Charani . I know of your great work and I thank you for for your explanations . Laurie ----- Original Message ----- From: Charani To: eng-somerset@rootsweb.com Cc: Sue Ahrens Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 8:04 PM Subject: Re: [ENG-SOM] Fw: Churchstanton Grave yard Laurie Thompson wrote: > Sue and Paul . Apparently there are no kind souls in Somerset . It's more likely that since the message was sent 12 hours ago, according to the details below, anyone who might be able to help would be unlikely to do so since it's not advisable to go wandering around graveyards in the middle of the night when it's blowing a gale and the rain's coming down in stair rods than there being no SKS or no one in the Churchstanton area willing to have a look! Making the comment you did, isn't likely to encourage anyone to help you either. I didn't see the original message but then I get around 300 mails a day and if the subject line isn't informative or isn't something I can obviously help with, I don't click on them. I don't have time to read everything and I do sometimes miss mails. I've checked the trash and there's no sign of the earlier mail. There's also the matter of propogation: it can take different lengths of time for a mail to reach different people. That apart, it's very possible that there are no headstones as they were an expensive item for most families. If there is it might have been hamstone which is a very soft stone so for people who were buried over 200 and 150 years ago respectively, they could easily be worn illegible by now. They might also have become unsafe and either laid flat (adding to the wearing process if face up, or impossible to read if face down) or completely removed. Surely the dates you have are the dates of burial not death, esp if you've taken them from a burial register. There were no death certificates in 1803. > ----- Original Message ----- > Saturday, March 15, 2008 8:59 PM > Subject: Churchstanton Grave yard > > > > Hi Is there a kind soul who can tell me whether there are head > stones for William Osborn who died 19th April 1803 and John Osborn > died 23rd March 1857 who are buried in the Churchstanton cemetery . > Also any other Osborns . Thanks for reading my plea . -- Charani (UK) OPC for Walton, SOM http://wsom-opc.org.uk ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-SOMERSET-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.1/1349 - Release Date: 29/03/2008 5:02 PM

Laurie, You do not say what your ancestors occupation was? A labourer on 7 shillings a week did not have the luxury of a stone put on his grave, my grand father and great-grandfather are commemorated by horseshoe nails driven into the churchyard wall and bent double next to their graves. Probably 85-90 % of graves at that time were unmarked by a stone, if you find one that will be a bonus. You could also try the Somerset and Dorset Family History Society Memorial Inscription index because they could already have it transcribed several years ago. Very helpful if the stones have been laid down or removed. James Pitman. <snip> That apart, it's very possible that there are no headstones as they were an expensive item for most families. If there is it might have been hamstone which is a very soft stone so for people who were buried over 200 and 150 years ago respectively, they could easily be worn illegible by now. They might also have become unsafe and either laid flat (adding to the wearing process if face up, or impossible to read if face down) or completely removed. <snip>