Apparently, another brick wall has fallen in my way. While looking for a death/burial record on ScotlandsPeople web site in their pre-1855 section with the date of death known, that date being 20 March 1840 and in his 68th year, no record is to be found for Alexander Wallace, the crofter/mason who died at Cairnbrogie on the date given above. Were death/burial records maintained in Tarves Parish or might this be one record that may have been missed if they were kept? Regards, Bob Wallace Fort Worth, Texas

You won't likely ever find a death record before 1855 when Births, Deaths and Marriages were supposed to be recorded. In these times death was a matter inescapable, and not too important. Birth and marriages were the big thing. However, if you are in a position to order the film of Tarves Parish OPR's into a LDS center and can go there to read it, you may get lucky and find a Mort Cloth page. When people died they could if they could afford it, rent a Mort Cloth that was placed over the coffin (or body) from the church to the gravesite. The Minister was required to keep an account of the money paid in rental of the Mort Cloth. So you may find this person's name on the Mort Cloth list but it will just tell you the day it was used, usually, and not the day of death. I have seen these lists that leave you wondering if Mr. Smith paid for the rental or did Mr. Smith die? You could just see (examples here only) Wife to Alex. Smith; so then you think it was for the wife of Alexander Smith, when it could have been paid for by his wife for him. Confused yet? However they never kept bodies long in those days unless it was the dead of winter. I have viewed some 30 or so films and I can tell you the Mort Cloth page isn't in all of the OPR pages. I can also attest to the fact that some Ministers did keep death pages in the OPR's....basically it just depends on your luck. Also, this is not something you can pick up off SP site either, as far as I know. You need to view the film. Good luck, Goldie -----Original Message----- From: Bob Wallace Sent: Friday, March 07, 2014 12:55 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [ABERDEEN] Tarves Parish death/burial records Apparently, another brick wall has fallen in my way. While looking for a death/burial record on ScotlandsPeople web site in their pre-1855 section with the date of death known, that date being 20 March 1840 and in his 68th year, no record is to be found for Alexander Wallace, the crofter/mason who died at Cairnbrogie on the date given above. Were death/burial records maintained in Tarves Parish or might this be one record that may have been missed if they were kept? Regards, Bob Wallace Fort Worth, Texas ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hello Bob, The Aberdeen and Northeast Scotland Family History Society publishes MI booklets and your Alexander Wallace is listed in the Kirkyard of Tarves. Here is the link to their online index - just input his name and select Tarves as the burial ground. The actual transcription would be contained in the MI booklet. Many of the MI's indicate the date of death. Do not know if this one does or not..sorry..I do not have the booklet. http://www.anesfhs.org.uk/databank/miindex/miindex.php http://www.anesfhs.org.uk/publ.php#series1 Sorry I could not answer your original question. Good luck, Barbara On 3/7/2014 3:55 PM, Bob Wallace wrote: > Apparently, another brick wall has fallen in my way. While looking for a > death/burial record on ScotlandsPeople web site in their pre-1855 > section with the date of death known, that date being 20 March 1840 and > in his 68th year, no record is to be found for Alexander Wallace, the > crofter/mason who died at Cairnbrogie on the date given above. > > Were death/burial records maintained in Tarves Parish or might this be > one record that may have been missed if they were kept? > > Regards, > > Bob Wallace > Fort Worth, Texas > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >