Last Thursday I held a funeral for Lily, someone I didn’t know, which is not unusual. While speaking to the family about Lily we discovered that not a lot was known about her early years, she was 90. A lovely wooden box was brought out full of certificates and a mystery grabbed my attention. She had been born in Govan and her birth certificate wasn’t anything out of the ordinary but there was another piece of paper a small baptismal certificate which was of a sort I had never seen before; in Glasgow at the time it was the common practise for the back of the birth certificate to hold the baptismal information, certainly if it was a Church of Scotland baptism; while Episcopal and Roman Catholic Baptism certificates contained more information. This one didn’t mention a church just an address which was hard to make out, the signature of a cleric, and a date 3 months after she had been born. The family were curious but not as curious as I was, I was sure there was a story to find and set about trying to find it as I worked on her funeral service. Having done all I could on line, but having an incline of what I am likely to come across with a bit more digging, I now have plans for this my post Easter break to head off to the Mitchell Library (for those of you who don’t know the Mitchell Libary holds the archives for Glasgow) and see if I can find the final pieces of the puzzle.
It is a while since I have delved into the Mitchell Library’s records, there is nothing like the smell of old paper and reading through the micro films of past papers and records to discover a world not that long ago which is so different to the world we live in today. I know even now before I set off that while I will be searching for something from Lily’s past I will get distracted by other peoples stories along the way, but that is part of the joy of doing it.
The family will find out what I find out first, but with their permission I will also let you in blogland know, the result of my investigations.
I am glad that I did the bulk of my family history research in the days when they brought you the original documents to look at, in the same way that I am glad to have walked among the stones of Stonehenge and climbed Silbury Hill before these were closed to the general public. There is no facsimile, vistor centre etc. which can come close to touching, smelling and handlish the very documants/objects our forefathers knew.
Couldn’t agree more Lissa, although even though you can no longer get right among the stones I would like to get back to Stonehenge on of these days.