Cemeteries and Churchyards

A special issue of Genealogy (ISSN 2313-5778).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 May 2018) | Viewed by 23867

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Housing Policy, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
Interests: the history of burial, post-c1700; cemetery and churchyard policy; cemetery conservation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Genealogy invites papers on the subject of ‘Cemeteries and Churchyards’ although the boundaries can be stretched to extend to any place of burial or cremation. The objective of the issue is to examine how genealogical research can be used to enhance understanding of the use made of, and meanings attached to, burial space. Pertinent issues sit at the intersection between anthropology and history, and may include the use family narratives to identify the very personal and domestic behaviours that take place around funerals and choices with regard to burial or cremation. These behaviours tend to be absent from the broader metanarratives of funerary behaviour.

The following listing is an indication of the types of issues that may be included in such a special edition, although other topics are welcome.

·        Church burial and family dynasty
·        Mapping identity in the colonial cemetery
·        Grave ownership and familial obligation
·        Family tradition in commemorative practice
·        Burial in consecrated/unconsecrated space: defining denominational identity
·        Cemetery management/gravedigging as the family business
·        Choosing cremation first: ‘early adaptors’ of cremation and family responses
·        The domestic spaces of war graves: family choices around epitaphs on CWGC headstones
·        Locating community identity in the burial landscape
·        Burial sites as destinations for ‘roots’ tourism

It is expected that abstracts accepted for this special edition by April 2018 would be submitted for review by May 2018.

Dr. Julie Rugg
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • cemetery
  • churchyard
  • burial
  • burial registers
  • commemoration
  • funerary practice

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 2269 KiB  
Article
Robertson at the City: Portrait of a Cemetery Superintendent
by Brian Parsons
Genealogy 2018, 2(3), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy2030031 - 22 Aug 2018
Viewed by 3248
Abstract
Since the nineteenth century the management of burial grounds has been the function of the cemetery superintendent. Responsible as he or she is for maintenance of the site, grave preparation, burial procedures, administration and staffing, the superintendent’s remit has gained complexity in the [...] Read more.
Since the nineteenth century the management of burial grounds has been the function of the cemetery superintendent. Responsible as he or she is for maintenance of the site, grave preparation, burial procedures, administration and staffing, the superintendent’s remit has gained complexity in the twentieth century through bureaucratization, legislation and more recently from ‘customer focus’. The shifting preference towards cremation has further widened the scope of the work. Little, however, has been written about the occupation. Focusing on the career of John Robertson, superintendent of the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium between 1913 and 1936, this paper draws from his contributions to The Undertakers’ Journal (TUJ), and in particular a series of articles concerning the design and management of cemeteries that forms the largest collection of literature on the subject published in the twentieth century. The paper also examines his involvement with the National Association of Cemetery Superintendents (NACS), an organization founded to support the occupation’s quest for professional recognition. From a genealogical perspective this article underlines the importance of surveying a wide range of sources when conducting genealogical researching. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cemeteries and Churchyards)
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14 pages, 267 KiB  
Article
Inscribing Ethnicity: A Preliminary Analysis of Gaelic Headstone Inscriptions in Eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton
by Laurie Stanley-Blackwell and Michael Linkletter
Genealogy 2018, 2(3), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy2030029 - 15 Aug 2018
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 8002
Abstract
Focusing on the verbal rather than the visual elements of early and more modern headstones in eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, this essay will comment on a selection of Gaelic headstone inscriptions, highlighting such elements as word choice (whether secular or religious), [...] Read more.
Focusing on the verbal rather than the visual elements of early and more modern headstones in eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, this essay will comment on a selection of Gaelic headstone inscriptions, highlighting such elements as word choice (whether secular or religious), cemetery location, time period, and the deceased’s background. Despite the striking paucity of Gaelic examples, it is our objective to discuss why Gaelic had a limited presence in Nova Scotia’s pioneer Scottish immigrant cemeteries and to demonstrate how these cemeteries were contested sites, which mirrored ongoing tensions between assimilation and cultural retention. In sum, this article will assess the importance of cemeteries as material articulations of language use and language maintenance among Nova Scotia’s diasporic Scots, set against the wider background of their struggles, aspirations, and shared values. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cemeteries and Churchyards)
19 pages, 895 KiB  
Article
Materialized Genealogy: From Anonymous Cemetery Populations to Creating Alternative Narratives about Individuals and Family Burial Space
by Sian Anthony
Genealogy 2018, 2(3), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy2030027 - 10 Aug 2018
Viewed by 4286
Abstract
Archaeologists frequently excavate historic burials and the vast majority of the graves will be unidentified. It is rare, and also surprisingly difficult, to unite documentary sources and gravestone identities with the burials underneath. Sites are therefore interpreted and analyzed as holistic anonymous populations [...] Read more.
Archaeologists frequently excavate historic burials and the vast majority of the graves will be unidentified. It is rare, and also surprisingly difficult, to unite documentary sources and gravestone identities with the burials underneath. Sites are therefore interpreted and analyzed as holistic anonymous populations rather than as individual graves. Excavation of a 19th and 20th century cemetery in Copenhagen created an opportunity to explore the topic of working with identified graves through connecting to genealogical sources and theoretical approaches which are rarely encountered in archaeology. This study used alternative genealogies of grave plots based on different source materials: family trees, burial plot registers, and excavated archaeological evidence to illustrate the complementary interpretations that can be created. The research touches upon important issues of the rights and responsibilities of using the names and personal data of the dead; particularly in relation to their descendants. The conclusion is that it is vital to consider including names and sometimes personal information as doing so has deepened understanding of the variations within burial customs, the use of grave plot space and invited more personal narratives within a heavily structured system of burying the dead. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cemeteries and Churchyards)
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26 pages, 2382 KiB  
Article
Colonial Expressions of Identity in Funerals, Cemeteries, and Funerary Monuments of Nineteenth-Century Perth, Western Australia
by Sandra F. Hayward
Genealogy 2018, 2(3), 23; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy2030023 - 18 Jul 2018
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 7236
Abstract
A general cemetery was established in 1829–1830 for the town of Perth, Western Australia, and during the rest of the nineteenth century, other cemeteries were added to the complex to cater for various Christian denominations as well as for Chinese and Jewish communities. [...] Read more.
A general cemetery was established in 1829–1830 for the town of Perth, Western Australia, and during the rest of the nineteenth century, other cemeteries were added to the complex to cater for various Christian denominations as well as for Chinese and Jewish communities. In all, seven contiguous cemeteries were used over the colonial period in Perth. By 1899, when the cemetery complex was closed, approximately ten thousand people were buried there. The deceased or their bereaved loved ones chose funerals, epitaphs, burial locations, and funerary monuments to express social, ethnic, religious, familial, and gendered identity. These expressions of identity provide more information than just birth and death dates for genealogists and family historians as to what was important to the deceased and their family. In the first half of the nineteenth century, identities were dominantly related to family, whereas later in the century, identities included religion, ethnicity, and achievements within the colony of Western Australia. Some expressions of identity in Perth contrast with those found in other Australian colonies, especially in regard to the use and types of religious crosses in the Christian denominations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cemeteries and Churchyards)
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