Gravediggers Record
A document was compiled by Brian Bittle, member Mearns History Group. It includes the assorted listings of internments at the burial ground of Mearns Kirk, Newton Mearns from 1874 to 1900 and from 1916 to 2000.
The information included in the gravediggers record was copied from pages of a ledger maintained by the relevant kirkyard authorities between the dates shown above. In an effort to retain the accuracy of the transcribed information the original spellings of names and places are shown as they appear in the original entries. Where words or letters cannot be identified a dash is inserted. In many instances names were spelt phonetically possibly due to the limited educational standard of the original scribe and should be read in such a manner.
The dates shown are the actual burial dates NOT dates of death of the interred.
It may be of interest to the reader that some of the locations shown refer not only to the main villages of Mearns and Busby but to individual farms in the Mearns and Eaglesham parishes. Netherplace, Hazelden, Wellmeadow and Busby were all sites of industrial activity in the cloth making industry attracting large numbers of itinerant workers many from Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. The origin of these workers can often be identified by the names listed.