Family history across the seas

Join me on my Cemetery Searching expedition for the 2023 A to Z Blog Challenge. I’ll be re-visiting some cemeteries and preparing for a wish list of others. Some family members will be mentioned but I also have an interest in German family graves as well as those of people born in Co Clare Ireland.

SCOTLAND

My ethnicity is close to 50% Scottish, so it’s obvious I have an interest in a number of places, some of which we’ve already visited.

Strachur, Loch Fyne, Argyllshire

Strachur is the home of my Morrison family where they lived on Inverglen farm. Annoyingly I cannot find my Isabella Morrison’s baptism record (see Kilmorich), and I suspect it’s because of the clerk’s notation that those who didn’t pay the fee did not have their baptism registered. However, I do think I’ve got enough to be sure of her family.

Kilchrenan, Loch Awe, Agyllshire

Reported to be the traditional burial ground for the McCorquodales, I wonder if my first identified ancestors, Duncan McCorquodale/McCorkindale and his wife Ann Campbell were buried there. Outside the church there is a map of the graveyard which correlates to a named listing – unfortunately no one knows where it is. If wishes were horses….

Sandon, Hertfordshire, England

I know from researching the Sandon parish registers (and parish chest) that my Kent family ancestors were buried in this churchyard. However even on my first explorations of the cemetery I was unable to find a relevant gravestone.

Cemetery Searching Wish List

Apart from wishing there’s always be a gravestone for every ancestor’s burial, my wish list focuses on Sydney. I want to visit the Eastern Suburbs Memorial Gardens (Botany) and Field of Mars cemetery as I’ve mentioned previously. However, I’m keen to see my great uncle’s grave at Woronora (Duncan McCorkindale, brother to my grandmother), and explore the Rookwood Necropolis, both the Catholic and non-Catholic sections. I’ll need to be on a fitness regime before I do Rookwood!