Graveyards are an excellent a source of information in tracing your ancestors. As many parish records have quite poor recording of burials, you may have to resort to visiting a graveyard in the parish in person.

Finding the graveyard

Be aware, that the modern day parish Church and adjoining graveyard may be too recent to be of interest. You may need to locate an ancient graveyard dating back to the 1700's or 1800's. This can be sometimes signposted with special brown heritage signs, or else you can look at an large scale ordinance survey map that will generally show old churches and graveyards.

Not all parish records give details on burials within the parish. If you know your ancestors originated in a particular areas you may be able to find transcripts of the gravestones held by the local Heritage centre. If not, you may have to resort to visiting the graveyard in Person. You may gleam some extra genealogic information from the stone, such as deaths of other members of the family, or names of parents of the deceased, enabling you to back an earlier generation. 

Taking Rubbings

Depending on the age and type of stone, the inscriptions can be extremely difficult to read. You can try taking a rubbing from the stone which may make the details more readable. Consider using a mirror to reflect light onto the stone and shadows may again make the words readable.

Before attempting anything you should ask permission from the appropriate people before even entering the graveyard and certainly before attempting a rubbing. Some stones, in extremely poor condition, may be damaged even further by your efforts. If you are given permission to take a rubbing place the paper on the stone. You can masking tape that is very lightly tacked and should leave no residue on the stone. Use a very soft crayon. Make absolutely sure that the crayon does not leave an impression on the stone itself. Do not attempt to remove lichen or ivy from the stone as this can itself be holding parts of a crumbling stone together.

Use the board flat edge of the crayon or chalk you will need to experiment with the pressure you apply you get best results and most definition from the writing on the stone. Don't use a wire brush as this could remove the flaking surface of the stone and damage it even further.