Follow Friday - An accumulation of my weekly research - 9

This week I managed to post my next Alphabet challenge.  G is for Gravestone.  I have to admit that it is taking me a longer to wend my way through the Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge  than I first imagined. The great upside of this project is the discovery of new resources, genealogy sites and blogs as I research each topic. When I started the post G for Gravestones, I thought would be quick and straight forward, but no!! I was amazed at the number of sights/blogs that either provide the history of gravestones through the ages, the different types of gravestones or grave markers, the sad and whimsical stories associated with particular gravestones, the historical events related to particular cemeteries, photos and inscriptions from cemeteries,  war cemeteries and their history and the meanings of the markings and symbols on gravestones to mention a few.

St Michael's, Alnwick

I really have to thank the Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge for providing me with the motivation to explore new and interesting topics. This brings me to the point of today's blog, to share with you some of the sites and blogs I have discovered associated with gravestones, headstones and cemeteries.  I am sure this is just a drop in the ocean so would welcome input from anyone who knows of further interesting sites on this subject.

Australian Cemeteries:

 Australian Cemeteries; http://www.australiancemeteries.com/

Australian Cemeteries Index: http://austcemindex.com/ 

Wikipedia List of Australian Cemeteries: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cemeteries_in_Australia

ozburials: http://www.ozburials.com/

Carol's Headstone Photos: http://carolsheadstonephotographs.blogspot.com.au/

South Australian Cemeteries: http://www.familyhistorysa.info/births-marriages-deaths/cemeteries/burials.html 

Cora Web: Cemetery Records Australia: http://www.coraweb.com.au/cemetaus.htm

  

Other Cemetery Sites

Interment.net Cemeteries on line: http://www.interment.net/

Gravestone Photographic Resource: http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/about.php

Headstone Genealogy: http://www.headstonesgenealogy.com/

International Jewish Cemetery Project; http://www.iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org/

War Graves

War Graves Photographic Project: http://twgpp.org/

World War 1 & World War 2 Cemeteries Overseas:     http://www.dva.gov.au/commems_oawg/OAWG/remembering_war_dead/WWI_WWII/Pages/cemeteries%20overseas.aspx

American Cemeteries Around the World: http://www.appreciationflag.com/cemeteries.html 

The Canadian Headstone Project: http://canadianheadstones.com/links.htm

World War 1 Cemeteries: http://www.ww1cemeteries.com/

Other Sites
History from Headstones: http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/about.php
How to do a Headstone Rubbing: http://www.ancestryprinting.com/headstone.html
Tips for Photographing Gravestones: http://www.genealogy.com/64_gravestones.html
Exploring Cemeteries: http://anthropology.si.edu/outreach/Teaching_Activities/edcemetr.html
Gravestone Symbolism: http://www.graveaddiction.com/symbol.html
History of Headstones: https://mysendoff.com/2012/07/a-history-of-headstones/
The Association for Grave Studies: http://www.gravestonestudies.org/faq.htm
Historic Graves: http://historicgraves.com/

Blogs
Carol's Headstone Photos: http://carolsheadstonephotographs.blogspot.com.au/
Mad about Genealogy: Gravestone Photos: http://www.madaboutgenealogy.com/grave-stone-photos-2/
A Grave Interest: http://agraveinterest.blogspot.com.au/
Buried in History: http://buried-history.livejournal.com/
Cemeteries of Dancing Rabbit Creek:  http://cemeteriesofdancingrabbitcreek.blogspot.com.au/
Grave Encounters: http://graveencounters.blogspot.com.au/
Headstones and Family History: http://headstonesandhistory.blogspot.com.au/
Sleeping Gardens: http://sleepinggardens.blogspot.com.au/

Friday's Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge - G is for Gravestone

Picture this!!  Warm summer day, husband armed with camera, wife wending her way through the overgrown graves of the country cemetery of Braidwood in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.  “Oh we should get a picture of this one” she calls, as her husbands, wipes the sweat from his brow, brushes away the flies and snaps another picture of an old crumbling headstone.  Yes my husband laments as he tells this story to sympathetic friends.  The trials of being married to someone who is constantly on the look out places to research the family tree even if it means tramping through long grass and avoiding the insects, spiders and snakes who have made the local cemetery their home.

This story leads me to my next post for the  on Friday's Family History through the Alphabet Challenge , for the Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge.  G is for Gravestone!!  I guess there are many families who have someone who likes to wander amongst gravestones searching for information on passed relatives.  In pre-internet days I found searching cemeteries a most valuable resource and much to my children’s dismay would plan a family excursion or holiday around the possibility of being able to check out the local cemetery for further clues.  

The gravestone, or headstone, or tombstone is a grave maker.  It can be made of stone, marble or in the cases of those without sufficient funds it could just be a small wooden cross. The gravestone not only marks where our ancestors were buried, it is a memorial to past family members and it's inscriptions can provide information on the deceased name, date of birth and death, names of family members who mourn them and possibly a small quote that will give some indication of their personality, or standing in the community.  Often a number of family members a buried in the same grave or in close proximity to each other, thus providing information of family links and relationships.

While researching information on gravestones I came a cross a quote that describes the importance of graveyards as a place for research, "Graveyards are outdoor museums and the most accessible source for studying the local community and its history.".

If you are just starting to research your family, a visit to the local cemetery is a great way to begin your search.  The local cemetery, or cemetery of the town that your family came from is one of the most accessible sources of information on local history and our heritage. The inscriptions on the gravestones contain information of generations of families, with details of their relationships, friends, neighbours, tragedies, religion, occupations and memberships of different societies. The size, and more elaborate gravestones may also indicate the status or wealth of a family member.

To finish this blog on "G is for Gravestone" I would like to share with you two of my favorite gravestone pictures.  The first was taken on the day (mentioned above) that my husband and I traipsed through the Braidwood Cemetery and found the grave of my Great-Great Grandfather Lynn Shepherd II and the second one is taken thirty years ago, when I visited the cemetery in Nelligen with my parents and took a photo my father standing behind the gravestone of his father and my grandfather Malcolm Michael Shepherd. 

Gravestone of Lynn Shepherd (1829-1903) Braidwood Cemetery

Malcolm Michael Shepherd (1892-1932)