Where in Ireland were my ancestors buried?

QMy great grandfather, William Reid Bredin (born 1866), died on 9 June 1916 in Londonderry. His death wasn’t registered in Ireland or Northern Ireland, but a preview of his will is available on the Public Record O ce of Northern Ireland (PRONI) will calendar. His wife, Margaret Ellen Parkhill (born c1881), died in 1905. How can I track down the burials of William and Margaret?

Debbie Russell

AIn Ireland, identifying places of burial can be problematic given that, outside of town cemeteries, few burial registers were maintained until well into the 20th century. Where registers were kept, even they generally failed to record the place of burial. All too often, when no gravestone exists, the chances of finding where an ancestor is interred can be slim.

However, there are still avenues you can explore. First, don’t limit your search to only one newspaper. Newspapers tended to copy notices from their competitors but didn’t always copy everything in the original notice. Culmore is on the edge of Derry/ Londonderry, so try other titles within a radius of 10–20 miles.

You probably know this already, but I was able to establish that Margaret Ellen died on 25 December 1905 at Culmore aged only 24. Her death was reported in the Londonderry Journal on 29 December, but unfortunately the notice does not report where she was interred.

You should also check the administration papers for William Bredin’s estate (held at PRONI), because the estate’s Schedule of Assets might name the undertakers. Also, the 1911 census (pictured) notes that the Bredins were Presbyterians. Have you identified which congregation they were attached to? There are quite a few locally, and since Culmore is on the border with County Donegal you may need to look there too. Steven Smyrl