One of the things to do and find in my family history research was the last resting place of my wife’s great-grandmother, Elizabeth Cooper. I first posted about her in August 2014 (Sometimes Those Family Stories Have a Grain of Truth). In that post I wrote about the various stories we looked at that might give us clues about where to find Elizabeth and her son Alexander.
I had
summarized what we had discovered in two articles published in 2010 (see
below). Through various BMD, census and other documents, I was able to trace
the family from the Shetlands to Glasgow. The trail stopped at the whereabouts
of the grave of Elizabeth.
Elizabeth
was married twice, fairly late in life. He second husband was James Ross, a blind, straw
mattress maker. They were married in April 1892 when she was 58 years of age.
The union only lasted 3 ½ years. James died in December 1895. They were both
living in Govan when they married but relocated to Mason Street in Glasgow
shortly after.
Elizabeth appears to have continued to live at the home on Mason Street. She is listed there on the 1901 census. She died in April 1904 at 808 New City Road, a location we have no knowledge about. The informant for her death record was her nephew, George Jackson, of Govan.
And that is
where our information ended.
Over the
years I have contacted various archives and historical societies to see what
they could tell me about cemeteries and how to find particular graves. Many
people looked through their files but were not able to find her.
The
COVID-19 pandemic has not helped these past couple of years as most government
offices have been closed and there have been few people who assist in doing
record searches.
Recently I
joined the Glasgow and West of Scotland Family History Society. It was not to
specifically get help in finding Elizabeth but I thought the association might
be one that could assist in my general research of Scottish families. I was
also looking at their journal as being a place I might publish Scotland related
articles.
Anyway,
this week I decided to ask them directly about cemeteries and the best way to
find the grave of Elizabeth. Unfortunately, as their website states, their
research group is not active at present. COVID and reductions in the number of
active members have combined to limit their resources. Following my research
request, a note came up suggesting I pose the question on their Facebook page
to see if anyone could help.
I wrote a post on November 16th at 4:17 pm my time. Before a day was up, I had several helpful suggestions. One lady, though, Leanne Pirie, not only found the information, but she added a jpeg image that showed who was buried in the Lair at Craigton Cemetery, Glasgow (it is in Govan) where Elizabeth was interred.
Leanne also
looked up the burial place of Elizabeth’s husband, James Ross, finding him in
the Eastern Necropolis, Glasgow.
Curiously,
one of the archivists I contacted indicated she has searched the records of
this cemetery but did not find Elizabeth.
Now, not
only did I have her burial record, but also that of her sister, Annie Jackson
(d. 1897); her brother-in-law, James Jackson (d. 1907); her niece, Elizabeth
(Jackson) Halbert (d. 1913); and her grandniece, Georgina Kinnear (d. 1908).
All of them were buried in the same plot, at different depths.
Lair 192
was owned by the same George Jackson who provided the information on Elizabeth’s
death record. He was also the informant for his mother’s and father’s death
records. He never married and died in 1930 in Govan. He is probably buried in
another Lair in the Craigton Cemetery.
I am sure George
was the one that “brought her home” to the family.
Yea, Leanne!
Yea, GWSFHS! and Yea, Facebook!
Articles
about Elizabeth:
Shepheard, Wayne. (2010). Finding Elizabeth Couper. Cootin Kin, number 75, pp. 6-15.
Shepheard, Wayne. (2010). Twists and Turns in Search of
Elizabeth Cooper. Chinook, 31/1, pp.
16-22.
