More Gravestone Recording at Peebles St Andrews Cemetery

This Saturday (12 April) and next Saturday (19 April), we’ll be at St Andrews Cemetery, Peebles, Peeblesshire  from 10am to 4pm to record gravestone inscriptions and take photos.

If you have not been to a previous transcribing session - don't worry, you will be made very welcome and full training will be given.
Bring along a notebook and pen/pencil, a kneeling pad, a light brush and some chalk (optional).
Most people coming for the whole day bring along a picnic, and a bottle of water; deciphering faded and weathered inscriptions can be thirsty work.
If preferred, the Neidpath Inn is a few minutes walk back towards the town and does bar lunches. Beyond the inn, Forsyth, the baker's has a shop; there's a Coop store just beyond that. If you are looking for something special - just round the corner from Ramblers is Cocoa Black on the bridge - award winning chocolatier with cakes and sandwiches as well.

It's wonderful if you can manage the whole day, but if that's too long for you, no problems at all - all assistance on the day is very welcome.
Although you can just turn up, it would be more helpful if you could let Gwen know in advance. Her phone number is 01896  830564. Letting her know is a wise precaution; in the event of adverse weather, the recording may be curtailed or cancelled.

We’re looking forward to catching up with you and meeting some new faces.

Getting there: Go out of Peebles on the Glasgow Road (also known as Old Town Road/Neidpath Road/A72) and the cemetery is on the right hand side opposite the entrance to the Park/medical centre. It is about a 5 minute walk from the end of the High Street. Map.

The Bengal Obituary Available Online

'The Bengal Obituary, or a Record to Perpetuate the Memory of Departed Worth, Being a Compilation of Tablets and Monumental Inscriptions from Various Parts of the Bengal and Agra Presidencies. To Which Is Added Biographical Sketches and Memoirs of Such As Have Pre-Eminently Distinguished Themselves in the History of British India, since the Formation of European Settlement to the Present Time'
is the title of a book that was published in 1848 for Holmes & Co (a firm of undertakers and monumental sculptors in Calcutta) and is over 400 pages long and contains over 5,000 transcriptions of (mainly) Europeans’ gravestones with brief biographies of 130 people who played notable roles in the colonial history of Bengal.

Most of the gravestones are for officials of the East India Company, soldiers, sailors or their families.

One of the notables was Gilbert Elliot, first Earl Minto (1751-1814), Governor General of India from 1807 to 1813.  Although he died in Stevenage, England, a month after his return from India, he was recognised for supporting the addition of a South Gallery to St John’s Church, Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1811 and for erecting at his own expense a cenotaph at Barrackpore in memory of the officers and men who fell in the conquest of Mauritius and Java in 1811.

For more information see The Bengal Obituary.

Recording Gravestone Inscriptions at Jedburgh Castlewood Road Cemetery

There’s still time to volunteer for recording gravestone inscriptions at Jedburgh, from 1pm to 4pm on both 9th and 10th June. If you have not been to a previous transcribing session - don't worry, you will be made very welcome and full training will be given. Bring along a picnic, notebook and pen/pencil, a kneeling pad, a light brush, gloves and some chalk (optional). It's wonderful if you can manage the whole day, but if that's too long for you, no problems at all - all assistance on the day is very welcome. We’re looking forward to catching up with you and meeting some new faces.

Gravestone Recording at Peebles St Andrews Cemetery

This Saturday (19th May), we’ll be at St Andrews Cemetery, Peebles, Peeblesshire  from 10am to 4pm to record gravestone inscriptions and take photos.

If you have not been to a previous transcribing session - don't worry, you will be made very welcome and full training will be given.
Bring along a notebook and pen/pencil, a kneeling pad, a light brush and some chalk (optional).
Most people coming for the whole day bring along a picnic, and a bottle of water; deciphering faded and weathered inscriptions can be thirsty work.
If preferred, the Neidpath Inn is a few minutes walk back towards the town and does bar lunches. Beyond the inn, Forsyth the baker's has a shop; there's a Coop store just beyond that and beyond that is Rambler's cafe, part of the Castle Warehouse store. If you are looking for something special - just round the corner from Ramblers is Cocoa Black on the bridge - award winning chocolatier with cakes and sandwiches as well.

It's wonderful if you can manage the whole day, but if that's too long for you, no problems at all - all assistance on the day is very welcome.
Although you can just turn up, it can be helpful if you could let Ronald know, in advance, via our Contacts page using the contact type Gravestone Recording.

We’re looking forward to catching up with you and meeting some new faces.

Getting there: Go out of Peebles on the Glasgow Road (also known as Old Town Road/Neidpath Road/A72) and the cemetery is on the right hand side opposite the entrance to the Park/medical centre. It is about a 5 minute walk from the end of the High Street. Map.

Kelso Rosebank Cemetery Book Out of Print

We've recently sold out of our stock of Kelso Rosebank Cemetery books.

They were large and needed a lot of storage space and were comparatively costly at £21 plus postage. We're not planning a reprint.

The Kelso Rosebank Cemetery CD (see image) is still available, has the same content as the book, and is a bargain at £10 plus postage. It's also a lot cheaper to post a CD than an A4 book.

It contains all the usual things that we put in our Monumental Inscriptions publications like a Militia list as well as the monumental inscriptions/gravestone inscriptions from the 2454 gravestones in the cemetery except that there's no Hearth Tax list, no War Memorial inscriptions, and no list of kirk ministers. It covers stones installed between 1870 and 2002 in the Rosebank Cemetery, Kelso, Roxburghshire. There is an index to the surnames and you can search the index of surnames.

The other Monumental Inscriptions publication for Kelso, Roxburghshire is Kelso Abbey, Old Churchyard & St Andrew’s CD which also costs £10 plus postage.
This contains details and photographs of 460 monumental (gravestone) inscriptions for Kelso Old Churchyard, Purvis Aisle, Kelso Abbey, and St Andrew’s Episcopal Church and the inscriptions on 199 stones lost in 1979 when the surrounding wall was removed from the churchyard and new paths were laid allowing direct access from the Knowes car park to the town centre.
We’ve also included the inscriptions on the Kelso War Memorial, the war memorials in St Andrew’s Church, St Mary’s Church, and Kelso High School. It includes a list of ministers, the landowners and tenants on the Hearth Tax assessment in the parish of Kelso in 1690, the men on the Militia list from 1797 to 1801, a plan of Kelso dated 1854, a plan of the churchyard and an index to the surnames included in the inscriptions.

Additionally, there’s a list of funerals and dates in Kelso 1798 to 1813. This is particularly useful because many of Kelso’s inhabitants were buried without a marker, visitors to the parish were sometimes buried without their name being known. Several regiments were stationed in the town, together with French Prisoners of War and their burials are recorded here.

See our full range of Monumental Inscriptions publications.

New Monumental Inscriptions volume for Coldingham, Berwickshire

Our latest volume of Monumental Inscriptions, for the parish of Coldingham, Berwickshire is now available.
Much of the recording, carried out by members of Borders Family History Society and the Friends of Coldingham Priory, took place in 2010 when we managed to get a few lovely summer days.

The Priory has a rich and colourful history being one of the many hidden gems of the Borders. It has been a site of worship since 1100. The first church was destroyed in 1216 and rebuilt as a much larger cross-shaped church. The north and east walls of the choir are still forming part of the present day church. Monastic remains of the cloisters and south transept can be seen outside. The priory estates of 'Coldinghamshire' stretched from the boundaries of East Lothian to Berwick on Tweed and into the Merse at Swinton.

Coldingham, a popular holiday destination for many, has a new Luckenbooth post office and visitor centre, which opened in November 2011. Over the next couple of months, the Luckenbooth will become home to a permanent exhibition of artefacts, photographs and information on the parish, Priory and village with displays on touch screen terminals. Contributions of photographs and reminiscences will be welcomed and added to the information on the terminals so that the resources for the parish and village will continue to grow and improve. The Priory is usually open to visitors on Wednesday afternoons (2.00pm - 4.00pm) and on Sundays in July and August at the same times.

There are over 600 surnames (and their variants) on the memorials with the surnames Wilson, Nisbet, Aitchison, Purves, Hood, Thorburn, Johnston, Gray, Robertson, Cowe, Wood, Paterson, Patterson, Scott, Craig, Allan, Bell, Chisholm, Cockburn, Smith, Henderson, Rae being the most recorded. In this volume of the Monumental Inscriptions, we have included a more detailed index which lists the Surname, Other Surname, First Names and Date of Death wherever these are available. Many of the stones are of local stone and have become very worn and illegible and like so many of our cemeteries, the weather can cause considerable damage. Details are not available for several stones which have fallen and in this year's winter gales, another two memorials, an 1886 obelisk and a large 1881 stone, have both been badly broken.

Included in the Coldingham MI volume is the 1694 hearth tax, the 1801 militia lists with the militia families vouchers of 1809, 1812 and 1813. Over 1090 memorials are listed, including the war memorials and rolls of honour from St Abbs and the Priory.

The surnames included in the gravestone inscriptions are: Aernaldus, Affleck, Aikman, Aire, Aitcheson, Aitchison, Aitken, Aldred, Alenshaw, Alexander, Allan, Allanshaw, Allenshaw, Allison, Anderson, Armstrong, Atkin, Auld, Baillie, Baird, Barber, Barclay, Barnes, Barrie, Baynes, Beattie, Bell, Bennett, Bentall, Bertram, Binnie, Birne, Bishop, Bissett, Blaabjerg, Black, Blackhall, Blackie, Blair, Blues, Bogue, Bolan, Bolton, Bonner, Bookless, Borthwick, Boyes, Brack, Braidford, Bremner, Broadhurst, Brodie, Broun, Brown, Bruce, Brydone, Budge, Buglas, Buglass, Bullen, Burgon, Burns, Cairnie, Cairns, Calder, Cameron, Campbell, Cant, Capstick, Carfrae, Carr, Carruthers, Carson, Caverhill, Cessford, Chambers, Chapman, Cheverton, Chirnside, Chisholm, Chisomme, Chrystal, Clark, Clazie, Cleghorn, Clement, Clerk, Clinkscale, Close, Coates, Cockburn, Collin, Collins, Colven, Comb, Common, Connel, Connor, Cook, Cookson, Cooper, Cormack, Cossar, Coulson, Couser, Cow, Cowan, Cowe, Cowling, Craig, Craik, Craise, Craw, Creck, Crombie, Crooks, Crosbie, Crow, Crowe, Cullen, Cunningham, Currie, Curry, Dalgliesh, Damborg, Darge, Darling, Darrie, Davidson, Davidson, Davie, Dean, Deans, Denham, Denholm, Dewar, Dickinson, Dickson, Dippie, Dodds, Dods, Donaldson, Dougal, Dougall, Douglas, Drummond, Duckworth, Dun, Dunbar, Duncan, Dunlop, Dunn, Dunse, Dykes, Dysart, Edgar, Edge, Edington, Edminson, Edmunds, Elliot, Ewart, Fair, Fairbairn, Fairley, Fairlie, Falconer, Farlie, Feairlie, Fell, Fender, Fife, Fish, Fish, Fisher, Fleming, Ford, Forsyth, Fortune, Foster, Foulis, Fowler, France, Francis, Fraser, French, Frizzel, Fulton, Fyfe, Gallagher, Gardiner, Gardner, Gargett, Geddes, Gibson, Gilchrist, Gillan, Gilles, Gillespie, Gillie, Gillies, Gilroy, Gladstone, Goldie, Goodall, Gordon, Graham, Grant, Gray, Greenfield, Greenlaw, Greig, Greive, Grey, Grierson, Grieve, Griffiths, Grundy, Gunn, Guthrie, Guy, Haig, Hair, Hall, Halliday, Hamilton, Happer, Hardie, Hardwick, Hardy, Harvie, Hastie, Haugh, Hay, Headland, Henderson, Hendry, Henry, Heriot, Herkes, Hermiston, Herriot, Hewit, Higgins, Hill, Hindhaugh, Hindmarch, Hiscock, Hislop, Hogarth, Hogg, Holywell, Home, Home Stirling, Hood, Hope, Horsburgh, Hosick, Houliston, Howden, Howgate, Howie, Howieson, Hoy, Hudson, Huildie, Hume, Humphrey, Hunter, Hutchison, Hutton, Inglas, Ingles, Inglis, Innes, Innes-smith, Jacobsen, James, Jamieson, Jeffery, Jeffrey, Jenkins, Jensen, Johnson, Johnston, Johnstone, Jollie, Jolly, Kay, Kemp, Kerr, King, Kirk, Kirkpatrick, Knox, Laidlaw, Laidlie, Laing, Lamb, Lambert, Lamberton, Lamont, Landell, Landels, Landles, Lark, Larsen, Lauder, Laurie, Law, Lawrie, Leckie, Lee, Leiper, Leitch, Leith, Lendel, Leslie, Liddle, Lidgate, Lillie, Lindores, Lindsay, Livingston, Lockhart, Lockie, Logan, Lorain, Loraine, Lothian, Lowry, Lugton, Luke, Lumisden, Lumsden, Lunam, Lyall, Maben, Mabon, Macbeath, Mcaulay, Maccallum, Mccarthy, Maconachie, Mccandlish, Macdonald, Mcdonald, Macdougal, Mackdwgal, Mcdougal, Mcewen, Mcgall, Mcglashan, Mcgregor, Mcgraith, Mcghie, Mcguire, Mcivor, Mackay, Mckay, Mackenzie, Mckenzie, Mclauchlin, Mclaughlin, Maclaurin, Mclean, Mclellan, Mcleod, Mcmurchie, Mcqueen, Mculay, Macvie, Mack, Mair, Malcolm, Manson, Marshall, Martin, Mason, Mason, Mathewson, Maunder, Mavor, Mearns, Megechen, Mein, Meins, Melros, Melville, Menan, Menzies, Mescer, Michie, Middlemass, Middlemiss, Middleton, Millar, Miller, Millican, Milliken, Mills, Milne, Milne Home, Mitchell, Mitchelson, Moar, Moffat, Moffet, Montgomery, Moody, Moor, Moore, Morrison, Mortensen, Mortimer, Mosley, Mossman, Muir, Munro, Murray, Nairn, Napier, Neilson, Nelson, Nesbet, Nesbit, Nicholson, Nicol, Nicoll, Nisbet, Noble, Oliver, Ord, Orzrel, Ostergaard, Pairman, Paterson, Paton, Patterson, Paxton, Penfold, Petersen, Pettigrew, Polwart, Ponton, Porter, Portir, Pratt, Prentice, Pringle, Purdie, Purvas, Purve_, Purves, Purvis, Pybus, Quarry, Queenan, Radulphus, Rae, Rawdon, Rawnsley, Rayner, Rea, Reddin, Redpath, Reid, Reith, Renton, Riber, Richardson, Rintoul, Robertson, Robson, Rogers, Romanes, Romer, Rose, Rule, Runciman, Russel, Russell, Rutherford, Rymer, Samson, Sanderson, Sandison, Sanson, Schuphaas, Scott, Scougal, Scougall, Service, Sey, Shanks, Shearer, Shearlaw, Sheill, Sheirlaw, Shepherd, Sheriff, Shiel, Shiell, Shiels, Shierlaw, Shirlla_, Shirllaw, Shirreff, Simpson, Sinclair, Skeldon, Skene, Slight, Smart, Smettem, Smith, Somers, Souness, Spark, Sparks, Speedy, Spence, Spiers, Spoues, Spriggs, Spring, Stavers, Steele, Steen, Stevenson, Stewart, Stirling, Stobie, Stodart, Stoddart, Storey, Story, Stradsman, Strauchan, Stuart, Summers, Sutherland, Swan, Swann, Swanston, Sword, Syminton, Tait, Taylor, Tear, Telford, Temple, Tendel, Thompson, Thomson, Thorburn, Towle, Trotter, Troup, Tuck, Tulloch, Turnbull, Turner, Tweddle, Tweedie, Umpherston, Unthank, Vanko, Veitch, Vetch, Vetter, Waddell, Waddle, Wagnert, Wait, Waite, Walker, Wallace, Wanko, Waterer, Waterston, Watson, Watt, Weatherly, Webster, Wedderburn, Weir, Welsh, Welsh, Wemyss, Westgarth, White, Whitecross, Whitehead, Whitelaw, Whitford, Whyte, Wight, Wightman, Wilis, Willis, Willsher, Wilson, Wingfield, Winram, Wood, Wright, Young, Younger.

Our thanks go to everyone, members of Borders Family History Society and Friends of Coldingham Priory, who helped with the recording and checking of the inscriptions, for the many contributions of information and photographs and for the assistance in putting the publication together.

The publication is available on CD, priced at £10 plus postage can be obtained from us at 52 Overhaugh St, Galashiels, TD1 1DP, Scotland, or via our Contacts page using the contact type Order for Publications.

Minto Monumental Inscriptions

Minto Monumental Inscriptions is the 24th volume of Roxburghshire Monumental Inscriptions to be published by us.

The parish of Minto lies to the north of the River Teviot and to the east of Hawick, surrounded by the parishes of Lilliesleaf to the north, Ancrum to the east, Cavers to the south and Wilton to the west. Part of the old parish of Hassendean was transferred to Minto in the 17th century.

Monumental (gravestone) inscriptions are listed for the 249 of the 257 gravestones at the Parish Church, together with those in the old churchyard which were recorded by the Hawick Archaeological Society.

There are 257 gravestones listed in the volume with colour photographs of all.
Names of householders listed in the Hearth Tax of 1694 are included, together with the Militia Lists of 1813 and 1831, which show an interesting mix of occupations within the parish, reflecting the demands of a rural community and an estate.
There are lists of ministers of Hassendean and Minto, and photographs of Minto War Memorial together with the inscriptions.
Surnames, place names and occupations have been indexed and there are plans of both churchyards showing the location of the stones.

The surnames included are:
Ainslie, Aitchison, Aitken, Aitkin, Anderson, Armstrong, Bain, Ballantine, Barbour, Baring, Bayne, Beattie, Bell, Berry, Biggar, Black, Blackie, Blaikie, Blair, Blake, Blythe, Boa, Borthwick, Brack, Briggs, Brokie, Brown, Brunton, Brydon, Buchan, Budgen, Buglass, Bunyan, Burn, Burnet, Burton, Cairns, Campbell, Caskie, Clark, Cockburn, Cook, Cowe, Craig, Cranston, Crawford, Crichton, Dalgleish, Davidson, Davies, Dawson, Deans, Derham, Dickinson, Dickson, Dilnot, Dobson, Dods, Doherty, Donald, Donaldson, Douglas, Drawhill, Dryden, Duguid, Earle, Easton, Eliot, Elliot, Ewart, Fairbairn, Fergusson, Forsyth, Frame, Gage, Galbraith, Galloway, Gardner, Garnet, Gault, Gibson, Glen, Gotterson, Graham, Gray, Greive, Grey, Grieve, Hall, Halliday, Hanbury, Harvey, Heatlie, Helm, Henderson, Hendry, Herkes, Hill, Hislop, Hobbs, Hogg, Hope, Houd, Hughes, Hume, Hymers, Inglis, Irvine, Jackson, Jardine, Jeffrey, Jewell, Kennedy, Ker, Kerr, Kirkland, Korkis, Lambert, Lambie, Landell, Lang, Lariston, Larner, Lascalles, Lawrie, Lawson, Lillico, Livingstone, Logan, Lowrie, Luke, Macdonald, Mack, Mackie, Mackintosh, Mader, Magson, Matthe, Mauchlen, Maxwell, Mcculloch, Mckenzie, Mckerrow, Mclean, Mcvittie, Melrose, Merchant, Middlemiss, Miller, Minto, Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Montgomery, Murray, Naismith, Newington, Nichol, Norman, Notman, Oliver, Olszowka, Pages, Paterson, Patterson, Peden, Plenderleith, Pollock, Purdie, Ramage, Rennie, Renwick, Rich, Ritchie, Ritson, Robertson, Robson, Romanes, Ross, Routledge, Rutherford, Sanderson, Scott, Selby, Shakespeare, Shanks, Sharp, Shiel, Simson, Skeugh, Smail, Smaill, Smith, Somerville, Spiers, Spindie, Sprott, Steel, Steele, Stenhouse, Stewart, Stirling, Stopford, Strachan, Tait, Taylor, Telfer, Temple, Thomson, Troops, Trotter, Turnbul, Turnbull, Tweedie, Waddell, Wale, Wallis, Ward, Watson, Whitaker, White, Whitelaw, Williamson, Wilson, Witherington, Wood, Wyllie, Young.

Search for surnames in which you're interested in our Gravestones Index Search.

The CD is priced at £7 (plus postage). To buy a copy, please contact Mary Thomson on the Contacts page using the contact type 'Order for Publications'.

Our thanks to all Society members, and friends who assisted in the recording and transcribing.

October 2011 Issue of Borders Family History Society Magazine

The latest issue of our 44 page magazine was despatched to members on 21st October.
I understand that due to the labour dispute at Canada Post, there is a backlog of mail, so Canadian members may experience additional delays before receiving their October 2011 magazine.

This issue contains articles about

• the successful tracing of the family of a relative of an American lady's late husband, a John Robert Grant who had been born in Galashiels in 1885, and transferring personal papers and photographs to the family
• the Stewarts of Kelso
• a family bible reunited with the family of the original owner, who wrote in it in 1812
• the cholera epidemic of 1849
• rules of intestate succession
• the first part of the talk 'Granny’s Bawbees' about Scottish coinage that I gave on 29th May (including 4 colour illustrations of Scottish and British coins)
• reviews of 4 books
• this summer's work on transcribing gravestones

The cover shows part of the old ruined church and graveyard at Stow.

Recording at Edrom

Recording at Edrom

The weather forecast for our day of recording had not been good and indeed as the day dawned it seems to have been raining heavily in other parts of the Borders not all that far away. This no doubt accounted for several members deciding against coming along.

Nevertheless over the day no fewer than fourteen members and friends did appear and by and large the weather held although there was some disruption for the odd shower and our picnic had to be taken indoors.

Notwithstanding the enforced weather disruptions good progress was made and perhaps 60%/70% of the stones were recorded. By popular request a further recording day will be arranged probably about the end of July but an exact date will be advised shortly.

Edrom is a very old graveyard, the original Church dating back to something like 1105, and a number of the stones proved very challenging but we did have our successes.

One very early stone had previously been recorded by Cargill and his transcription contained text which could only have been below soil level. Scraping away literally trying to unearth this we discovered the stone had been laid against and had preserved an even earlier one which read “here lyes Janet Younger 1697”. Not too much information but satisfying to discover – there are several stones going back to the late 17th century.

Another stone had initially been effectively written off as totally illegible indeed “no visible inscription”. Some persistence however unearthed text which was initially was quite baffling until it dawned that it was upside down. This had obviously been a slab stone which had lain horizontally but had at some point had been raised, probably to gain space, although unfortunately from our point of view the wrong way up. Considerable perseverance and contortion did finally result in the deciphering of a much of the text although try as could not a surname which being at the head of the stone is probably now underground. – we shall be continuing in our efforts.

Earlier while photographing some of the more modern stones I was befriended by a very conceited black and white cat who insisted on appearing in every shot. The above is only one of several in which he features.

Ronald Morrison

Roxburghshire Monumental Inscriptions - No 20: Kelso Rosebank Cemetery

Contains a militia list, as well as the monumental inscriptions/gravestone inscriptions from the 2454 gravestones in the cemetery. There is an index to the surnames. Covers stones installed between 1870 and 2002.
Available as a CD or an A4 format book, each has the same content. 2454 gravestones. Book 202 pp including index and illustrations. ISBN 1 874232 07 0.
CD price £10.00 plus postage. Weight 70g.
Book price £21.00 plus postage. Weight 620g.

See our Publications Sales List to buy.

Roxburghshire Monumental Inscriptions - No 19: Cavers & Kirkton (including Denholm)

Contains a hearth tax list, a list of kirk ministers, as well as the monumental inscriptions/gravestone inscriptions from the 820 gravestones in Cavers Old churchyard and new cemetery, Kirkton churchyard and Denholm cemetery. Includes War Memorials.
There is an index to the surnames.
138 pp including index and illustrations. ISBN 1 874232 06 2. 820 gravestones. Price £8.50 plus postage. Weight 205g.

See our Publications Sales List to buy. 

Roxburghshire Monumental Inscriptions - No 21: Melrose Abbey

This volume was researched and published by us.
It's available as a CD or an A4 format book, each has the same content.
It contains a hearth tax list and a militia list, as well as the monumental inscriptions/gravestone inscriptions from the 564 gravestones in the churchyard, and a plan of the Abbey burial ground. Includes photographs of gravestones. There is an index to the surnames.
We regard monumental Inscriptions, gravestone inscriptions, tombstone inscriptions to be identical terms.
See Monumental Inscriptions for this and other volumes produced by the Society.
Search the Gravestones Index for names in which you're interested.

Surnames in the index: Aitchison, Aitkin, Akenhead, Alexander, Allan, Amas, Amos, Anderson, Angus, Armstrong, Bainbridge, Ballantyne, Barham, Barrie, Bartleman, Bathgate, Bell, Belly, Bennetts, Biggar, Bilton, Black, Blaikie, Blakie, Blythe, Borthwick, Boston, Bourdon, Bouston, Boustone, Bower, Boyd, Brack, Brewster, Broadwood, Brodie, Broomfield, Brown, Bruce, Brunton, Brydon, Brydone, Buchanan, Bunyan, Bunyie, Burn, Burnet, Burton, Butler, Cairncross, Campbell, Carmichael, Carr, Charters, Chisholm, Church, Clapperton, Clark, Cochran, Cochrane, Collier, Common, Cook, Cornel, Craik, Cranston, Cranstoun, Crawford, Crosbie, Cully, Cumming, Cunningham, Curle, Dalgleish, Dalgliesh, Darling, Davidson, Dawney, Dick, Dickenson, Dickinson, Dickison, Dickson, Dirom, Dodds, Dods, Donaldson, Douglas, Drummond, Drysdale, Duncan, Dunlop, Easton, Eddington, Edgar, Elder, Elliot, Ellis, Ewart, Fair, Fairbairn, Fairbarn, Fairgrieve, Falla, Farbairn, Ferguson, Fetherstonhaugh, Fiddes, Fisher, Fleming, Forbes, Ford, Forest, Forsyth, Forsythe, Fowler, Fraser, Freer, Frier, Galloway, Gardener, Gardiner, Gibson, Gill, Gillies, Gladstone, Glen, Glendinning, Goddard, Goodfellow, Graham, Grant, Gray, Greig, Grieve, Guthrie, Haig, Hall, Halliburton, Hamilton, Hardie, Harken, Harper, Hart, Hatton, Hay, Heath, Heiton, Henderson, Hepburn, Heriot, Hervie, Hill, Hogg, Hoke, Holland, Home, Hope, Hopkirk, Hoppringle, Howden, Hudson, Hunter, Huntly, Hutchison, Inglis, Innes, Ireland, Isaac, Jackson, Jamieson, Jenkins, Johnston, Karr, Keddie, Keith, Kells, Ker, Kerr, Ketchin, Kirkwood, Knox, Laidlaw, Laidlow, Lamb, Landreth, Lauder, Laurie, Law, Lawrie, Lawson, Lawton, Layell, Leadous, Learmonth, Lee, Lees, Legge, Leith, Lillico, Lillie, Lindsay, Linton, Little, Lockhart, Lockie, Lookup, Lukup, Lumgair, Lumisdon, Lundie, Lyal, Lyall, Mabon, Mack, Macpherson, Mahoney, Main, Mann, Manuel, Marr, Martin, Mather, Matheson, Mathieson, Mathison, Matthewson, Maxwell, Mcaulay, Mcewan, Mckenzie, Mclean, Mcnair, Mcneil, Mebon, Mein, Melville, Mercer, Merton, Middlemas, Mien, Miles, Mill, Millar, Miller, Millne, Mills, Milne, Mitchelhill, Mitchell, Mofet, Moffat, Monteath, Moodie, More, Morow, Morris, Morton, Moss, Muir, Mulvie, Munro, Murray, Myles, Nelson, Nepean, Newton, Nichol, Nicholson, Nicol, Nimmo, Noble, Oliver, Ommanney, Ormiston, Park, Paterson, Pawson, Pigot, Pitman, Pott, Preston, Price, Pringle, Purdie, Purves, Rae, Ramsay, Rankine, Redpath, Reid, Renolson, Richards, Richardson, Riddell, Riddle, Rintoul, Robertson, Robson, Rogers, Romanes, Ronaldson, Rule, Russell, Rutherford, Ruttledge, Sandilands, Scerven, Scoon, Scott, Sharp, Shelley, Shiel, Shields, Shillinglaw, Shultz, Sibald, Sibbald, Simson, Sinclair, Skinner, Skirving, Smail, Smith, Somervile, Spence, Spiers, Steel, Stenhouse, Stephenson, Stevenson, Stewart, Stoddart, Sutherland, Swanston, Tain, Tait, Taket, Taylor, Thin, Thinn, Thompson, Thomson, Thorburn, Tinlin, Tocher, Tod, Trotter, Tudhope, Turnbull, Turner, Usher, Vair, Vogan, Waldie, Walker, Wallace, Walsh, Watson, Wauchope, Waugh, Wayness, Weatherston, Weatherstone, Weir, Welsh, Whiteford, Whitehead, Whitworth, Wight, Wilkinson, Wilkison, Williamson, Willson, Wilson, Winter, Wintrup, Wood, Wybergh, Yellowlees, Young, Zair.
Book 73 pages including index and illustrations. Photos contained in CD attached to back cover. Card Covers. A4 size.
ISBN 978-1-874232-11-7.
CD price £10.00 plus postage. Weight 70g.
Book price £12.00 plus postage. Weight 285g.
See our Publications Sales List to buy.

Recording Gravestone Inscriptions at Edrom Churchyard - Saturday 18th June 2011

We have another day planned for recording gravestone inscriptions/monumental inscriptions; in Edrom churchyard, Edrom, Berwickshire on Saturday 18th June from 10am to 4pm.

Even if you have not been involved in transcribing stones before, do consider joining us, as training can be given.

You’ll need a notebook and a pencil and also it can be helpful if you have a soft brush, chalk, water spray and a kneeling mat.

Most people coming for the whole day bring along a picnic, and a bottle of water; deciphering faded and weathered inscriptions can be thirsty work.

If you would like to take part, even for a few hours on either day, please contact our organiser, Ronald Morrison via our Contacts page using the contact type Gravestone Recording.

Gravestones Inscriptions Recording at Manor, Edrom, and Lilliesleaf

Morag and Ian Carter Recording Stones at Jedburgh Abbey

Like last year, we will be holding open weekends to record gravestone inscriptions/monumental inscriptions in cemeteries and churchyards.

The events planned for this year are:

Saturday 21st May and Sunday 22nd May at Manor Kirkyard, Kirkton Manor, Peeblesshire, EH45 9JH;

Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th June at Edrom, Berwickshire, TD11 3PX; and

Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th August at Lilliesleaf, Roxburghshire, TD6 9JD.



In each case, we will probably work from 10am to 4pm on the Saturday, and 1pm to 4pm on the Sunday.

Even if you have not been involved in transcribing stones before, do consider joining us, as training can be given. Everybody who took part last year thoroughly enjoyed themselves. You’ll need a notebook and a pencil and also it can be helpful if you have a soft brush, chalk, water spray and a kneeling mat. Most people coming for the whole day bring along a picnic, and a bottle of water; deciphering faded and weathered inscriptions can be thirsty work.

If you want to come but don’t have transport, we may be able to arrange a lift.
If you would like to take part in any of the events on one or both days, even for a few hours on either day, please contact our organiser, Ronald Morrison either on 01361 882166, or via our Contacts page, using the contact type Gravestone Recording. This will allow us to coordinate the work, confirm to you more precisely what is involved and advise in the event of any change in the arrangements.

New Monumental Inscriptions for Galashiels Eastlands and St Peter’s Episcopal Church

  Only 2 years in the making, from planning to publication, we are pleased to have completed the Monumental Inscriptions for Galashiels Eastlands and St Peter’s Episcopal Church.  With almost 3,300 gravestones in Eastlands, the recording has been virtually the solo effort of a very dedicated volunteer, and long-standing member of the Society, Cyril Corcoran. The checking and photography of all gravestones, carried out by Society members and friends, has been both challenging and interesting.

Opened in 1863, Eastlands is typical of so many cemeteries of the late 19th and the 20th centuries, where the Victorian fashions dominate.  Many large mural monuments and plaques are found around the perimeter walls, memorials to the manufacturers and merchants of the town.  Large stone and granite obelisks are found throughout.  The white marble and limestone memorials, many with intricate carving, were favoured in the 1920s and 1930s and into the 1950s and although blackened over the years, remain in excellent condition to this day.  Lead lettering used on many 20th century stones is disappearing, leading to difficulties in reading the inscriptions.  Some stones, which have fallen from their original position, have been reset directly into the ground and the lower part of the inscription is buried and unreadable.  The trees and bushes planted throughout the cemetery are cut back regularly but the regrowth doesn’t take long to hide the stones again.

There are many stones that have been placed by fellow workers, friends and neighbours of the deceased. Some remind us of the dangers of working in industrial environments as in the case of one young man "killed accidentally at Dalmeny Oil Works".  The mills, the foundation of the town, are recorded on many of the memorials, not only for the mill owners and managers.  Small memorials have been placed by workers from several of the mills in memory of their colleagues. One, which appears to be the only memorial on the grave, simply says "From the neighbours".  Many of the graves remain unmarked. 

Memorials in the burial ground that lies to the south of St Peter’s Episcopal Church have also been recorded.  This small, peaceful area, with less than 30 stones is a haven for wildlife.  St Peter’s has an unusual memorial window, which includes an infantryman, a kiltie, an air force subaltern and a chaplain to the Forces in memory of the members of the congregation who fell in the 1914-1918 war and of their own Rector.

Transcriptions of the Galashiels War Memorial, together with War Memorials in Galashiels Academy, St Peter’s Church and the Old Parish and St Paul’s Church, have all been included in our publication.

There are over 1,360 different surnames included in the inscriptions on the gravestones for the Galashiels Eastlands and St Peter’s Episcopal Church Monumental Inscriptions CD, and they are: Ackroyd, Adam, Adams, Adamson, Addie, Addison, Affleck, Aikman, Aimers, Ainslie, Aird, Aiston, Aitchison, Aitken, Alison, Allan, Allison, Allister, Alstone, Amos, Anderson, Andison, Andrew, Andries, Angus, Archer, Archibald, Armitage, Armstrong, Arnot, Arnott, Arrol, Arthur, Ashton, Assman, Atkinson, Auchincloss, Babington, Baillie, Bain, Baird, Bairstow, Bak, Baker, Balfour, Ballantyne, Balmer, Banks, Baptie, Barbour, Barker, Barr, Barrett, Barrie, Barron, Barrow, Bartlett, Batchan, Bateman, Bathgate, Baxter, Beaton, Beattie, Beck, Bedford, Begg, Bell, Bennet, Bennett, Benzie, Benzies, Berg, Berry, Bertram, Beveridge, Biggar, Birbeck, Bird, Birnie, Bishop, Bisset, Black, Blackie, Blacklaw, Blackley, Blacklock, Blackstock, Blackwood, Blaikie, Blain, Blair, Blake, Blakie, Blanch, Blyth, Bohmke, Boland, Bold, Bolton, Bookless, Booth, Borthwick, Boswell, Boudrea, Bowers, Bowes, Bowie, Bowman, Boyce, Boyd, Boyle, Bradley, Bradly, Brady, Braid, Bramhall, Brand, Brander, Brannan, Bremner, Briggs, Broad, Brockie, Brodie, Brogan, Brotherston, Brotherstone, Brotherton, Brough, Brown, Brownlee, Bruce, Brunton, Bryce, Bryden, Brydon, Bryson, Buchan, Buchanan, Buckham, Bulloch, Bullock, Bunyan, Burgess, Burian, Burn, Burnett, Burns, Burnside, Burrell, Burton, Bushfield, Butler, Byers, Cairney, Cairns, Calder, Caldwell, Cameron, Campbell, Candlin, Cannon, Cardno, Carlyle, Carney, Carr, Carradice, Carrie, Carruthers, Carss, Carter, Carver, Cass, Cassie, Cavine, Cessford, Chalmers, Chamberlain, Chambers, Chapman, Charters, Chesney, Chirnside, Chisholm, Christie, Christopherson, Chrobak, Chruszcz, Church, Civis, Clancy, Clapperton, Clark, Clarke, Cleeson, Cleghorn, Clelland, Clerk, Clinton, Close, Clubb, Clyde, Clynick, Cochrane, Cockburn, Codd, Coldwell, Cole, Collier, Collins, Collyer, Colquhoun, Coltart, Colthard, Coltman, Combat, Common, Compton, Conacher, Connell, Connelly, Connochie, Connolly, Connor, Conroy, Cook, Cooper, Corcoran, Cornish, Cornwall, Corry, Cossar, Coulthard, Coutts, Cowan, Cowburgh, Cowe, Cowie, Cox, Crabb, Craig, Craighead, Craigie, Craise, Cramb, Cramond, Cran, Cranston, Crawford, Creamer, Crerar, Cribbes, Crichton, Croan, Crombie, Crooks, Crosart, Crosbie, Cross, Crossan, Crossart, Crowe, Crozier, Cruickshank, Cuerden, Culbertson, Cullinan, Cumming, Cunningham, Curle, Curran, Currie, Curtis, Cuthbertson, Dalgetty, Dalgleish, Dalgliesh, Dalglish, Dallas, Dalziel, Daniel, Darling, Darnley, Darrie, Davidson, Davie, Davies, Dawidowski, Dawson, Deans, Dees, Delgaty, Dembinski, Denby, Denham, Denholm, Denoon, Dew, Dewar, Dewing, Dewison, Dewsnap, Diaz, Dick, Dickie, Dickinson, Dickson, Dilger, Dillon, Din, Dinnell, Dixon, Dobbie, Dobson, Docherty, Dodds, Doherty, Doig, Donachie, Donald, Donaldson, Donalson, Donochue, Donoghue, Doogan, Dorward, Dotherty, Douglas, Doull, Dove, Dow, Downie, Drum, Drummond, Dryden, Drysdale, Du Bois, Dudgeon, Duff, Dumble, Dun, Dunbar, Duncan, Duncanson, Dunlop, Dunn, Dunnachie, Dunnett, Dunse, Duthie, Eakron, Easson, Easton, Eckford, Eddington, Eden, Edgar, Edington, Edmunds, Effingham, Eggie, Elder, Elliot, Ellis, Elwes, Emmerson, Emond, Emslie, Entwistle, Erskine, Espie, Esson, Euman, Ewart, Faichney, Fair, Fairbairn, Fairgrieve, Fairley, Fairweather, Falconer, Faragher, Farish, Farrell, Farrer, Faulkner, Fenton, Fergus, Ferguson, Ferrier, Fiddes, Findlay, Finlay, Finlayson, Finney, Finnie, Fisher, Fitch, Flach, Flanders, Flannaghan, Fleming, Fletcher, Flucker, Flynn, Foley, Forbes, Ford, Forrest, Forson, Forsyth, Forsythe, Forte, Fortune, Foster, Fowler, Fox, Franck, Fraser, Frater, French, Friel, Frier, Frost, Fulton, Fusciardi, Fyfe, Fyffe, Gall, Galloway, Gardiner, Gardner, Garnock, Garrett, Gash, Gass, Gavin, Gear, Gebbie, Geddes, George, Gerrard, Gethin, Gibb, Gibson, Gilchrist, Gilday, Gill, Gillan, Gillespie, Gillie, Gillies, Gilmartin, Gilmour, Gilroy, Girvan, Given, Gladstone, Glen, Glendinning, Glover, Godwin, Gold, Goodbrand, Gooder, Goodfellow, Goodman, Goodsir, Goodwill, Gordon, Gorman, Gotterson, Gourlay, Graham, Grahamslaw, Grainger, Grant, Gray, Green, Greenwood, Gregory, Greiner, Grey, Grieson, Grieve, Grosart, Grossart, Gueldner, Gulland, Gunn, Gunter, Guntert, Gurr, Guthrie, Haberstein, Haddow, Haig, Haigh, Hainsworth, Hair, Haldane, Hall, Halliday, Halliwell, Hamilton, Hancock, Hannah, Hannan, Hannay, Hardie, Hardy, Harkin, Harkness, Harley, Harrison, Harrower, Hart, Harte, Hartey, Hartley, Harvey, Hastie, Havery, Hawkins, Hay, Hayward, Hazard, Heaney, Heard, Heatley, Heatlie, Henderson, Hendry, Henry, Henson, Hepburn, Herbert, Herbertson, Hercik, Hermiston, Heron, Heslop, Hessel, Hewat, Hewitson, Hewitt, Hey, Hilbert, Hill, Hinchcliffe, Hincklieff, Hislop, Hitchins, Hobkirk, Hodge, Hoey, Hogarth, Hogg, Hoggan, Hoggarth, Holmes, Home, Homson, Honig, Hood, Hookes, Hope, Hopkirk, Hopton, Hopwood, Horsburgh, Hossack, Housler, Howden, Howie, Howieson, Hoy, Huck, Hudson, Hughan, Hughes, Humble, Hume, Hunter, Huntley, Hurst-hodgson, Hush, Hutcheson, Hutchison, Hutton, Hymers, Hynes, Hyslop, Illingworth, Illis, Imrie, Ingles, Inglis, Innes, Ireland, Irvine, Irving, Iwasiow, Jack, Jackman, Jackson, Jaffney, Jagger, Jameson, Jamieson, Jardine, Jaworski, Jeffrey, Jenkins, Jobson, Johnston, Johnstone, Jones, Jordinson, Juler, Kay, Keaney, Keddie, Keen, Keith, Kellock, Kelly, Kemp, Kennedy, Keppie, Ker, Kerr, Ketchion, Kidd, Kigie, Kilburn, Kilcannon, Kimber, Kimberley, King, Kinghorn, Kinnaird, Kinnear, Kinross, Kirkpatrick, Kirkwood, Kitching, Kittel, Kivlichan, Klein, Knowlson, Knox, Knuth, Kozakiewicz, Krzeminski, Kuzmierkiewicz, Kyle, Lacon, Laidlaw, Laing, Lamb, Lambert, Lambton, Lamont, Lanchbury, Langford, Langsdon, Lassen, Latham, Lauder, Laurie, Law, Lawman, Lawrence, Lawrie, Lawson, Layzell, Lazzari, Leadbetter, Learmouth, Leask, Lee, Lees, Leeson, Leete, Leid, Leighton, Leishman, Leitch, Leithead, Lennox, Leslie, Lethbridge, Lewis, Liddle, Lillico, Lillie, Lind, Lindley, Lindores, Lindsay, Linton, Lister, Litster, Little, Livingston, Livingstone, Locke, Lockhart, Lockie, Lockwood, Lofthouse, Logan, Logie, Lorimer, Lorraine, Lothian, Lough, Lountain, Love, Low, Lowe, Lowes, Lowrie, Lucas, Ludlow, Lugton, Lumsden, Lunn, Lyall, Lynch, Lynn, Lyon, Lyons, Mabon, Macari, MacDonald, MacDougall, MacFarlane, MacGilvray, MacGown, MacGregor, MacIntyre, MacIvor, Mack, Mackay, Mackenzie, Mackie, Mackintosh, Mackison, MacLachlan, MacLachlin, MacLaren, Macleod, MacNab, Macnamara, Macnaughton, Macphail, Macpherson, Macrae, Madder, Magee, Maguiness, Maguire, Mahon, Main, Mair, Malley, Manderson, Manderston, Mann, Manson, Marchbank, Mark, Mars, Marshall, Marshall-roberts, Martin, Mason, Massie, Mather, Matheson, Mathew, Mathieson, Mathison, Matthew, Matthewson, Mauchline, Maule, Maxwell, May, Maywood, Mcadam, McArdle, McArthur, McAulay, McAuley, McBain, McBride, McCafferty, McCaig, McCall, McCallum, McCann, McCartney, McClory, McCord, McCormack, McCracken, McCready, McCrirrick, McCubbin, McCudden, McCuire, McCulloch, McDonald, McDonouch, McDougal, McDougall, McDowall, McElroy, McEwan, McFadyen, McFadzean, McFarlane, McGee, McGennis, McGhee, McGill, McGillivray, McGinniss, McGirr, McGlasson, McGliskie, McGlynn, McGregor, McGuire, McGurie, McInnes, McIntosh, McIntyre, McKay, McKean, McKellar, McKendrick, McKinney, McLachlan, McLagan, McLaren, McLauchlan, McLauchlin, McLaughlan, McLaughlin, McLay, McLean, McLeish, McLellan, McLelland, McLeod, McMahon, McMillan, McMorran, McMorrin, McMurdo, McNab, McNairn, McNeill, McNish, McPartlin, McPherson, McQueen, McQuillan, McRae, McRay, McRobie, McRuvie, McSeveney, McVinnie, McWalter, Meadows, Mearns, Meenan, Meikle, Meiklejohn, Meiklejon, Mein, Melchers, Meldrum, Melrose, Melville, Menzies, Mercer, Messer, Methven, Michie, Middlemas, Middlemass, Middlemiss, Middlemist, Milivoyevich, Mill, Millan, Millar, Miller, Milligan, Mills, Milne, Milroy, Milven, Mirtle, Mitchelhill, Mitchell, Moffat, Moir, Moncreiff, Montgomery, Moodie, Moody, Mooney, Moonie, Moor, Moran, More, Morgan, Morison, Morris, Morrison, Moultrie, Mowat, Mraz, Mucklie, Mudie, Muir, Muirhead, Muldoon, Mulligan, Mulvie, Mundle, Munro, Munsie, Murdie, Murdoch, Murphy, Murr, Murray, Mycock, Myles, Nairn, Naismith, Napier, Naylor, Neil, Neill, Neilson, Nelson, Nemeth, Ness, Nevin, Newbigging, Newlands, Nichol, Nicholson, Nicol, Nimmo, Nisbet, Niven, Nixon, Noble, Norrie, Notman, O’Brien, O’Donnell, O’Hara, O’Kane, O’Malley, O’Neill, O’Reilly, Oakley, O'Donoghue, Officer, Ogilive, Ogilvy, Ogle, Oldham, Oliver, Ormiston, Orr, Outerson, Ovens, Owen, Owens, Padkin, Paisley, Park, Parker, Pastor, Paterson, Paton, Patterson, Pattie, Pattison, Paull, Payne, Peacock, Pearson, Peden, Pegler, Pender, Penman, Penny, Pentelton, Pentland, Pepler, Petisme, Petrie, Philips, Phillips, Philp, Phimister, Phin, Pietrzak, Pirie, Pirrie, Pitman, Pittar, Pittillo, Playfair, Plenderleath, Plenderleith, Plummer, Pocknall, Poddubecki, Pollock, Polson, Porteous, Potts, Poulton, Poustie, Pow, Power, Prentice, Preston, Pretsell, Pringle, Prior, Pritchard, Proctor, Proud, Proudfoot, Pryde, Pudlik, Purdom, Purves, Quarry, Quinn, Rae, Raeburn, Ragg, Raley, Ralston, Ramage, Ramsay, Rankin, Rankine, Rathie, Rattray, Rayner, Reavely, Redpath, Reed, Reid, Reilly, Rendall, Renney, Rennie, Renton, Renwick, Riach, Richardson, Richter, Riddell, Riddle, Rieple, Rigg, Rintoul, Ritch, Ritchie, Roach, Roalfe, Robb, Roberts, Robertson, Robeson, Robinson, Robson, Rochford, Roddan, Roden, Rodger, Rodgers, Rodgerson, Roebuck, Rogerson, Romanes, Romanis, Ronald, Rooney, Roseburgh, Ross, Rothschild, Rowan, Roy, Royds, Runciman, Russell, Rutecka, Rutherford, Ruthven, Salton, Salvesen, Samolej, Sanderson, Sands, Scholan, Schulze, Scott, Screen, Segesdi, Selkirk, Semple, Senior, Service, Sewell, Shand, Shanks, Shannan, Sharp, Shaw, Shearer, Sheldrick, Shepherd, Sheridan, Sherriff, Shiel, Shields, Shiell, Shiels, Shillinglaw, Short, Shortreed, Sibbald, Sidell, Silver, Sim, Sime, Simpson, Sinclair, Sinton, Skea, Skene, Skillen, Skinner, Slack, Slater, Slight, Smail, Small, Smart, Smellie, Smibert, Smith, Smyth, Sneddon, Snowden, Sojka, Solan, Somerville, Sommerville, Souter, Sowman, Spalding, Sparks, Speed, Speirs, Spence, Spiers, Spouse, Sprat, Spratt, Spreng, Sprott, Squair, Stalker, Stanners, Stark, Stavert, Steel, Steele, Stein, Steinbach, Stenhouse, Stephen, Steven, Stevens, Stevenson, Stewart, Stillie, Stimson, Stirling, Stobie, Stoddart, Storie, Story, Strachan, Strang, Stratford, Stronach, Stuart, Stubbs, Sutherland, Swan, Swanson, Swanston, Swatton, Sweeney, Swinton, Syme, Symington, Tacket, Taddei, Tait, Taket, Taylor, Telfer, Telford, Temple, Templeton, Tennant, Tereszczyn, Terry, Tetulics, Teviotdale, Thom, Thomarson, Thomas, Thompson, Thomson, Thorburn, Thripland, Thwaites, Thwaits, Tilston, Tinlin, Tinline, Tocher, Tod, Todd, Tomlinson, Tomsett, Torrie, Tough, Townley, Towns, Townsend, Trilloe, Trotter, Tudhope, Tully, Turbett, Turkington, Turley, Turnbull, Turner, Tweedie, Tyson, Upton, Ure, Valentine, Vanhegan, Vannan, Vaughan, Veitch, Vuckovic, Waddell, Wade, Wagstaffe, Wait, Wakeford, Waldie, Walker, Wallace, Ward, Wares, Warrington, Warwick, Waters, Waterson, Watherston, Watson, Watt, Watters, Waugh, Wear, Weatherhead, Weatherson, Weatherston, Weatherstone, Webb, Webster, Weddell, Weir, Wells, Welsh, Wemyss, West, Weston, Whamond, Whelan, White, Whitecross, Whitefield, Whitehead, Whitelaw, Whitie, Whiting, Whitson, Whittaker, Whittle, Whitton, Whyte, Wight, Wightman, Wilk, Wilkie, Wilkinson, Williams, Williamson, Willison, Willocks, Wilson, Windram, Wingate, Winlaw, Winslow, Winter, Wintrup, Wood, Woods, Wotton, Wray, Wren, Wright, Wylie, Wyllie, Wyper, Yeaman, Yellowlees, Yorkston, Young, Younger, Youngson, Yule, Zawadecky, Zerek, Zielinski, Zumbusch, Zumwalt, Zwozdiak.

The recording of Galashiels Old Ladhope burial ground was completed in 2007 and is also available on CD, price £10 plus postage.  The older Gala Aisle burial ground has been recorded by Selkirk Genealogy, in booklet form, price £4.95 plus postage.

Galashiels Eastlands and St Peter’s Monumental Inscriptions are available on CD at £15 plus postage.

To buy these publications, please contact Mary Thomson on our Contacts page using the contact type Order for Publications.

Monumental Inscriptions Recording at Stow and Coldingham Priory

We had planned another weekend recording gravestone inscriptions in the new graveyard at Stow (near Galashiels) on 11th and 12th September. Already, though, tremendous progress has been made with this project. Gwen Stein has photographed all the stones and this being a very modern graveyard it has been possible to transcribe about 95 % of them from the photographs.

All that is now required is final checking for which we have enough people.

Accordingly, unless anyone is particularly interested in being involved and no offer of help is ever spurned, you are all excused and we hope nobody is too disappointed.

However, transcription work at Coldingham Priory is far from complete with much still to be done and we have arranged for a further session for  the following Saturday 18th September from 10am to 4pm. We have received a lot of assistance from The Friends of Coldingham Priory who are anxious to push on. We hope as many as possibly of you, refreshed from your week-end off, will be able to join us then. Anyone who would wish to join us, do please come along (even for a couple of hours).
Further details from Ronald Morrison via our Contacts page, using the contact type Gravestone Recording.

Recording Gravestone Inscriptions at Coldingham Priory

Following on from our successful weekend in June recording the monumental inscriptions in and around Jedburgh Abbey, we’ve got another training weekend on the 14th and 15th August and this will be at Coldingham Priory, Coldingham. Berwickshire jointly with the Friends of Coldingham Priory.  This will run from 10am to 4 pm on Saturday, and on Sunday from 1pm to 4 pm.  The Priory isn’t often open, so this is a chance to see inside, as well as testing your skills deciphering the inscriptions on the gravestones.

If you would like to take part at Coldingham Priory on one or both days, even for a few hours on either day, please contact our organiser, Ronald Morrison via our Contacts page, using the contact type Gravestone Recording. This will enable us to coordinate the work, confirm to you more precisely what is involved and advise in the event of any change in the arrangements.

To comment on this article, please click the 'comments' link below.  

New Monumental Inscriptions volume for Innerleithen, Peeblesshire

We’re pleased to report that we have just published another new Monumental Inscriptions volume on CD, this time for Innerleithen in Peeblesshire; the compiling of which has been a mammoth task.

The first record of a parish church in the parish of Innerleithen was during the mid 12th century when Malcolm IV gave the church to the monks of Kelso. He later granted the right of refuge to the church after the body of his young son, drowned in the River Tweed, was carried there and lay in the church overnight.

In the early 1700s, Innerleithen was a village of a few thatched cottages close to the church, all built in the narrow haugh between Pirn Craig and Lee Pen.
The discovery of the mineral water springs on Lee Pen, together with a visit from Robert Burns in 1787, made Innerleithen a popular destination. Alexander Brodie, a native of Traquair, and a blacksmith to trade, had been successful in the iron industry in Shropshire and was acquainted with the Dumfriesshire born engineer, Thomas Telford. He used his wealth to build a mill in Innerleithen in 1791. The population of the parish was under 600 at the time and provided a pool of workers for his mill, while the farmers in the district, provided the wool. It was the ample supply of clean water from the Leithen and the Tweed that allowed the growth of the textile industry and the subsequent growth in population in the village of Innerleithen and the building of the new village at the Walker Burn.

By 1881, the population in the parish had grown to over 3,600 with more than 1,000 living in the village of Walkerburn.
The building of churches, within the town, mirrored the growth in the population. The parish church at Kirklands was built in 1791. Between 1844 and 1879, St John's Free Church in Horsburgh St, the United Free Presbyterian Church in Princes Street, the Second Free Presbyterian Church in Pirn Road, the Congregational Church and the St James Roman Catholic Church in the High Street, and the new parish church were erected.

This volume on CD comprises a plan of Innerleithen in 1849, historical notes on Innerleithen parish, transcription of the Poll Tax of 1694 which lists 264 people including many couples, a list of the ministers of Innerleithen and Walkerburn churches, plans of Kirklands in Leithen Road and Traquair Road cemetery, interments in the Old Kirkyard, inscriptions on over 1200 gravestones in Kirklands and Traquair Road cemetery, photographs of all the gravestones, Innerleithen War Memorial, Walkerburn War Memorial, rolls of honour and other memorials, an obituary of Nannie Kirk, the Pipers Grave, list of Standard Bearers, as well as indexes of the surnames in the Poll Tax and the gravestone inscriptions.

There are almost 800 different surnames included in the inscriptions on the gravestones, and they are: Aaronson, Adam, Adams, Adamson, Aiken, Ainslie, Aird, Aitchison, Aithie, Aitken, Alexander, Allan, Amos, Anderson, Angus, Archibald, Armstrong, Arthur, Atkinson, Austin, Baigrie, Baillie, Bain, Ballantyne, Banks, Bannatyne, Baptie, Barber, Barbour, Barnett, Barr, Barrett, Barrie, Bastianelli, Baxter, Bean, Beattie, Beck, Becker, Bell, Bennett, Berridge, Berry, Bertram, Beveridge, Bewsey, Biggar, Binnie, Birch, Birnie, Bishop, Bisset, Bissett, Blackie, Blacklaw, Blair, Blake, Blakie, Bly, Blyth, Blythe, Booth, Borthwick, Bowie, Boyd, Bradford, Braidwood, Branston, Brett, Bridgeford, Broadfoot, Broadley, Brockie, Brodie, Brown, Brownlee, Bruce, Brunton, Bryce, Brydone, Buchan, Buchanan, Bulloch, Burnett, Burns, Bursby, Burton, Butters, Cadenhead, Cairncross, Cairns, Calder, Caldwell, Cambridge, Cameron, Campbell, Carr, Carrie, Cattanach, Chalmers, Chapman, Cherry, Cheyne, Chisholm, Chisholme, Christie, Christison, Cieszynski, Clapperton, Clark, Clarke, Cleghorn, Clifford, Clive, Cluggie, Clyde, Cochrane, Cockburn, Coia, Collier, Collins, Colquhoun, Condie, Connelly, Constable, Conway, Cook, Cooksey, Cornish, Cornwall, Corsie, Cossar, Cotter, Coulthard, Couper, Cowan, Cowe, Cowen, Cox, Coyle, Craig, Crainiey, Cranston, Crawford, Crichton, Crombie, Crosbie, Crozier, Cuerden, Cumming, Cummings, Cunningham, Currie, Dalgleish, Dalgliesh, Dalling, Darling, Davidson, Davies, Dawidziak, Dawson, Deans, Dempster, Denver, Devine, Dewar, Dewhurst, Dick, Dickison, Dickson, Dobie, Dobson, Docherty, Dodd, Doherty, Doig, Donald, Donaldson, Douglas, Dryden, Drysdale, Duffy, Dunn, Dyer, Easson, Easton, Eaton, Eckford, Eddy, Elder, Elliot, Elliott, Ellis, Erskine, Euman, Evans, Fairbairn, Fairfull, Fairgrieve, Fairley, Falconer, Farnie, Farrant, Faulds, Fayrer, Featherston, Ferguson, Finlayson, Finnie, Finugane, Fionda, Fishburn, Fisher, Fleming, Flett, Flynn, Foot, Ford, Forrest, Forrester, Forsyth, Foster, Frame, Fraser, French, Frizzel, Fullarton, Fulton, Galbraith, Gallocher, Galloway, Gardner, Garrett, Gasson, Gdula, Geddes, Gerrard, Gerry, Gibb, Gibson, Giegerich, Gilchrist, Gill, Gillespie, Gillon, Gilroy, Glass, Glendinning, Goldie, Goodfellow, Gordon, Goskirk, Goudie, Gow, Gowans, Graham, Granger, Grant, Gray, Green, Greenwood, Gregor, Greig, Grierson, Grieve, Hackett, Haig, Hailstone, Halapup, Halkett, Hall, Hamilton, Hammell, Hannah, Hannestad, Harbottle, Hardie, Hare, Harkes, Harkess, Harris, Harrold, Harrower, Hart, Harvey, Haston, Hawley, Hay, Heaney, Heath, Heatlie, Hegarty, Henderson, Hendry, Henry, Henshaw, Herbertson, Heuch, Hewitson, Highland, Hill, Hinshelwood, Hislop, Hobson, Hodge, Hogg, Hojda, Holt, Honeyman, Hook, Hooper, Hope, Horsburgh, Howie, Howieson, Howitt, Hume, Hunnam, Hunter, Husband, Hutcheson, Hutchison, Hutton, Hymers, Hyslop, Imrie, Inch, Ingles, Inglis, Ingram, Inman, Innes, Irvine, Irving, Jack, Jackson, Jamieson, Jardine, Jarvis, Jeffrey, Jenkinson, Johnston, Johnstone, Jones, Kane, Kasperczyk, Keddie, Keith, Kelly, Kennedy, Kerr, Ketchen, Ketchin, Keyden, Kidd, King, Kinnear, Kinnon, Kinross, Kippie, Kirk, Knox, Kolodziej, Kruger, Kurowski, Kurys, Kydd, Kyle, Laidlaw, Laing, Lamb, Lambert, Landers, Lauder, Laurie, Lawson, Lawton, Learmond, Learmonth, Leask, Lees, Leithead, Lennie, Leonard, Leslie, Lessel, Lewis, Liddle, Lindsay, Linton, Little, Livingston, Lloyd, Lockhart, Lockie, Logan, Lorimar, Lorimer, Lothian, Lowrie, Lumsden, Lunn, Lyle, Lynn, Maben, Macadam, Macalister, Macartney, Macdiarmid, Macdonald, Macdougall, Macfarlane, Macgregor, Mack, Mackay, Mackenzie, Mackinnon, Mackintosh, Maclellan, Macleod, Macnaught, Macnaughton, Macqueen, Maguire, Maher, Main, Mair, Makin, Malcolm, Manson, Marjoriebanks, Marr, Marshall, Martin, Mastalerz, Mathie, Mathieson, Mathison, Matthews, Maul, Maule, Mcadam, Mcbeath, Mccaig, Mccall, Mccallum, Mcclune, Mcclure, Mccormack, Mccormick, Mccowan, Mccrorie, Mccutcheon, Mcdonald, Mcdougall, Mcdowell, Mcewan, Mcfadzean, Mcgill, Mcginley, Mcginn, Mcglashan, Mcglasson, Mcgovern, Mcgowan, Mcgregor, Mcintosh, Mcintyre, Mckay, Mckean, Mckellar, Mckelvie, Mckenna, Mckie, Mckimmie, Mcknight, Mclaren, Mclauchlan, Mclean, Mclellan, Mcleman, Mclennan, Mcleod, Mcmichael, Mcmillan, Mcmorran, Mcmurchie, Mcmurdo, Mcnab, Mcnairn, Mcnaught, Mcnaughton, Mcnee, Mcnie, Mcpake, Mcphail, Mcpherson, Mcskimming, Mcteir, Mcwhirter, Meail, Meikle, Mellross, Melrose, Melville, Menzies, Mercer, Michie, Middlemas, Middlemist, Millar, Miller, Miller-thomas, Mills, Milne, Milns, Mirtle, Mitchelhill, Mitchell, Moffat, Molus, Montgomery, Moon, Moore, Morison, Moritz, Morrice, Morris, Morrise, Morrison, Mortan, Morton, Motion, Mowat, Mowatt, Muir, Muirhead, Mungai, Munro, Murray, Myers, Myles, Nairn, Naylor, Naysmith, Neil, Neilson, Nelson, Newall, Newlands, Nichol, Nicholson, Nicol, Nimmo, Nisbet, Nisbett, Noble, Norman, Norris, Norval, Notman, Oliphant, Oliver, Ormiston, Ostrowski, Overend, Owen, Page, Paisley, Pajak, Palmer, Panter, Park, Parker, Parson, Paterson, Paton, Patterson, Paxton, Payne, Pearce, Peat, Peden, Pederson, Pendrich, Pennel, Pentland, Percy, Phaup, Philip, Phillips, Philp, Pickles, Plastow, Poll, Porteous, Potts, Pow, Pownall, Preston, Pretsell, Pringle, Prosser, Proudfoot, Purslow, Purves, Purvis, Pyrzyk, Rae, Raeburn, Ralston, Ramage, Ramsay, Ramsey, Rangecroft, Rathie, Rawbon, Readman, Redpath, Reid, Rendle, Rennie, Renton, Renwick, Richardson, Rickettes, Riddell, Riddle, Ridgway, Ritchie, Roberts, Robertson, Robson, Rodger, Rosie, Ross, Rowntree, Roxburgh, Roy, Ruickbie, Russell, Rutherford, Rydak, Salton, Samuel, Sandeman, Sanderson, Sandiland, Sands, Schofield, Scot, Scott, Scougal, Scougall, Scullion, Sewart, Seymour, Shand, Shanks, Sharland, Sharpe, Shaw, Shearer, Shearme, Shiel, Shiell, Shortreed, Sibbald, Silk, Simmons, Simpson, Sinclair, Sivewright, Sked, Slide, Slingsby, Smail, Small, Smart, Smeeth, Smelt, Smibert, Smith, Sneddon, Snowdon, Somers, Somerville, Sommerville, Soroka, Spence, Stalker, Stalkers, Stark, Stavert, Stebie, Stein, Stenhouse, Stephenson, Sterricks, Steuart, Stevenson, Stewart, Stirling, Stobie, Stoddart, Storie, Storrie, Strachan, Strasser, Strathie, Stroyan, Struthers, Strutthers, Stuart, Sudden, Sutherland, Swan, Swanston, Sword, Sykes, Taggart, Tait, Tarbet, Taylor, Telfer, Tempelton, Temple, Temporal, Tennant, Thatcher, Thomas, Thompson, Thomson, Thorburn, Tod, Todd, Todrick, Toulman, Townend, Trevor, Tucker, Tulloch, Tully, Turnbull, Turner, Turyk, Twining, Umpherston, Urquhart, Vallance, Varrie, Veitch, Vernon, Virtue, Waddell, Wagstaff, Waldie, Walker, Walkingshaw, Wallace, Wallis, Ward, Waters, Watson, Watt, Waugh, Weatherston, Weir, Weir, Weston, Wheeler, White, Whiteford, Whitehead, Whiteley, Whitson, Wight, Wilkin, Wilkins, Wilkinson, Willett, Williams, Williamson, Willison, Wilson, Winks, Winter, Winton, Wintrope, Wood, Wright, Wyper, Yeatts, Yorke, Young, Yuill-walker, Yule, Ziegler.

The CD costs £12 plus 51p for 2nd class UK postage.

In Innerleithen, you can get a copy at Smail’s Printing Works, alternatively, please contact Mary Thomson on our Contacts page using the contact type Order for Publications.

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Recording Gravestone Inscriptions at Jedburgh Abbey

This last weekend, 19th and 20th June, a group of volunteers from the Society were recording the gravestone inscriptions at Jedburgh Abbey, Roxburghshire.

In 1118, the Earl of Huntingdon, later king David I of Scotland, with the help of the Bishop of Glasgow founded a priory for Augustinian monks from Beauvais in northern France and elevated it in 1152 to the status of an abbey.  The abbey is a superb example of Romanesque architecture in Scotland, and is thought to have taken about 120 years to build.  The abbey and Jedburgh were frequently damaged in wars and skirmishes with the English.  In 1416, 1464, and 1523, the town and abbey were damaged and / or burnt by the English, and it was burned in 1523 and ruined again in 1544, and in 1548, French troops occupied the town.  The abbey was suppressed in 1559 and eventually purchased in 1637 by the third Earl of Lothian. A new parish church was built into the west part of the nave of the abbey from about 1671 and used until 1875 when a new parish church was erected a short distance away.


We've had groups recording gravestones before at Minto, near Denholm, Roxburghshire and at Duns, Berwickshire, and earlier this year, Stobo, Peeblesshire. We see these days as both an enjoyable day out for members and family, and as a training event for volunteers new to recording gravestones.

In spite of some "call offs", there were 13 of us working from 10am to 3.30 pm on Saturday, and 8 on Sunday from 1pm to 4.00 pm.

Including the gravestones in the abbey, there are about 400 gravestones in total. Saturday morning was unusually cold and windy for a June day, but the afternoon was much warmer. Sunday was a lovely warm sunny day, which proved slightly difficult for those trying to read faded inscriptions.

Checking inscriptions on the gravestones that Norma and I tackled on Sunday was hard work, and we managed only about 12 stones in about two and a half hours. There's still a lot of work to be done, but at least we've made a start.

The picture shows Morag and Ian Carter hard at work on one of the gravestones.

Our thanks to Historic Scotland for providing free entry for us to do the work.

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Top gift is not an iPhone, iPod Touch or XBox

Talking to one of my neighbours, I was interested to learn that her young son's Christmas wish list contained no mention of iPhone, iPod Touch, Wii, PS3 or XBox, and it's not because he's already got them, he hasn't.

She's a pious woman who frequently visits churches on her days out, and she takes her son with her. About 6 months ago he told her that he was bored and she allowed him to wander around the churchyard.

He became interested in the gravestone inscriptions and symbols, and they have become a major interest. He started off a project to do his family history with the help of his mother, other kids, and a teacher.

Clearly, it's useful for him to have started young, as there are still plenty of the older generations to tell him their stories. So this Christmas, Santa's been asked for family history software, various volumes of monumental inscriptions, and a paper record book.

He hasn't completely ignored modern technology; he's asked for a mobile phone - he says it's so he can let his mother know when he's ready to be collected from a graveyard.

His mother, thinks that Santa will deliver on most of his wishes, though perhaps she'll just lend him a mobile phone for when he's researching in remote places.

Have a great Christmas !

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