Thursday 27 November 2014

Perth burial registers and UK Methodist ministers index on Ancestry

Ancestry has made two third party database collections available online, one Scottish, one for the UK.

The Scottish collection is Perth, Scotland, Burgh Burial Index, 1794-1855, available via http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=9737. The original source for this is Perth and Kinross Archives, which hosts the database at http://www.pkc.gov.uk/article/3887/Perth-burgh-burial-registers-1794-1855.

It just so happens that I have some notes on what this register contains, as a fair few members of my family were buried in Perth, so the following may be of use if doing a search.

The burial registers are a fantastic pre-registration resource, often listing relatives, causes of death, dates of death and burial, as well as cost of the coffin or cloth used. The original burial ground in Perth was Greyfriars, but in the late 1840s Wellshill took over - there was a brief period in which burials continued in both cemeteries, before Greyfriars was finally closed for burials. From 1870 Wellshill burials took place in both the old Wellshill cemetery and the two new parochial cemeteries, and in the 20th Century the grounds expanded again to include the new Jeanfield Cemetery.

From 1886 the registers are unindexed, but the registers can still be viewed at the A. K. Bell Library. The following are the accession numbers for the twelve indexed registers from 1794 to 1886, and a summary of the info they contain. Each volume has a fully comprehensive name index:

PE1/20/1: burials in Greyfriars from 1794 - 1824
Listing name of deceased, related partner or father, date of death, date of burial, age at time of death, and cause of death.

PE1/20/2: burials in Greyfriars from 1824 - 1844
Listing same as previous.

PE1/20/3A: burials in Greyfriars from 1844 - 1847
Listing name of deceased, related partner or father, occupation, birthplace, residence at time of death, age at time of death, date of death, date of burial, cause of death, method of burial, cost, and whether the grave had to be dug deeper at an additional cost.

PE1/20/3B: burials in Greyfriars from 1847 - 1848
Listing same as previous

PE1/20/3C: burials in Greyfriars from 1848 - 1849
Listing same as previous

PE1/20/3D: burials in Greyfriars and Wellshill from 1849 - 1855
Listing name of deceased, related partner or father, occupation, where born, residence at time of death, age at time of death, cause, date of death, date of burial, cemetery in which buried, method of burial and cost.


NB: The Perth and Kinross database, and its Ancestry clone, only goes as far as 1855, but in fact the series continues as follows, with the records available for consultation in the archive:

PE1/20/4: burials in Greyfriars and Wellshill from 1855 - 1863
Listing name of deceased, date of death, date (and time) of burial, cemetery in which buried, method of burial and cost.
(With civil death registration having commenced in 1855, these registers are the least useful, concentrating mainly on the burial details)

PE1/20/5: burials in Greyfriars and Wellshill from 1863 - 1867
Listing name of deceased, date of burial (and time), cemetery in which buried, method of burial and cost.

PE1/20/6: burials in Greyfriars and Wellshill from 1967 - 1870
Listing same as previous.

PE1/20/7: burials in Greyfriars and Wellshill from 1870 - 1876
Listing name of deceased, date of burial (and time), cemetery in which buried, method of burial and cost.
(Wellshill entries are subdivided into those for the old Wellshill ground, ie. "Wellshill", or the new parochial ground, ie."parochial").

PE1/20/8: burials in Greyfriars and Wellshill from 1876 - 1882
Listing name of deceased, date of burial (and time), residence at time of death, cemetery in which buried, method of burial and cost.
(Wellshill entries are subdivided into those for the old Wellshill ground, ie. "Wellshill", or the new parochial ground, ie."parochial").

PE1/20/9: burials in Greyfriars and Wellshill from 1882 - 1886
Listing name of deceased, status at time of death, residence at time of death, age at death, date of death, cemetry in which buried, method of transportation for the deceased's body to the grave, date of burial (and time), cost and lair number.

From 1886 the registers are unindexed, but the registers can still be viewed at the A. K. Bell Library.

The other web based database now on Ancestry is UK, Methodist Ministers Death Index, 1800-1963 at http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=9744 - this has been sourced from The University of Manchester Library.

Chris

Stuck for a Christmas gift?! I have a series of genealogy books available in the UK, Australia and Canada, on Scottish, Irish and British based subject areas. Further details at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. Santa approves!

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