Hi Anne, I take it the church can't give you any clue what part of the churchyard any headstone might be in? The good news is that I walk through St Peter's Halliwell churchyard every few days. The bad news is that I've been doing that for a few years and I still expect to find something new relating to my family on most visits. It's a big graveyard, very overgrown in places, and a fair amount of it is not laid out in a way that makes it easy to make sure you haven't missed anything. Added to that, some of the stones have been cleared away, some have become illegible, many of the flat stones are effectively grassed over, and some erstwhile vertical ones have fallen over or been broken or pushed over by vandals. And like buttered toast they tend to hit the ground the wrong way up. On the other hand, of course, the right stone might be the first one I or another lister sees on the next visit... Keep your fingers crossed Rgds, Bob Thornley, Bolton From: "Anne Ohlgren" <aohlgren@shaw.ca> >I have a copy of her death certificate as Rachel Gaskell. Her husband >Thomas was born Thomas Wilson out of wedlock, but probably grew up thinking >he was Thomas Gaskell because his mother married a Gaskell when he was one >year old! They used both names on different censuses, and my grandfather, >their son, was Richard Gaskell. Her other son, William Gaskell, reported >her death as Gaskell, but I am thinking that if her husband Thomas buried >her he would have called her Wilson! I think it is a bit of a coincidence >that there is a 47 year old Rachel Wilson buried at St. Peter's Halliwell >in the same month that my Rachel died. Now you know why it has taken me >four years to track them down! My hope is there may be some clue inscribed >on the monument. > Ever hopeful that someone in Bolton doesn't care about soccer!!! Sorry - > blasphemy I know - I still have soccer daft relatives there! > Anne

Hello Bob No, there is no indication in their index whereabouts Rachel's grave might be unfortunately! It seems a bit redundant to me for the church to have gone to the trouble of making an index without numbering and locating the graves! As you can imagine I am thrilled that you are familiar with the place and can only tell you I have my fingers crossed very tightly! It has been my experience while searching for the facts about my elusive great grandparents that Rachel has a way of keep turning up! But of course I had a vision of an idyllic pristine church graveyard! >> Anne > > ______________________________