A recent trip to Kirklinton, Cumbria
Some photos from our recent motorhome trek to Kirklinton in Cumbria, a genealogical expedition that was enormously successful and interesting in more ways than one. In addition to finding many ancestors that we hoped to find we also found something totally unexpected.
At Kirklinton we hoped to find gravestones with inscriptions that showed some of Gill’s ancestors, finding a link to the past like that always gives a great sense of satisfaction and linkage to the people who have gone before us. We were surprised and delighted by the excellent state of preservation of most of the memorials at Kirklinton. That is probably due to the direction that they face, so the backs of the stones face the prevailing weather. The most surprising find was a small stone near the far gate to the churchyard with an inscription recording the memory of Isabella Jane Chard who died aged 6. A totally unexpected find. How did a small girl with a West-Country name come to be buried so far from Dorset, Somerset or Wiltshire? That set off a search that proved really interesting and fruitful. More details to follow showing how the search was done and the outcome.
