My name on my tombstone 8

Occasionally, a memorial inscription on a gravestone unexpectedly provides answers to family history questions. In the case of my great grandfather Finlay Gibson, his inscription on a stone in New Street Cemetery, Stevenston, Ayrshire tells us quite a lot:

Finlay Gibson buried in New Street Cemetery, Stevenston, 31 December 1924 aged 84.

In Lair No. H13 - together with son William F Gibson d 1911 aged 23.  These dates fit in with the 1881 and 1891 Census concerning the ages of these individuals. Also helpful is mention of Finlay's wife Annie nee Bell, 'died 27 Sept 1929 in Winnipeg Canada, where her remains rest.'

This information me allowed me to follow up, with the help of Canadian researcher Denise Neufeld, Annie Gibson's death and burial details in Winnipeg. 

The Winnipeg Evening Tribune, Wed, 29 Sept, 1926, p 15 col 3 'Deaths':

'GIBSON - Entered late rest on Sept 27 at St Boniface Hospital, Annie Gibson, aged 67 years, widow of the late Finlay Gibson and mother of Mrs Wm. Robson 197 Hill Street,  Wednesday, from the Gardiner Funeral Home, 172 Kennedy St. Interment in the family plot at Elmwood Cemetery.'

After Finlay Gibson's death, Annie Gibson left Stevenston and went to Canada where she stayed with her daughter Kate and son-in-law William Robson for about a year before Annie's death in 1926.

The Manitoba Free Press, Wed, 29 Sept 1926 p 7 col 3 'Deaths & funerals':
'Mrs Annie Gibson, widow of the late Finlay Gibson, died at St Boniface hospital on Monday. A native of Hamilton Ontario she had spent most of her life in Scotland and had resided with her daughter, Mrs William Robson, 197 Hill Street, Norwood, about a year. The funeral will be held at 2 o'clock this afternoon from the Gardiner funeral home to Elmwood cemetery and Rev J E Ramsden will officiate'.

William F Gibson, son of Finlay and Annie, died young, aged 22 according to the grave inscription. An engine fitter by trade, cause of death was 'lung disease'; another victim of working conditions at the time? Or did he, like thousands of other people at that time, suffer from tuberculosis?

New Street, Stevenston, Ayrshire