More than words can say…
Images on your ancestors’ gravestones might tell you more about their lives and deaths than you realise, as Simon Wills reveals
CLUES MADE IN STONE
Anchor personifying hope not seafaring
RESEARCH ZONE
GENEALOGY KNOW-HOW
Gravestones are an important source of information for family historians. The text on them can reveal dates of significant life events, relationships, causes of death, places of birth and a lot else. However, it’s not just the words on gravestones that were used to convey the story of an ancestor’s life. The images carved onto them can also reveal information about your forebears, so a visit to an ancestor’s grave may provide unexpected extra information.
Common symbols
Many gravestone symbols have fairly general meanings. Skulls or other bones remind the onlooker that we are all mortal, a flame represents the eternal life that continues after death, and an urn or wreath symbolises death and mourning.