Database and information from the Central Library

Further to the entry on 2 October, Harry has again visited the Central Library in Manchester and has found that the records for burials between 1855 and 1880 are held in a file called "MFPR 2073 - 2075".

We do have the burial registers from 1892 onwards in church and we can search them for entries. There is, however a charge for this under Church of England rules.

The database of information on the gravestones in the upper churchyard has been updated and there are now 383 names. I am continuing to work on recording section C as that is where we are currently concentrating our restoration efforts, however there are many stones so it will take quite a long time even to finish recording this section. There is a link to view the database on the "upper churchyard" page of the church website at http://www.stpeter-blackley.org.uk

Thursday 16 October 2008

Weather: dry, bright and some sunshine but with short showers of rain later

Team: Dorothy, Harry, Peter, Carolyn

What we did:

We continued working on clearing flat gravestones in section C of the churchyard. Today we managed to completely clear six stones, some of which had a very large build up of soil and plants. For many of these stones, it is not obvious that there is anything there except for a patch of grass and plants so they must have been completely unseen for many years.

Harry clearing soil:
before:
after:

Thursday 9 October 2008

Weather: dry and warm with some sunshine!
Team: Dorothy, Peter, Carolyn

What we did:

• Working in section C, we cleared soil, leaves and brambles from several flat graves, exposing some for the first time in many years. The main one which Peter was working on had about 6 inches of soil on top of it.
• Carolyn recorded the names and details from some more graves in this section. The list on the website will shortly be updated and will contain around 300 names.
  
• Peter and Carolyn planted some hawthorn trees at the bottom of the Hill Lane bank - hopefully they will survive and prosper to build on the length of hedge which is already established there. We also planted a few hawthorn berries in the hope that they might grow.
• We also cleared most of the leaves from the vicarage drive into the green recycling bin for collection on Friday.
  

Manchester Archives in the Central Library

Harry has recently visited the Central Library in Manchester. The records for St. Peter, Blackley are held within a section called "Monumental Inscriptions c. 1714 - 1950", "MFPR 1949".

Some of the information he found about graves was:

Grave number:
1768	WHITEHEAD	Joseph	76	11 February 1855
1768	WHITEHEAD	Mary	90	13 February 1867
1769	HEYWOOD	Joseph	26	26 April 1855
1769	HEYWOOD	Alice	70	25 November 1905
872	OGDEN	Samuel	80	30 June 1782
872	OGDEN	Jane	68	29 March 1774

Thursday 2 October 2008

Weather: dry but cold
Team: Dorothy, Harry, Peter, Carolyn

What we did:

• Dorothy tidied and dead-headed the flowers in the beds at the back of church.
• Dorothy, Harry and Peter worked in section C clearing debris and soil from graves.
• Carolyn recorded names and details from graves in section C