A record of those who came before us.

Hi,

In 2000, I decided to search the local cemeteries not only for war graves but for what I called “remembrance graves” where the headstones included: in memory of a son or daughter who fell in action.

I soon discovered, especially for the chapels, that there were often no registers of the dead but if they were recorded no one had logged a burial location. This led onto a more ambitious plan.

The first chapel took 6 months debating whether or not I could try to amend this situation and when eventually the Elders agreed, I devised a plan which I have followed for each cemetery.

1. Plot the cemetery ie: Divide it into separate plots with a number, letter etc.
2. Photograph every headstone, marker and a gap where a burial could have been.
3. Collect all information available from churches and chapel records, newspaper articles deaths – funerals – marriages etc, schools, census forms
4. Create a spread sheet which over time led to a separate column whereby I found I could link other members of one family to their burials in other cemeteries.
5. Any person who had lived locally and since died I researched until eventually I realised I had to include the Crematoriums: Morriston, Glyntaff and Margam: as on many occasions the Ashes were later interred in a family plot.
6. Create a File for each person to include everything I had uncovered over the years.

This information is stored on paper throughout my office until a few weeks ago my sons decided I was not getting any younger. Thus gravestones-archive.com came into being.

A few years ago my colleague and I created two websites which will be linked to the gravestones as they contain history of Ystalyfera and Ystradgynlais including the churches and chapels. Ystradgynlais History and Ystradgynlais War Graves

This new project shows a name, a birth and death date where known, and if you think you would like to find a relative and read their file please send me an email on yeargroup@hotmail.co.uk

Thank you

Val Trevallion [Valerie]Researcher for Yeargroup