Recording cemetery information

Report and Photographs by Penny Evans

Iris Stephens on a chilly day.

Members of the branch met on the chilly Saturday afternoon of 19 June 2010 to attend a Power Point presentation by chairman Lucas Rinken. He discussed the importance of recording cemetery information. The main reason for doing this is to ensure that information is not lost as cemeteries are desecrated.

He urged members to actively participate by attending the cemetery recording outings. Records can be obtained from cemetery registers if they are available and in good condition or from the headstone. Before setting out some preparation is necessary. A spreadsheet conforming to the requirements of the Cemetery Recording Project should be used.

He cautioned members not to go to cemeteries on their own but to go as a team.

Lucas gave many tips and showed numerous photographs on the correct technique to be used when taking a photograph of a gravestone.

Gerhard Marloth

In his presentation he showed the many errors people make in trying to photograph the details on a gravestone. Any camera is suitable for the job, but some knowledge and equipment (tripod and umbrella) are necessary for satisfactory results. He ended his presentation by showing photographs of gravestones of some famous people.

A need expressed by some members was that they wanted to know something about the research undertaken by other members of the group. It was decided to allow two members to speak for ten minutes after the main speaker.

Gerard Marloth spoke about the use of Google Earth and the eGGSA website to locate a cemetery and gravestones of the Van der Westhuizen family.

Penny Evans spoke about the Gass family and the difficulty in obtaining information about the original couple who came to South Africa in 1863.