Genealogy Chat

Today i am visiting the cemetery where my great grandmother is buried. margaret oneil born 1856 in ireland and died 1902 aged 46 in leigh lancashire. i dont think there will be a gravestone as the family were very poor. her husband patrick was a rag and bone man. The problem i have is that i cant seem to find her husbands death anywhere. i know i have asked for help on this before but just thought a new pair of eyes or a different idea might help. i have trawled through free bmd and family search etc and the local library but to no avail. we dont think he went back to ireland as i said he was very poor and he had many sons and daughters who lived close by so if he was of ill health they would have looked after him. he is on the 1901 census and the year after his wife died. his deatils are patrick oneil born c1850 in galway ireland married margaret carney 1872 in farworth bolton lancashire lived in the parish of bedford leigh lancashire on the 1881/91+ 1901 census. i am going to see if he is buried in the same grave as margaret. wish me good luck. love linda PS READ ON FOR MY AMAZING FIND !!!

Have you tried the local council if it is a council run cemetery they may have records of the local one. Or perhaps the library would have a list of the graves ours does. My grandmother didn't have a head stone but both these things found her grave. Sorry couldn't be more help Germaine x

Have you looked for him re marrying? Quite often widowers of his age did, at that time. He might be buried elsewhere with a new wife. Good luck with finding your family today. Many of mine are buried without gravestones but it's still good to find their resting place and reflect on their life. Gwyn

thanks you two. thats a great help. i had never thought of him remarrying? thats something i will look into. love linda x

hi everyone what a day i have had. i visited the cemetery with my sister to find the grave of our great grandma. she had died in 1902. the registrar at the cemetery was absolutely wonderful and led us straight to it. it had no headstone but a granite flowere bowl with the name ' m.e. o'neil'. this was our great grandma we were suprised to see anyhting there at all as they were a very poor family. the registrar gave us a number to call and they would tell us if there was anyone else in the grave. not only did they tell us that margaret ellen was in there but her husband patrick who had died in 1915 and i hadnt been able to find his death anywhere but also a margaret ellen aged 3 years died 1899 and a margaret ellen aged 6 HOURS died 1900 and a mary ann flanagan - stillborn and buried the same day as our great grandad patrick - feb 1915. we were so amazed a mixture of whoo hoo we found you and oh my god who are these poor children. so we went to the local library and looked up the deaths on microfilm and in the grave was maraget and patrick oneil and three of their grandchildren. margaret ellen aged three was the daughter of their son john and his wife sarah ( my grandparents) and she died in a sanatorium. and margaret ellen aged 6hours daughter of patrick and bertha ( my grandads brother and his wife ) and mary ellen - stillborn daughter of margaret and john flanagan ( my grandads sister). How sad is that. but what a great day to go out not expecting to find anything but an overgrown plot and to find all those relatives. i cant thank the staff of leigh cemetery and the staff at wigan and leigh council offices enough they were superb and nothing was too much trouble. just thought i would share this with you all. love linda x x

Thankyou for sharing that with us Lindy - bet you're on such a high, you won't come down for a week! Jay

Lindy congratulations on your find. Although the stillborn child is sad, at least she was recorded in the burial register. Many of these stillbirths weren't given names and were buried anywhere. This one at least is with family. nell

Helen the cemetery had a list of who was in the grave but the death of the stillborn was not on any register. even the cemetery had no death record. on the micro film in the library there was no record. but we know from the surname that it was their grandchild. they must have been very poor but at least she was buried with her grandad. how stange that they died so close together ? linda x

How wonderful for you but so sad also, but know you know where they are and that they are together and also their grandchildren are there as well. I hope I find what I'm looking for when I go searching for my three set of great grandparents all I beleive in the same place - I already have the place of the four set and have know where they are since I was small, know it's time to find the rest Joanne

How wonderful - well done!

I'm so pleased for you that you found your family and were able to find out so much today. Gwyn

thank you everyone i am now going to bed on a high. i wish we could have days like this all the time. i wish you all good luck in your searches. goodnight and godbless love linda x