Greenock Data

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kirsty F Wilkinson on July 9, 2009 at 5:38pm

Hi Anita, the main ways to find death/burial information in Scotland prior to 1855 (the start of civil registration) are:

1. Burial registers that are part of the Old Parish Registers (OPRs)
2. Burial registers that are not part of the OPRs - mainly burial & lair registers among the Kirk Session records, although there are some Cemetery Registers dating from this period
3. Monumental Inscriptions - gravestone inscriptions that have been recorded & published
4. Wills & Testaments

The situation for Greenock is slightly complicated by the fact that it was divided into three main parishes each with their own OPR - none of which have burial registers for this period (apart from one page of burials for 1841). There also don't seem to be any burial records among the Kirk Session records for Greenock, although I have only taken a quick look, and Greenock Cemetery records apparently date from 1846.

'Renfrewshire Monumental Inscriptions Pre-1855 - Volume 1' by J. Mitchell & S. Mitchell, published by the Scottish Genealogy Society, has inscriptions from six burial grounds in Greenock so is probably your best chance of finding your ancestor.

Wills & Testaments often include a year of death if not an exact date. Scottish Wills & Testaments 1513-1901 are available on www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk - you can search the index for free.

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that you will be able to establish when your ancestor died and this is a very common problem in earlier Scottish research!

Good luck with your search,
Kirsty

Permalink Reply by Jeannette Scott on July 10, 2009 at 5:46pm

I am in a similar situation.I am trying to verify the parentage of Margaret Barnes wife of Andrew Torrance.She died in Greenock around 1851 according to the Poor Law report that my GGGreat-Grandfather made after suffering a stroke.
I have searched also the newspapers obituaries which are available free online via the Watt Library in Greenock.
There were two Margaret Barnes born around the same time in the same Ayrshire parish so I was hoping for maybe a hint in the death notice.

Permalink Reply by Anita Payne on July 10, 2009 at 6:27pm

Thanks Kristy,
It's amazing how just a simple suggestion can get one firing again. I'd put this part of my research on the back burner for a while.
You have given me new hope.
As my Husband said only last night time we got back to our own family research. We are planning a trip back to UK next year.
Thanks
Anita

Permalink Reply by Glenda James on July 10, 2009 at 10:51pm

Hi,I have the pre 1855 cemetery books if l can be of help to anyone.

Permalink Reply by Anita Payne on July 10, 2009 at 11:54pm

Hi Glenda,

Would you be so kind as to look up in your book any details that might be for a James Davie his father was Thomas and mother Agnes.
We know from the census that he died before 1841 as his wife Elizabeth was listed as a widow. Elizabeth is buried in Gneeock with her first husband John Menzies. James was a silversmith.
The other mystery in this family is Samuel Ewing Davie son on James, he died in 1881 and according to his death cert in Alexandria but we can't find where he is buried. Any ideas where I might look?
Cheers
Anita

Permalink Reply by Glenda James on July 12, 2009 at 5:28pm

Hi Anita, Sorry for not getting back to you sooner.I will check my cem books plus l do have a lot of cd's.
Let's hope we can find some thing.Only to happy to help out.

Permalink Reply by Glenda James on July 12, 2009 at 11:01pm

Hi Anita,
Sorry no luck with my books.So l googled Samuel Ewing Davie 1881 ,have a look at the entry,desc of George Hallidy,l think that your Samuel is there, unfortunately doesn't show place of burial. Let me know if l can be of anymore help . Regards Glenda

Permalink Reply by Anita Payne on July 12, 2009 at 11:13pm

Hi Glenda,
Thanks so much for looking, sad no answers but I'll find them sometime, their just hiding for now.
Cheers
Anita

Permalink Reply by Linda Temple on July 27, 2009 at 6:51am

What OPR burial records there are pre1855 are available to search/view on www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. To check what OPR records there are for Greenock look the site first before searching or check on Genuki for Greenock to see what records are available overall for the area. Not all parishes kept burial records and most are actually mort cloth hire or sale records rather than burial records so don't give much information. More valuable are actually kirk session minutes and such like, but you would have to get someone to research over here for these as they are in either the NAS or local archives.
If the family were quite well off and were likely to be able to afford a gravestone it might be worth buying an MI (monumental inscriptions) book for the Greenock area to have a look. You will be able to order one here if there is one
http://www.scotsgenealogy.com/

Permalink Reply by Linda Temple on July 27, 2009 at 6:53am

Sorry just realised all this was answered - wish this site was arranged so that the reply box was AFTER all the other replies.

Permalink Reply by Anita Payne on July 27, 2009 at 11:02am

Thanks Linda, I'll look into the monumental inscriptions book.

Permalink Reply by Jolene Rebecca Connelly on February 21, 2010 at 9:14am

Is there any general information about people leaving Scotland from Greenock? I've tried searching but don't really get emigration data other than sites that want to give me ship logs. The ship logs they have available aren't really helpful, and I was really looking for information about the port anyway. So, does anyone have info on Greenock and emigration without it being ships logs?

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