West Calder Burials / Cremations in 1870

[craigalexanderjordan]

Hello All

I have been trying to locate a burial record for my third great-grandfather James Andrew. I have a copy of his death certificate and I know he died in West Calder on November 4th 1870 and his profession was recorded as a Pitheadman.

I have tried to locate a burial record through various online resources, but with no luck. I also live in West Calder and I have manually searched the local cemetery with no results.

I suppose the main question I have is: What burial/cremation options were available to someone with the profession Pitmanhead in West Calder (or even West Lothian) in 1870?

Were there burials and/or cremations that went un-recorded at this time?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! 

Thanks

Craig

[dowdstree]

A warm welcome to Rootschat.

You have done all the groundwork yourself by searching the local graveyards. It could be that no headstone was erected at the time of his burial.

What I would suggest you do now is contact the authority responsible for maintaining the local cemeteries as they often have old records of burials. You can get this information online.

I have located family graves myself using this method and found them very helpful.

Good luck with your search and keep us updated on your findings.

Stay safe,

Dorrie

[mosstrooper]

Hello Craig,
A lot of my family were engaged in Coal Mining too, pay rates were not much above starvation level and the houses they lived in belonged to the Coal Master, as did the Store where they bought their Food & Working tools. The highest rates were for those down below, the lowest for those on the Pithead. So it is very likely your ancestor was buried in a Paupers Grave, alongside several others and unmarked. There will be a record of his burial and like me, you will be shown to an empty looking area and told "he is in there" much the same fate awaits Babies born dead, you will see little decorated areas without markers where these children are buried in bulk.

James.

[Skoosh]

West Calder was a centre of the shale mining industry. The shale was heated in retorts to produce oil. The red bings of burnt shale were a feature of West Lothian.

Skoosh.