Robert and Wilhilmina Bruce/Campbell - Final Resting Places

Photocopies of a Bruce Family Register.
Where is the original?

Maybe the mystery has been solved, and the answer had been right under my nose? (Or maybe this was a mystery to no one other than myself?)

When we visited Shetland in September 2014, I was hoping to visit the graves of Robert Bruce (1827-1865) and his wife Wilhilmina Inkster (1835-1896) - Grandma Ella’s great grandparents - but we weren't sure where they might be. 

Robert passed away in Symbister, on Whalsay (a different island than the one his manor house was on)...we thought he might be buried in a Bruce crypt there? Or perhaps in the little kirkyard in Hamnavoe, not far from his manor house in Burravoe, on the island of Yell.

Ella's Great Grandparents, Robert Bruce 
and Wilhilmina Inkster

Wilhilmina remarried after Robert's death, and she passed away in Lerwick, on the mainland of Shetland. There are two cemeteries there, the "old" one and the "new" one. Based on the year of her death, we thought she might have been buried in the old cemetery, and we spent time walking each row, and reading each headstone, but we didn't find her there. 

But just recently as I was looking through files at home, I came across this photocopy that Grandma Ella sent me in March 2014, a few months prior to our trip. 

I'm not sure what type of document this is (a family register?) or where Grandma got the copy, but in any case, it's a goldmine! 

It states:

Robert Bruce of Burravoe died at Symbister the 16th
of August 1865, and was buried at the Kirk of Hamnavoe.

and 

Mrs. Bruce or Campbell died at Lerwick on the 28th of
December 1896 and was buried at the new cemetery in Lerwick.(1)

Also listed on that photo copy is information about the other children of Robert and Wilhilmina, two of whom are also buried at the Kirk in Hamnavoe: Baby Mary Margaret Robina Bruce, who died at just 11 months old, and Baby William Bruce, who died at 18 months old. 

Mary Margaret Robina Bruce ... Kirk of Hamnavoe in Burravoe, Yell.

William Bruce ... buried at the Kirk of Hamnavoe.

While visiting the St. Magnus' Kirk of Hamnavoe in 2014, we saw the unmarked graves that are partitioned off, directly behind the kirk, that local folklore supposes belong to Bruces, but which were left unmarked (or tombstones removed?) as they weren't well liked in the community. (See the video below.) Perhaps this location is in fact where our Robert is buried, as well as babies Mary Margaret Robina and William. (Perhaps there are other records somewhere that could confirm? From the kirk?)

The Kirk at Hamnavoe. View from the back.
Image Source.

The Kirk at Hamnavoe. View from the front.

Behind the Kirk at Hamnavoe. This partitioned area is where
Bruce family members are believed to be buried.

During that same trip, we also briefly visited the New Cemetery in Lerwick, not realizing that Wilhilmina was buried there, spending more time searching through the Old Cemetery. 

The New Cemetery in Lerwick, where Wilhilmina Inkster
Bruce/Campbell(1) is buried. 

On our next trip, we'll visit these locations again, with a greater surety that we're in the right spot.

Grandpa Ralph at the Kirk of Hamnavoe. Super windy! 
27 Sept 2014

………

Sources:

• Photocopies of a family register, shared by Grandma Ella. Not sure who has the original.
• Photos and video taken by KF, September 2014, unless otherwise noted.

Notes:

1. After Robert’s death in 1865, Wilhilmina remarried, to Duncan Campbell in 1870.