British Cemetery and Cremation Records from Deceased Online

This Wednesday 21st March, we celebrate the UN's World Poetry Day by looking at the famous and lesser-known poets that we've come across in the Deceased Online database The United Nations designated 21 March World Poetry Day in 1999. Observing the day, according to UNESCO , encourages all of us to, "return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals, to promote the teaching of poetry, to restore a dialogue between poetry and other arts such as theatre, dance, music and painting, and to support small publishers . . . " In doing so, UNESCO recognises, "the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind." Like family history, poetry can reaffirm our common humanity by revealing to us that individuals, across the world and across time, share the same questions and feelings. Among the very famous poets in the database are the revolutionary William Blake and feminist pioneer and chronicler of the mid-Victorian period, George Eliot ....

This week I'm highlighting one of our lesser known datasets - the Scottish Memorial Inscriptions (SMI) Collection.   2014 is the year of Homecoming in Scotland. Those of us with Scottish ancestors can visit the region and attend a range of events focusing on its rich history. Scotland's Tartan Day , for example, will be held in the Easter school holidays (5-13 April), and marks the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320. Deceased Online's SMI collection can help you find Scottish ancestors, even if they are not buried in Scotland. Some may have died and been buried abroad or at sea, but are commemorated at their birthplace or family home. Compiled by our partners at Scottish Memorial Inscriptions, the SMI collection includes a huge range of varying data from roughly 200 cemeteries and burial grounds across the following counties: Angus Argyll Ayrshire Banffshire Borders Clackmannanshire Dundee City Edinburgh Fife Highlands Inverness-shire Lan...