A Month of Scottish Gravestones - Paupers and Passersby

In Scotland, few could actually afford a headstone. Of course, this depended on the timeframe, but if people were out of work, or jobs were scarce, a headstone just wasn't a priority. These people will be in unmarked graves or in lairs with other family members, perhaps. The only way to really know where they are buried is by consulting the Lair records. These are available through the local authority archive. 

There were times when large numbers of people were buried, without fanfare, without a grave of their own and without any marking or recording of the burial. These would be times when their were large epidemic outbreaks - plague, cholera, etc. 

Some people died away from home and family and may be buried in a graveyard where they died, rather than their bodies being sent home to be buried. There are sometimes references to these people in the Kirk's financial records where the payment for the burial of a stranger or passerby has been noted. One gravestone that actually documents the grave, but not the interred, is in Ramshorn Cemetery in Glasgow's east end. 

The graveslab marks the burial spot of a stranger 

(or perhaps more than one stranger)

We can see the wording more closely here: Burying Ground for Strangers 1815

There are 50,000 people buried within the Glasgow Necropolis, yet there are only 4500 headstones. Those without headstones, who are not in family tombs or vaults, are then buried together in common ground: 

Yet others who are in mass graves are often those who died in institutional care and who either did not have family to speak of or whose families did not come to claim the body. These would be residents of Asylums, Prisons, and perhaps even schools. Again, it is often difficult to know who is buried within. The institution may have recorded the passing of the individual but not the location of their burial. 

This plaque on the wall at the cemetery in Quarrier's Village is in memory of the children who died in care. There are burial places for the children, but those are marked quite differently than the staff who died and are buried there. More on that in tomorrow's post.