) and 1871 she was 15, again living with her father in Huntly.

I can't find her birth or death records but I have visited James grave on which she is mentioned.

The gravestone was erected by James's sister who died in 1919.

My queries are:

1. How can I find out if Jessie is actually buried there? Would a gravestone give details even if she wasn't buried there?
2. How can I find out when the inscription was placed there?

The inscription states "in loving memory of James Watt, Merchant Huntly who died at Chalmers Hospital Banff 17.03.1879 aged 55 years. Also his daughter Jessie".

Hence I'm wondering if she was buried there - Dunbennan Cemetery.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Thank you

Karen

[RJ_Paton]

1. How can I find out if Jessie is actually buried there?

You need to find the Lair records for the cemetery - check local archives or Council Bereavement Service. (Aberdeen Council maintain the records for this Cemetery)

Would a gravestone give details even if she wasn't buried there?

It could be a memorial to her which is sometimes done but more often than not you find added  where the person was actually buried. The strange thing about this one is that there are no dates given.

2. How can I find out when the inscription was placed there?

The Lair records will show who is buried there and when they were buried which may be a clue to the inscription

[IMBER]

As Falkryn has indicated, your first port of call is here:

Ian Burnett, Bereavement Services Officer, Aberdeen City Council:

IBurnett@aberdeencity.gov.uk

Good luck.

Imber

[higgsy]

Can’t help with cemetry records. You possibly have the following information but have you seen James Watt was married to Isabella Watson who is possibly on the 1871 census with him. This is according to Scotland’s People’s Wills and Testaments

[IMBER]

My earlier reply was incorrect. I was confusing Aberdeen City Council with Aberdeenshire Council. This is a more accurate link:

https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/communities-and-events/bereavement/marr-burial-grounds/

Imber

[KS52]

Dunbennan
From a previous visit to Aberdeenshire Council Bereavement Services, there is not a surviving early register for Dunbennan although it appears as a joint entry on DeceasedOnline.  There is a privately published booklet by Patrick Scott but only contains inscriptions. You could try searching newspapers for death notices if you have her date of death.
James Watt in Dunbennan - Findagrave #108107220