Quipolly Cemetery

On one of our country drives last weekend we called in at the delightful St Chad's Anglican Church and Cemetery in Quipolly, NSW. 

While there I spent about half an hour snapping pictures of the site and headstones vowing to come back and finish the job on my next visit. I discovered that the cemetery now known as Quipolly Cemetery is still active being managed by the Liverpool Plains Council.

I had intended posting my images to FindaGrave as I didn't think anyone would have photographed that cemetery. Well I was wrong. Someone named Grace had already posted many headstone images to FindaGrave. I was able to add a few that showed the church and its sign. When we visited it had been raining so many of the headstones that are unclear in Grace's images were clearer in my images due to their recent wash. I have added a few of these and will continue to add those of mine that are easier to read. 

Here are a few of my snaps.

Paying it forward with travel photos

Many of our holidays are not geneajourneys but, because of my interest in dead people and cemeteries, I often take photos of cemeteries we pass. When we are cruising some of the organised tours on offer take us to historic cemeteries, I take many images including some headstone pictures during these visits.

Headstone in Broken Hill

I find these images so useful to illustrate my blog and social media posts but recently I have found another use for my pictures that may help other genies and researchers.

Monument in Old Drift Cemetery, Zambia 

Ever since a presentation by Marion Burk Wood at the last THE Genealogy Show event I have taken a renewed interest in FindaGrave. As my photo collection is indexed with lots of keywords I can easily access images of cemeteries and headstones using those terms. 

It has given me great pleasure to add to FindaGrave headstone images not related to my close family from cemeteries in Australia, France, Ireland, The Phillipines, UK, US and Zambia and I have yet more to add. Hopefully some of the relatives of these people will benefit from seeing images of their loved ones final resting places.

Headstone from Tyne Cot, Belgium

I've also been able to add general photos of several cemeteries to the Cemetery Entries on FindaGrave.

Perhaps you have been doing this already but I only recently thought of it. It's another way we genies can "Pay it Forward" for all the value we have received from the work of other volunteers.

Genearosity at Lightning Ridge

I've been enjoying a sojourn in Narrabri with Mr GeniAus. On our weekends we have explored neighbouring towns and historic sites.

As a genie I love to detour past the local cemetery in any towns we visit. When we pulled up in Lightning Ridge we were surprised to see that so many of the plots had simple white wooden grave markers which appeared to be made by the same hand. On closer inspection we noticed that these simple crosses were all the same and the details on them appeared to be inscribed in the same hand. These inscriptions give names and birth and death dates of the deceased. 

Graves with unknown occupants also have markers

I was unable to discover who was responsible for this local project, which is a great example of genearosity. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.

Concerning Cemeteries

 If there's one thing I like it's a cemetery, another thing I enjoy is responding to Geneameme challenges from fellow family historians.

In recent weeks I have been a bit snowed under with various geneactivities and I haven't attended to one item on my "To Do" list, that is to respond to Carmel Galvin's Concerning Cemeteries Geneameme. My calendar for this week is reasonably clear so first task on my ticket is to think about cemeteries.

It's never too late to respond to a geneameme so, please, join in. Carmel said:

"I look forward to reading a great variety of experiences and viewing the accompanying photos. Please add a link to your blog post in the comments below and I will list them all in a blogpost."

I have illustrated the responses that follow with a few of my cemetery photos.

A beautifully tended plot or cemetery

My prize for the most beautifully tended cemeteries goes to The Commonwealth War Graves Commission for all of their sites. Mr GeniAus and I have visited CWGC cemeteries in Belgium, Egypt, England, France, Singapore,Thailand and Turkey. Each site  has been very well maintained, they are fitting memorials to our fallen.

Tyne Cot, Belgium

El Alamein, Egypt

Kranji War Memorial, Singapore

Overawed by the size 
Rookwood Cemetery, where many members of our family rest is, according to Billion Graves, the sixth largest cemetery in the world. 

My Maternal Grandparents : Frank Duncan and Ethel Jane Pusell

Coldest (temperature wise!)/ hottest

It's a toss up between Greenland and Iceland for the coldest. It was fairly cold in summer at this cemetery at Eyjafjörður  in Iceland. We attended a concert given by some local girls in the Church there. 

Eyjafjörður  in Iceland

Smallest - most intimate
There's only one grave on this site at Kagoshima Japan.

Largest - tombstone or graveyard

Pro Hart's Grave in Broken Hill is fairly impressive

Pro Hart's Grave, Broken Hill Cemetery

Most memorable, monumental or unforgettable

One of Pro Hart's neighbours, Joycelyn Daisy Delbridge (nee Harvey) has an unforgettable headstone.

Was a genealogist responsible for all the names on the headstone?

Oldest grave found or oldest established cemetery visited

These headstones in the Punic Cemetery in Carthage, Tunisia looked rather old to me.

Punic Cemetery, Carthage, Tunisia

Simple marker 

In contrast to the headstones in the Commonwealth War Graves Cemeteries the graves in the American Cemetery in Manila in the Philippines are quite simple. The cemetery was beautiful  and maintained to a high standard.

Manila American Cemetery

The unexpected

I was surprised that all of the graves in this Communist Cemetery in Tirana, Albania were exactly the same.

Best find ever

The best find ever is, for me, the most recent big find. 

Last year we visited the Fulneck Moravian Settlement in Pudsey and met the archivist in the Church there. We consulted original records with the archivist, Rev. Hilary Smith, who gave us directions to the Moravian Burial Ground at Gomersal where we found the burial site of Mr GeniAus' 4xGreat-Grandmother ,Betty Birkby. 

Mr GeniAus - Moravian Burial Ground, Gomersal

The grave marker of Betty Birky later Midgley

Locals lived here

From the washing hanging on a line and clothes on hangers it looks like someone may have lived in this mausoleum in an old cemetery we toured in Manila, Philippines

Washing Day!

At the crematorium
Here I must mention a book that I read and enjoyed. The author writes about her time working as an assistant in a crematorium. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematorium by Caitlin Doughty is a good read. I borrowed the eBook from a local library

Closest relatives are buried here e.g. parents, sibling/s

Mum, Dad, Paternal Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts can be found in Botany Cemetery now called Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park. After Mum passed away I ordered a new headstone as the lettering had faded on the one on which we had Dad's name inscribed. I hope the new headstone of "Best Black Granite" lasts longer than the first.

Elsie Harriet Duncan and Allan John Curry - Headstone

Most humorous incident

It wasn't funny at the time but we can laugh about it now. 

My maiden Aunt, Elsie May Duncan, is buried in the plot adjacent to my grandfather, Frank Duncan. When we turned up at Rookwood for my Grandmother's funeral in 1988 the gravediggers had opened the wrong grave and were set to bury Nanna , Ethel Jane Pusell, in with her sister-in-law. Nanna would probably have been happy with that but her daughters certainly were not. One of my Aunts, who was quite hysterical, put on quite a performance.

We all packed up and went off to the wake to give the diggers time to right the wrong. Just a couple of family members returned to the cemetery a few hours later to make sure that Nanna was put in her right place.

PS I'm adding a link to a blog post about surprise we found when on safari in Zambia.
http://geniaus.blogspot.com/2019/09/on-safari.html

On Safari

Last year during our holiday in Africa we stayed at Sussi and Chuma Lodage in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia.

As well as doing a boat ride down the Zambezi River we visited Victoria Falls and went on several safari drives. On the most memorable safari drive we visited a group of white rhinos that were under 24 hour armed protection. 

Armed guards escort to visit the white rhinos

On our last safari drive in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park we saw a few zebras, some other wildlife and lovely vistas of the Zambezi River. I got most excited with what we found in a clearing in the park. It was a sign from Northern Rhodesian times that declared the area as a National Monument.

This genealogist did not expect to find a cemetery in the middle of a National Park on Zambia! You can read about the Old Drift Cemetery here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Drift_cemetery This site gives details of the persons buried at the cemetery https://www.graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=3347256 .

You can read the story of The Old Drift settlement here  https://www.tothevictoriafalls.com/vfpages/devel/settlers.html.

Our guide was bemused when I asked him to stop so that we could take some photos of the site. Fellow genies will know why I needed to stop. Thankfully this wasn't an area frequented by big cats.

Graves among the trees

Dropping in on Emily

I started writing this blog post on my smartphone last Monday when we were on a roadtrip in country NSW. I had intended tidying it up on my laptop before posting that evening but I forgot to pack my computer. As I found the post difficult to tart up on my phone I put it aside until we returned home.

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Mr GeniAus and I are currently motoring south along the motorway and I am attempting to draft a blog post on my phone.

On the way to our  destination we stopped into Liverpool General Cemetery and Crematorium to visit the grave of Emily Ball nee Royds. Mr GeniAus' Great-Grandmother. A few years ago when we first located her grave we discovered that it was unmarked. We discussed this and decided that we would like to place a memorial on the plot.

It took us a while but around 2016 we approached the cemetery authorities asking for permission. We submitted copies of relevant certificates that showed Robert's relationship to Emily. The cemetery replied that we needed the approval of the plot's owner  (who happened to be buried a couple of rows from Emily). We did find as living descendant of the plot owner who had no objection. We then contacted a monumental mason who was happy to undertake the work for us.

After quite a bit of deliberation we chose a simple plaque and appropriate wording. Around a year ago the monumental mason let us know that the plaque had been placed on Emily's plot.

Since moving house we haven't had an opportunity to visit the cemetery and inspect the plaque. Today as we were motoring south we took a small detour and dropped in on Emily. On seeing the plaque that mentioned birth and death dates, maiden name and place of birth I commented that it looked like a genealogist had input into the information shared on the plaque. Hopefully, in the future, it may help some other genies who are connected to Emily.

While at the Cemetery I also took a couple of dozen photos and uploaded them to BillionGraves. I was on a tight time schedule or I would have added more.

Corcomroe Abbey

The burial ground at Corcomroe Abbey is still used today.

We stopped off at this old monastery on our drive through The Burren in Ireland today.