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Lately I’ve discovered what one can learn about human nature from reading the inscriptions on gravestones. Of course, history, too, in a social sense.
Thread, recalling a few things.
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Thread, recalling a few things.
/1
History tends to erase or hide (married) women.
Want proof? A gravestone inscription for a child described as their father’s jewel; full name of father, first name only of child. I went searching online for the mother’s name in digitised newspapers and cemetery records.
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Want proof? A gravestone inscription for a child described as their father’s jewel; full name of father, first name only of child. I went searching online for the mother’s name in digitised newspapers and cemetery records.
/2
Found the family mentioned in shipping records, with mention of the tragedy.
Mr and Mrs Male-first-name Male’s-family-name.
Mr and Mrs John Smith.
Of course.
(Around 1910 or so, iirc)
So I’m still not certain what the mother’s name is.
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Mr and Mrs Male-first-name Male’s-family-name.
Mr and Mrs John Smith.
Of course.
(Around 1910 or so, iirc)
So I’m still not certain what the mother’s name is.
/3
Another gravestone lists several members of a family interred, including father, mother, some children, perhaps an uncle. All have their first names spelt out, a couple of surnames.
But mother is just “Mother”. Maybe no-one ever knew her first name?
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But mother is just “Mother”. Maybe no-one ever knew her first name?
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Happier: found a few inscriptions with really cool names from late 19th century. People haven’t changed much in that regard.
Imagine giving your daughter the middle name of the state/area where she was born. Um, or maybe conceived, idk.
Natasha Gippsland Smith*
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Imagine giving your daughter the middle name of the state/area where she was born. Um, or maybe conceived, idk.
Natasha Gippsland Smith*
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*is not her real name.
Or giving your son the unusual first name of the main protagonist in a famous contemporary novel.
(Novel which has remained popular for over a hundred years, so I’m impressed.)
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Or giving your son the unusual first name of the main protagonist in a famous contemporary novel.
(Novel which has remained popular for over a hundred years, so I’m impressed.)
/6
My favourite 
story from a cemetery atm is ...
Two guys with same surname, living in the same time period, buried in the same plot. I found their bio details online, and suspect they were brothers.
However.
I looked at the details of the elder, he was married to ...
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story from a cemetery atm is ... Two guys with same surname, living in the same time period, buried in the same plot. I found their bio details online, and suspect they were brothers.
However.
I looked at the details of the elder, he was married to ...
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... a woman I’ll call Eva. But he died less than a decade later.
I checked the details of the younger guy.
He lived much longer, and had also been married...
... to Eva. Same woman. Remarried a few years after she was first widowed.
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I checked the details of the younger guy.
He lived much longer, and had also been married...
... to Eva. Same woman. Remarried a few years after she was first widowed.
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I’ve heard of people marrying brothers/sisters after the death of a spouse, but (showing my ignorance now) didn’t realise it was so recent!
(Less than 100 years ago.)
End of thread, for the mo
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(Less than 100 years ago.)
End of thread, for the mo
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