Getting a Head Start

I arrived in Glasgow after a very eventful flight with two medical emergencies - one very frightening - but kept under control by an onboard doctor. The wait at customs was reprehensible. One customs officer for the entire plane. However, after out of the airport, the drama left behind, it was a fresh start not only on the day but also on the research.

Spent some time at the People's Palace, which gives an amazing overview of the early social history of Glasgow.

There is a display on the ``Steamie`where the local ladies gathered to do their washing

Also a wonderful display on life in the tenement flats.

Tenant Rent Books

Kitchen area

Sleeping/Sitting area. All in the same room as the kitchen. After a short wander through Merchant City, we ended up at the Glasgow Necropolis

Old Retail Merchant Buildings

Mercat Building

The famed Barras flea market, which was bustling with activity on a Saturday morning

Street scene along the way

Police Box

Cathedral House hotel in Cathedral Square, opposite the Necropolis

The Necropolis is the oldest and largest cemetery in Glasgow. It spans 37 acres and holds 50,000 burials. Many of Glasgow's best known merchants, businessmen, educators, inventors and ship owners are buried here. There are 32 mausoleums. Many require a great deal of attention and work. The Friends of the Glasgow Necropolis http://www.glasgownecropolis.org/ are a group of dedicated volunteers who are working hard to raise the funds necessary to clean up and restore these amazing structures.

There are also some very ornate tombstones

The founder of Tennents Lager

Many of the stones are symbolic. For instance, the one above was for one of the first theatre actors in Glasgow. His stone depicts a stage, with curtains open:

with his obit/eulogy written below

In these two, the pillar is purposely without a top to depict someone struck down before the end of their 3 score and ten

And of course iconic Scottish symbolism abounds

The headstones are stacked close together

 Up and down the sides of the hill that the cemetery is built upon

 And although there are 50,000 people buried at the Necropolis, only three and a half thousand of them have headstones. The remaining 46,500 are all buried here:

No surprise, then, if you can't find the monumental inscription for your ancestor!