As a genealogist I've long identified with Haley Joel Osment's famous line in the film The Sixth Sense: "I see dead people". To non-genealogists, family historians can sometimes seem obsessed with death. Death comes to us all, in the end, and ultimately much of genealogy involves not seeing but researching dead people. Friends and family have come to accept that I can't pass a graveyard without wanting to pop in for a quick - or not so quick - look around.
Of course, most of our ancestors are dead, and as genealogists we want to know when they met their end. In Scotland there has been a legal requirement since 1855 to register all deaths, and statutory registers of death are excellent sources for family historians. In most cases, they record the name of the deceased, their spouse(s) if any, their parents, the cause of death and so on. Before 1855, however, the records are less helpful. There are gravestones, tangible reminders of the existence of our ancestors. Many graveyards have been recorded by enthusiasts and their inscriptions published (usually referred to as Monumental Inscriptions or MIs). More recently, the rise of digital photography has made collections of photographs of gravestones popular. But not everybody could afford a gravestone, and not all gravestones survive in a legible condition. A few years ago, Scotland's People made available the burials recorded in the Old Parish Registers (OPRs). These are a great resource, but they are far from complete. There are some OPR burials for around two-thirds of Church of Scotland parishes, but in some cases there are very few burials recorded - there are only two for Fearn in Angus, and only nine for Galston in Ayr. So if there is no gravestone, and no OPR burial, does that mean we can't find out when our ancestor died? Not necessarily. There is another type of record that can help: mortcloth accounts. A mortcloth (from the Latin mors meaning death) was a ceremonial cloth draped over a coffin (or a corpse if the family could not afford a coffin) at a funeral. Most families didn't have their own mortcloths - not unreasonable when you consider that any one person only needs it once! - instead hiring them for the occasion. In burghs, the individual trades might have their own mortcloths which were lent to members for the occasion. But in most cases, mortcloths were available to hire from the Kirk Sessions. In many cases, the Kirk Sessions owned more than one mortcloth - smaller ones for children, or more elaborate ones for a higher fee. (Even in death, not everyone was equal.) The money raised from renting out the mortcloth was generally used for poor relief, and as a result, the Sessions often kept good records of payments received. While they may not necessarily contain a great amount of detail, mortcloth accounts may be the only way to identify when an ancestor died. (See for instance Aberlady accounts 1826-1846, Forgandenny minutes 1783-1836 and Dalmeny Accounts 1736-1779.) They should however be treated with a degree of caution, as the date recorded for payment may be some time after the death and funeral. ​ We've extracted some entries from Dalmeny [NRS Reference CH2/86/8 p. 294-295] below.
10 Comments
While the dates may be a bit fuzzy, in the absence of other info they're a great help. I mentioned them in my K for Kirk Sessions post. I also like how through the kirk sessions there are references to various people's funerals or sale of their belongings.
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16/4/2016 11:43:39 pm
Absolutely. Sometimes they are the only indication of even an approximate death date. I do think the "fuzziness" of mortcloth records is sometimes over-stated, but as with any record it's always important to remember why it was created in the first instance, and interpret it on that basis. The treasurer wasn't interested per se in recording the date of death/funeral, or even necessarily the name of the deceased. It was about keeping track of the money, which was used for the benefit of the parish poor. In some parish accounts, names are not given for mortcloth hires, which is fine for accountants, but not much use for family historians.
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16/4/2016 11:44:46 pm
Thanks for your kind comments, it's always good to know our efforts are appreciated!
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Rosemary Spencer
29/5/2020 04:57:32 am
So interesting. Where do you find these mort cloth records? In individual churches?
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Linda Bowman
7/2/2021 12:36:46 am
Came across the 'mortcloths' while researching and had no idea what they were. Thanks so much for the information. Now I might go back and look for these records as I can't find some dates of death.
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Iain Keiller
29/9/2021 11:54:51 pm
A mortcloth question if I may...
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Alan
7/3/2023 07:51:55 pm
This is a fantastic post - well done. Made my evening..
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Veronica Harris
8/11/2024 07:58:34 pm
Thanks for this very interesting information. I found the death record for one of my ancestors, Robert Ramsay d1760 and buried in Dalmeny graveyard with a very impressive headstone. The family were stonemasons. The record shows that he had the best large mortcloth at a cost of 5 Scots pounds. His wife, who died 5 years ealier, also had the best mort cloth.
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