St.Mark's Cemetery Records

OzzieJoan · Post by **OzzieJoan** » Tue 12 Feb, 2008 5:57 am

I wonder if there are any amongst the Secret Leedsers who enjoy looking at gravestones? If so, and you would like to help me find an ancestor, I would be soooooooo grateful. Here is what I know. If there are monuments or records that can be photographed it would be fantastic; however, sending me whatever information you can find will be sufficient.Samuel Dean buried St.Mark's 07/01/1864 aged 80,of Woodhouse Moor.Alice Dean (wife of above) buried 01/10/1850 aged 70 of Nether Green.Many thanks,OzzieJoan

munki · Post by **munki** » Tue 12 Feb, 2008 11:35 am

Hi Joan,Am I to presume from your user name that you are based in Australia? If this is the case then your request for other people to go tramping round an overgrown graveyard on your behalf might make a bit more sense!!!

OzzieJoan · Post by **OzzieJoan** » Wed 13 Feb, 2008 5:41 am

munki wrote: Hi Joan,Am I to presume from your user name that you are based in Australia? If this is the case then your request for other people to go tramping round an overgrown graveyard on your behalf might make a bit more sense!!! G'day Munki,I hope that isn't a touch of asperity I detect in your message If you re-read my message you will see that my request wasn't for someone to "go tramping etc." on my behalf. My hope was that if someone was already planning to make such a visit, they could look for my ancestors at the same time. You are correct in presuming that I live in Australia, and have done so for 35 years. However, my roots are firmly fixed in and around Leeds as well as around Wigan in Lancashire.I would still be extremely grateful if anyone who is planning to visit the St.Mark's graveyard in the foreseeable future, would see if they can spot my ancestors as in my first message.Thanks in anticipation,OzzieJoan

Post by **cnosni** » Thu 14 Feb, 2008 1:16 am

OzzieJoan wrote: munki wrote: Hi Joan,Am I to presume from your user name that you are based in Australia? If this is the case then your request for other people to go tramping round an overgrown graveyard on your behalf might make a bit more sense!!! G'day Munki,I hope that isn't a touch of asperity I detect in your message If you re-read my message you will see that my request wasn't for someone to "go tramping etc." on my behalf. My hope was that if someone was already planning to make such a visit, they could look for my ancestors at the same time. You are correct in presuming that I live in Australia, and have done so for 35 years. However, my roots are firmly fixed in and around Leeds as well as around Wigan in Lancashire.I would still be extremely grateful if anyone who is planning to visit the St.Mark's graveyard in the foreseeable future, would see if they can spot my ancestors as in my first message.Thanks in anticipation,OzzieJoan Hi Ozzie JoanI have replied to your previous post some months ago,but never recieved a reply on the thread.Unfortuantaely St Marks graveyard is not in the best of conditons,most of it is over grown and inaccesible.There was a plan to convert the church into offices a couple of years ago and there were some volunteers who cleared half the church yard of undergrowth etc.However,the plan was withdrawn and not only was the undergrowth clearance stopped,but the area that was cleared was allowed to be overgrown once more.So the long and the short of it is this,that even if your ancestors who were buried here COULD afford to have a headstone engraved in the 19th century there is a strong possibility that it is either hidden in undergrowth or has been vandalised/weathered beyond recognition.my experience of finding gravestones of ancestors of the 19th century is at first satisfying in that you have "discovered" something,but in the long run doesnt always really give you a great deal of info on the person/s concerned.Ive found that in the 19th century the burial record and/or the death certificate reveals more ie place of address,occupation,cause of death.I fully understand your motives for finding these gravestones,but dont be worried if you dont find them,because they may never have existed in the first place,due to the high cost of having one inscribed for an ordinary working family in those times.

roundhegian · Post by **roundhegian** » Thu 14 Feb, 2008 9:59 am

cnosni wrote: OzzieJoan wrote: munki wrote: Hi Joan,Am I to presume from your user name that you are based in Australia? If this is the case then your request for other people to go tramping round an overgrown graveyard on your behalf might make a bit more sense!!! G'day Munki,I hope that isn't a touch of asperity I detect in your message If you re-read my message you will see that my request wasn't for someone to "go tramping etc." on my behalf. My hope was that if someone was already planning to make such a visit, they could look for my ancestors at the same time. You are correct in presuming that I live in Australia, and have done so for 35 years. However, my roots are firmly fixed in and around Leeds as well as around Wigan in Lancashire.I would still be extremely grateful if anyone who is planning to visit the St.Mark's graveyard in the foreseeable future, would see if they can spot my ancestors as in my first message.Thanks in anticipation,OzzieJoan Hi Ozzie JoanI have replied to your previous post some months ago,but never recieved a reply on the thread.Unfortuantaely St Marks graveyard is not in the best of conditons,most of it is over grown and inaccesible.There was a plan to convert the church into offices a couple of years ago and there were some volunteers who cleared half the church yard of undergrowth etc.However,the plan was withdrawn and not only was the undergrowth clearance stopped,but the area that was cleared was allowed to be overgrown once more.So the long and the short of it is this,that even if your ancestors who were buried here COULD afford to have a headstone engraved in the 19th century there is a strong possibility that it is either hidden in undergrowth or has been vandalised/weathered beyond recognition.my experience of finding gravestones of ancestors of the 19th century is at first satisfying in that you have "discovered" something,but in the long run doesnt always really give you a great deal of info on the person/s concerned.Ive found that in the 19th century the burial record and/or the death certificate reveals more ie place of address,occupation,cause of death.I fully understand your motives for finding these gravestones,but dont be worried if you dont find them,because they may never have existed in the first place,due to the high cost of having one inscribed for an ordinary working family in those times. The free " Yorkshire bmd " site - a joint venture by a number of Yorkshire local authorities and showing births , marriages and deaths since 1837 - is worth accessing .It is by no means yet complete but the earlier the information you are looking for the more comprehensive it is likely to be .Once the appropriate record is found , a copy certificate can be obtained from the office of the relevent registrar .

roundhegian · Post by **roundhegian** » Thu 14 Feb, 2008 9:59 am

cnosni wrote: OzzieJoan wrote: munki wrote: Hi Joan,Am I to presume from your user name that you are based in Australia? If this is the case then your request for other people to go tramping round an overgrown graveyard on your behalf might make a bit more sense!!! G'day Munki,I hope that isn't a touch of asperity I detect in your message If you re-read my message you will see that my request wasn't for someone to "go tramping etc." on my behalf. My hope was that if someone was already planning to make such a visit, they could look for my ancestors at the same time. You are correct in presuming that I live in Australia, and have done so for 35 years. However, my roots are firmly fixed in and around Leeds as well as around Wigan in Lancashire.I would still be extremely grateful if anyone who is planning to visit the St.Mark's graveyard in the foreseeable future, would see if they can spot my ancestors as in my first message.Thanks in anticipation,OzzieJoan Hi Ozzie JoanI have replied to your previous post some months ago,but never recieved a reply on the thread.Unfortuantaely St Marks graveyard is not in the best of conditons,most of it is over grown and inaccesible.There was a plan to convert the church into offices a couple of years ago and there were some volunteers who cleared half the church yard of undergrowth etc.However,the plan was withdrawn and not only was the undergrowth clearance stopped,but the area that was cleared was allowed to be overgrown once more.So the long and the short of it is this,that even if your ancestors who were buried here COULD afford to have a headstone engraved in the 19th century there is a strong possibility that it is either hidden in undergrowth or has been vandalised/weathered beyond recognition.my experience of finding gravestones of ancestors of the 19th century is at first satisfying in that you have "discovered" something,but in the long run doesnt always really give you a great deal of info on the person/s concerned.Ive found that in the 19th century the burial record and/or the death certificate reveals more ie place of address,occupation,cause of death.I fully understand your motives for finding these gravestones,but dont be worried if you dont find them,because they may never have existed in the first place,due to the high cost of having one inscribed for an ordinary working family in those times. The free " Yorkshire bmd " site - a joint venture by a number of Yorkshire local authorities and showing births , marriages and deaths since 1837 - is worth accessing .It is by no means yet complete but the earlier the information you are looking for the more comprehensive it is likely to be .Once the appropriate record is found , a copy certificate can be obtained from the office of the relevent registrar .

OzzieJoan · Post by **OzzieJoan** » Fri 15 Feb, 2008 6:22 am

Roundhegian and Cnosni - many thanks for your replies. I think that a death certificate will be the way to go.I apologise for not replying to any help I was given some months back on this, perhaps that was when the "notification by email" button wasn't working. As I'm on dial-up I tend not to go to sites to check on them because of the time my system takes to load pages.What a shame that St.Mark's has been left to go into disrepair, it seems such a lovely building from the photos I've looked at. Possibly living in a country where such wonderful buildings are a rarity makes me appreciate it all the more.Again, thanks for the time.Regards,OzzieJoan

munki · Post by **munki** » Sat 08 Mar, 2008 4:21 pm

Hi Ozzie Joan,Went tramping today round StMark's, with a camera. Didn't find any Deans at all, but as mentioned above, the place is in a bit of a sad state of repair, without about one in ten stones now either illegible, overgrown, or collapsed. I took some photos for you anyway...

munki · Post by **munki** » Sat 08 Mar, 2008 4:22 pm

An indication of the state of some of the graves...

munki · Post by **munki** » Sat 08 Mar, 2008 4:25 pm

A bit of a new urban forest growing on & around the graves round the back of the church...