“Every day above ground is a good day.” ~ Al Pacino
Welcome to a stroll among the dead with the Graveyard Squirrel – a seeker of elusive ancestors and a wanderer of cemeteries.
See you on the other side?
Waking the Dead?
Have you ever heard the one about how there are only two things that are certain to us?
The first one being that we are all subject to some form of taxation and the second is that one day we WILL all die.
As a genealogical researcher my time is spent grappling with the mystery of death and if I’m not in search of a missing ancestor or researching another life long lost to history – I will be poring over the details on a newly discovered and often indecipherable certificate of death or trawling through the parish records in search of a burial entry.
Being able to locate the final resting place of those from my research endeavours has always been an important task and an unsuccessful search is disappointing as the final piece of the jigsaw remains missing.
However, if you struggle with the thought of death and have no wish to contemplate – MY world is probably NOT for you!
As I love nothing more than a ramble through a cemetery and have been pottering among the tombstones for as long as I can remember – I will be sharing the tales and triumphs of family history and the images and podcasts of my wanderings among the dead.
The author Lailah Gifty Akita once said that – “The graveyard is an everlasting home of every man” and within most of our cemeteries – evidence of spectacular craftsmanship, awe inspiring stonework, history, sublime words of poignancy and the occasional flashes of humour are ALL just waiting to be discovered!
Welcome along…
This Silent Land?
The Effort Was Made…
In the days following the news of Lord Byron’s death in Greece in April 1824 -his young widow had written a poem which tells of her sorrow that on his death bed her exiled spouse had asked that a message be brought to her…
As they faded were seal’d from mortality’s sights.
The effort was made, but all, all, was in vain
And dark is that page which he sought to explain…
And some 36 years later on the day before her 68th birthday and with her beloved granddaughter and namesake Anne Isabella Noel King by her side; Annabella died in the early morning hours of Wednesday May 16 1860 while staying at 11 St George’s Terrace in Primrose Hill, North London from suffering the effects from Bronchitis and Pleurisy and NOT from breast cancer as is often erroneously reported…
Death in a Chocolate Box?
“The history of York is the history of England.” ~ King George VI
Join me for a wander through the snickelways of York and the tales of the illustrious, miscreants, artists, misfits and those ordinary folk who have ALL been lost to history – until now!