On our next trip to Aberdeen (date TBD), I hope we can pay a visit to relatives buried there, specifically kin from the Findlay, Love, and Beattie families.
Here’s the exhaustive list of information I have, representing years of on-and-off research online and kind responses from Aberdeen City to my many inquiries, to find or confirm dates and locations, to obtain maps, and then to post what I have to FamilySearch for all who are are interested. (Thinking of you, Ella and Ralph. Wish we could visit these locations together.)
Any cousins have any more details or photos they can share?
St. Peter’s Cemetery
King Street, Aberdeen
This is where baby Charlesina Smith Love Findlay is buried. She is the daughter of George and Charlesina Findlay, and she is the younger sister to Ella’s father, and thus Ella's aunt. She died at 14 months old from pneumonia. According to records, it seems that she was originally named Dorothy but her name was changed to Charlesina when she was about 1 month old.
- Charlesina Smith Love Findlay - Lair F/17
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| St. Peter's Cemetery (Image Source) |
So many relatives buried here, including both sets of Ella's great grandparents.
- Walter Findlay - Section I, Lair 127
- This is Ella's great grandfather: George Findlay > George Findlay > Walter Findlay
- Born 17 April 1839. Died 31 May 1917. Interred 4 June 1917.
- Plot was paid for by Findlay, George (Proprietor) on 7 Jan 1907. (Curious...George Findlay purchased the plot 10 years before Walter would pass away. I wonder whether other plots were purchased at the same time?)
- We don't know whether there's a gravestone placed - Aberdeen City doesn't have record of it. We'll have to check in person.
- For a map of the grave location, reach out to Aberdeen City again in the future - their mapping system was down at the time of inquiry.
- Elizabeth Taylor Findlay - Section I, Lair 127
- Wife of Walter Findlay and Ella's great grandmother. Note that the cemetery ledger lists her as Elizabeth Taylor but does not include her married name of Findlay.
- Born 1857. Died 29 October 1927. Interred 1 Nov 1927. Elizabeth and Walter are the only ones interred in this grave.
- We don't know whether there's a gravestone placed - Aberdeen City doesn't have record of it. We'll have to check in person.
- For a map of the grave location, reach out to Aberdeen City again in the future - their mapping system was down at the time of inquiry.
- Alexander Love - Section M, Lair 54
- This is another of Ella's great grandfathers, also on her father's side: George Findlay > Charlesina Smith Love Findlay > Alexander Love
- Born 8 Aug 1857. Died 25 May 1920. Interred 27 May1920.
- We don't know whether there's a gravestone placed - Aberdeen City doesn't have record of it. We'll have to check in person.
- For a map of the grave location, reach out to Aberdeen City again in the future - their mapping system was down at the time of inquiry.
- Caroline Smith Love - Section M, Lair 54
- Wife of Alexander Love and Ella's great grandmother.
- Born 23 August 1856. Died 4 Sept 1931. Interred 7 Sept 1931.
- We don't know whether there's a gravestone placed - Aberdeen City doesn't have record of it. We'll have to check in person.
- For a map of the grave location, reach out to Aberdeen City again in the future - their mapping system was down at the time of inquiry.
- Baby Walter Findlay - Section I, Lair 118
- This is Ella’s uncle and her father’s younger brother. He died at just over 2 years old.
- Born 26 March 1913. Died 17 May 1915. Interred 18 May 1915.
- See an obituary for Walter here. It's tenderly recorded that he was “Sadly missed.”
- See the death register here.
- See the scan of the cemetery ledger here. (Check back at a future time. I need to first find where I saved the scan...but I do have it somewhere.)
- See the scan of the cemetery map here.
- We don't know whether there's a gravestone placed - Aberdeen City doesn't have record of it. We'll have to check in person.
- Baby James Webster Findlay - Section I, Lair 118
- Another of Ella's uncles, son of George and Charlesina Findlay.
- Born 15 August 1919. Died 25 September 1919. Interred 27 September 1919. Only about 6 weeks old at passing and buried in the same lair as his brother Walter.
- See the death register here.
- See the scan of the cemetery map here.
- I haven't found a scan of the cemetery ledger, but the helpful folks at the Aberdeen Bereavement Services office shared his grave location.
- We don't know whether there's a gravestone placed - Aberdeen City doesn't have record of it. We'll have to check in person.
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| Trinity Cemetery (Image Source) |
John Knox Churchyard
Mounthooly, Aberdeen (located just off the Mounthooly roundabout at the junction with the Gallowgate in Aberdeen)
This is where Ella’s great grandmother (her mother’s father’s mother), Elizabeth Beattie is buried. Born in 1840, she is the mother of John McDonald Beattie (Ella's maternal grandfather), and she passed away at only 29 years old from typhus, leaving her only child, John, orphaned. (Read more about Elizabeth Beattie, her life, and her burial, here.)
Buried in the same plot are Elizabeth's parents. Her father, Adam Beattie, preceded her in death, passing away in March 1869. Elizabeth’s mother, Janet Petrie Beattie, passed away not long after Elizabeth, in late October 1869 -- such a significant loss all within 7 months time.
We have not yet visited this site, but from correspondence with Aberdeen City, we believe that this was a pauper’s grave. At this time (mid 1800s), it was common that many individuals who couldn't afford a burial would be buried in a single grave, and when the grave was almost full, the grave would be sold, and the owners would have the right to place a stone with their name on it. In this case, the owner of the plot is listed as “Alexander Alexander” (yes, "Alexander" twice). Whether or not there’s a stone there at all (even with the name Alexander), Aberdeen City couldn’t confirm. We’ll have to take a look ourselves on our next trip.
Elis Beattie - John Knox Churchyard, Lair 58
Adam Beattie - Lair 58
Janet Beattie - Lair 58
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| John Knox Church has been converted into residential flats, but the cemetery remains and is maintained by Aberdeen City Council. (Image Source) |
Allenvale Cemetery
Allenvale Road, Aberdeen. Enter the cemetery from the entrance off of Hardgate.
This is where John McDonald Beattie and wife Ursilla Katherine Bruce Beattie are buried, Ella’s paternal grandparents. This plot is especially dear to us: Until April 2018, their grave had been unmarked. Cousins working together, we got the gravestone in place. (Read more about it here and here.) Can’t wait to see it in person!
John McDonald Beattie - Section 2, Lair 278
Born 12 November 1860. Died 8 May 1936. Buried 11 May 1936.
See his death register here.
See a map with the grave location here.
I've been told that there aren't any scans available of the cemetery ledgers. (From an email with the Bereavement Services department of Aberdeen City in February 2021: "There is no ledger to scan as such. It’s a day to day ledger with many other people’s details on it." I am hoping that as more and more documents are digitized, that this will become available.)
Ursilla Katherine Bruce Beattie - Section 2, Lair 278
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| The Beatties' grave marker in Allenvale Cemetery, installed in April 2018. Can't wait to see it in person someday! |
Garden of Remembrance at the Kaimhill Funeral Home
Kaimhill Road, Aberdeen
This is where Ella’s paternal grandparents George Findlay (senior) and Charlesina Smith Love Findlay both had their ashes scattered. (Read more about our visiting their final resting spot in May 2017, here.)
Charlesina Findlay’s cremation and confirmation of her ashes being scattered at the Garden of Rest received via email with a Support Assistant in Bereavement Services, Marischal College, Aberdeen, on 8 March 2017.
George Findlay’s cremation date and confirmation of his ashes being scattered at the Garden of Rest received via email with a Support Assistant in Bereavement Services, Marischal College, Aberdeen, on 8 March 2017.
Born 19 December 1879. Died 29 December 1964. Cremated 31 December 1964.
See his death register here.
Born 14 August 1883. Died 5 January 1960. (However, I’m not 100% sure of the cremation date as I’ve been told it’s 7 January 1960 as well as 9 January 1960. It’s a non-essential detail but I wanted to make sure that what details we have are correct.)
See her death register here.
Ella’s uncle Alexander Love Findlay (her father’s younger brother; son to George and Charlesina Findlay) was also cremated here, and there’s a plaque commemorating his life in the Hall of Remembrance here at Kaimhill. (See photos and read more about it here.)
Although we know "Alec" was cremated here, we don't know for sure whether his ashes were also scattered here, or whether his name is recorded in the Book of Remembrance that is kept at the Hall of Remembrance in the Kaimhill Funeral Home. We received Alexander Love Findlay’s cremation date via email with a Support Assistant in Bereavement Services, Marischal College, Aberdeen, on 30 May 2017.
Born 29 June 1906. Died 28 December 1960. Cremated on 31 December 1960.
See his death register here.
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| Ralph and Ella at the Garden of Rest, on the grounds of the Kaimhill Funeral Home - May 2017 |
- Jane Love Findlay
- Born 20 February 1904. Died 7 April 1904. Buried 9 April 1904.
- Lossiemouth Cemetery, Lair number 795
- See her death register here.
- See a scan of the cemetery ledger here.
- Note: The Moray Council doesn't have a digitized version of a cemetery map available (it's too large to scan), but they've offered to have a groundsman meet us at the cemetery and guide us to Jane's location, if/when that time comes.
Family We’re Still Searching For:
Where are Elizabeth Beattie's siblings buried . . . Isabel, Janet, Ann, or George? (I'll follow up with the Aberdeen Council.)
Additionally, I found a record for: Findlay, George (Mrs) (Proprietor), 23 February 1907 - But who is buried here? It’s for lair 210. (doesn't match any death dates for family that I can tell. Find the burial ledger, email to Aberdeen and ask?)
