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Relatives: Father of John and Jemima Kilpatrick. Stone Condition: Sound, Tilted Material: Sandstone Height: 1.05 Breadth: 0.55 Depth: 0.22 Inscription Condition: Clear but worn Inscription Technique: Incised Mason: Not known Pre 1855 no. N/A ( What's this? )

Monument Inscription

ERECTED
BY
JEMIMA KILPATRICK

IN MEMORY OF HER BROTHER
JOHN KILPATRICK
WHO DIED MARCH 16TH 1855
AGED 41
JAMES KILPATRICK
HER FATHER
DIED HERE 6TH SEP. 1877

Family History

This plain but substantial stone found lying against the west boundary wall of Mearns kirkyard presents a problem to the investigator when attempting to identify the named parties.

The first named deceased John Kilpatrick is recorded on his death certificate as being twenty years of age, while the gravestone inscription shows him as aged forty-one years.

Enquiries have revealed that a John Kilpatrick was born in the parish of Mearns on 30th December, 1834 to James Kilpatrick and Margaret Telfer. It would appear the information passed to the engraver for the inscription was inaccurate or misinterpreted. Had James been forty-one years of age as indicated on the memorial he would have been the same age as his father!

John was a letter-carrier by occupation and as such would have been expected to enjoy rude health. Lengthy walks in the open air were an integral part of a letter-carrier or postman’s day in those times, but perhaps not all as healthy a lifestyle as may be imagined. John, no doubt owing to his exposure to the winter elements caught pneumonia, and after suffering for six days from this condition his body succumbed to its ravages and he died on 16th March,1855.

His father James, married to Margaret Telfer, worked in the district as a gardener and outdoor labourer, and survived to the age of sixty-five years before passing away through the effects of cardiac disease.

No mention is made of the whereabouts of Margaret Kilpatrick nee Telfer, and she is not obviously visible on the inscription on the stone. However close inspection of the stone does show what appears to have been engraved letters immediately beneath that of the visible memorial, but they have been mostly obliterated, either deliberately or accidentally, and are therefore unreadable.

The monument has been erected by a Jemima Kilpatrick but no trace has been found of this person, though it may be assumed from the inscription on the stone that she was sister and daughter to the named deceased. No trace has been found of any of the family’s births being registered in Parish Records, which may indicate that they were Non- Conformist or Catholic by tradition.