You’ve seen our previous blog post about parish registers, and you’ve been on one of our free courses about how to research your family tree (you have, haven’t you?), but do you also know the value of a hearty and comprehensive monumental inscription (MI) transcript to your research? We’re here to spread the good news about this underutilised but incredibly important tool for discovering and confirming who’s really meant to be in your family tree.
Detail from the MI transcript for St. John’s, Coley
MI transcripts may seem like a nice extra, but they can be incredibly useful. Because gravestones don’t just include husband, wife, and children – they can include grandparents, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or even entirely unrelated individuals altogether. They can also include information on them such as the address of the inhabitants, their professions, or how and where they died. Don’t just think of war graves – occupational hazards also make an appearance. Over the decades many have seen the value in MI transcripts for local and family historians. In Bradford, Arthur Blackburn saw the dangers of gravestones eroding or being removed and set about making transcriptions of over 100 graveyards – no small task! His work is available to view in Bradford Libraries or included within downloads of other MI transcripts, alongside newer ones, which sometimes can be illuminating itself as to how quickly that information can be lost to the weather or vandalism. Some graveyards he transcribed fall within Calderdale or the border areas and we hold printed copies of those here.
Just some of many MI books and files in Local Studies
Many churches and volunteer groups within Calderdale have over the years taken it on themselves to do similar work, and many of these can be found in Local Studies or in other Calderdale libraries. Some even include maps, which for larger graveyards are a godsend for a researcher who wants to go and view the stone itself. A group in Todmorden, Friends Of Christ Church, is updating and expanding the MI transcript and map of that graveyard originally put together by the Todmorden Antiquarian Society. Some of the gravestones uncovered have a wealth of information on them beyond what you would find in a parish register. Outside of Calderdale, one notable gravestone in Thornton, outside Bradford, has engraved on its base “His mother was at the expence [sic] of this stone, his wife none, for shame for shame.” There’s a story there! Gravestones like these serve as springboards for other lines of research and can flesh out the bones of an otherwise vague ancestor whose life you’d otherwise know nothing about.
An informative gravestone from Christ Church graveyard, Todmorden
The Calderdale Family History Society has a number of transcripts available online which were put together by themselves and other groups, but these must always be taken with a pinch of salt – another reason multiple transcriptions should be done over time is to catch errors made in previous ones. If in doubt, get your good boots on and prepare to take a trip. Errors are understandable when you look at the scale of the work it takes to capture these details and the many hazards of what may involve crawling through brambles and undergrowth to try and read a gravestone that has already suffered decades of weathering. Local Studies holds a number of printed MI transcriptions put together by the CFHS, so if you’d rather page through a physical object, get in touch and see if we have the one you’re after.
Some of the printed volumes produced by the Calderdale Family History Society
One church whose MI transcript might be interesting to many is Square Church. The transcript we hold here in Local Studies was put together some time ago and is a basic guide to who was once buried there, with a surname index at the front and in the back, a list of who was on which stone and for some, their relationships to each other. West Yorkshire Archives, in addition, have this MI transcript on microfilm in a different form – actual inscriptions and a map. You see the value in having access to more than one attempt at transcribing…different groups have different priorities, and what you find on one transcript might not be precisely what you want. These gravestones are long gone, but their records are still here, so if your ancestor search leads you back to this area you can still find out what you need to find out with the help of this item.
Detail from the MI transcript for Square Church, Halifax
Another useful tool for those putting a transcript together, or for those wishing to check a transcript that was taken prior to stone removal was accurately taken, are sexton’s books and burial registers. Sometimes one or both will include extra information such as the owner of the burial plot, the number of people buried there (it might not match the number of people on the stone!), and the names of those buried there. That last item might seem obvious, but perusal of these can show that sometimes people – often very young babies – were interred alongside what seems to be a complete stranger. This could be for a number of reasons such as the parents being paupers, or the child being unbaptised or stillborn. But it could also be a clue as to other family relationships that you’ve not yet uncovered. Sadly we do not have any such items in our collection in Local Studies, but contacting West Yorkshire Archives, the church or chapel itself, local family history societies, or local history groups may bring you some joy.
In the meantime groups wishing to double-check an old transcript or start a new one, and who are bored or have enough free time to want to start a “Friends Of…” group, can get in touch with the National Federation of Cemetery Friends, who can help advise you on getting started and the various hoops you might have to jump through if your interest goes beyond recording and into restoration. Also check out our History Out Loud podcast episode where we interview David Glover and talk about the history of Lister Lane Cemetery. And, as always, if you have any questions at all…just ask us.
Related Posts
