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Archiver > TMG > 2001-07 > 0993998848


From: "Hugh Wilding" <>
Subject: Re: [TMG] Monumental Inscriptions etc
Date: Sun, 1 Jul 2001 15:47:28 +0100
References: <003901c1019d$7982e800$1b16d3d4@default>


David Wilson wrote:

> I have recently benn sent some MI's for various relatives and was
wondering
> how other people enter a MI that is of some note on a burial TAG.

MIs can be either gravestones or memorials. I adapted the _Cemetery Marker_
(one of the Mills source types) to create a _UK Memorial Inscription_ source
type in the following way:

FF: [NAME OF PERSON] monumental inscription<, [LOCATION]><, [REPOSITORY
REFERENCE]>, [REPOSITORY], [REPOSITORY ADDRESS]; [READER]<, [DATE]><, [CD]>.

SF: [NAME OF PERSON] MI, [REPOSITORY], [REPOSITORY ADDRESS]<, [CD]>.

B: [REPOSITORY ADDRESS]. [REPOSITORY]<, [LOCATION]>. Monumental
inscription.

In truth, I think the aspect that confuses is that a gravestone is its own
source. The location of burial is the event (tag) and the inscription is
your informant (source). A number of my burials have more than one source
e.g. MI, burial register and obituary. I have also used the Burial tag
where I know there has been no burial i.e a WW1 war death but where I have
located the serviceman's memorial. If you wish to refer to this as an
example, then goto <http://website.lineone.net/~hstjw/pers000t.htm>; and look
for the entry for John David Thurley (1898-1918) in the descendancy
narrative. In the first paragraph, the second sentence is generated by the
death tag (see also below), the second by the burial tag.

> I would
> appreciate also some guidance as to how to create a sentence that involves
> the possibility of 2 memo's.

As there is only one memo field for each tag, the ability to have two or
more sections (to a maximum of nine) in the memo gives a great deal of
flexibility. At its simplest a sentence with two or more memos looks like
this:

[M1] [M2] [M3]

and the corresponding memo field may look like this:

the mat || sat on || The cat [The _|_ symbol on a UK keyboard is the
shifted _\_ key to the immediate left of the _Z_ key - two are needed.]

This facility can be useful either for one off sentences or for your own
custom tags. For example, I have a tag - _Death GRO_ - which I use for all
post-1837 deaths registered in England or Wales. The sentence reads:

[P] died< from [M2]> <[D]> <[L]> <aged [M1]>

This compares with the default Death tag construct:

[P] died <[D]> <[L]> <[A]>

Those who are familiar with civil registration in England & Wales may need
to read no further but, by way of commentary, my use of these tags mirrors
the normal course of my research. If I receive information about an
individual which includes death, then I make use of the default Death tag.
If I am not given that information or I want to check its veracity, I may
consider buying a copy death certificate. Since to do so almost inevitably
means that I must check the GRO Deaths Index.for the correct reference and
as, in itself, such a check is a useful secondary verification, I generally
try to record such references regardless of purchasing intent. GRO Indexes
in themselves are not terribly helpful because a very limited amount of
information is given (e.g. no date of death is ever given) but, for deaths
between 1866 and 1969, the indexes contain the age at death, given in whole
years, as stated in the original registration entry. So armed with this
data, I then "promote" the _Death_ tag to _Death GRO_ - the reference goes
in the citation detail and the age in the Memo field. If I obtain a
certificate subsequently, then I add the cause of death as a second memo
element.

In the Thurley example above, the Memo field could read:

18 || his wounds

A further advantage is that Lists can easily be created of those who have
died post 1837 for whom I have not obtained GRO references - in fact all the
usual TMG reporting strengths.

Much too long but I hope it helps.

Hugh Wilding
Berkshire, England
<>

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