One of our readers has kindly provided us with a document detailing the burials at Ettleton Cemetery in Newcastleton.

The monument to William Armstrong of Sorbitrees towers above those of others in the small cemetery

Newcastleton sits on the Scottish border in, Roxburghshire and Ettleton cemetery is dominated by Border Reiver names such as Armstrong, Beattie, Crozier and Elliot, of which the largest monument in the cemetery belongs to William Armstrong of Sorbytrees.

The hand typed list provides detailed grave inscriptions for over 250 gravestones and monuments and is a great resource for anybody researching border reiver family history.

It is not known when this list was compiled, but dates on the stones range from early 18th century to mid 20th century.

The provenance and completeness of this list is unknown and was thought to have been collated by somebody researching family genealogy.  However, it is obvious that he or she applied many hours to this enterprise.

Grave stone inscription records such as this are usually collected for private family history research but they play an incredibly important role for others around the world.

We cannot be responsible for the accuracy of the list, and as far as we are aware there are no copyright issues, but please do contact us if you have other information.

Many thanks to the person who took the time to collect this information and to our kind reader, who after using it to research her own family genealogy, has allowed us to publish it for the benefit of others.

The Borders Family History Society aim to help people with their family history primarily in the Border counties (Berwickshire, Peeblesshire, Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire) of Scotland, as well as in adjacent counties of England and Scotland.

There are many small kirk yards in the Scottish Borders

Monumental Inscriptions
Shows all Monumental Inscriptions volumes currently for sale.

Society members get a discount per volume.

Search the Gravestones Index
All published volumes can be searched online.

Each volume contains the inscription on all the (readable) gravestones (tombstones) in the respective burial place at the time of publication, and there is an index to the surnames in the inscriptions at the back.

Most volumes also include a Hearth Tax list, War Memorial inscriptions, a list of kirk ministers, and many have a militia list.

BFHS – Latest publication

Roxburghshire Monumental Inscriptions – No 21: Melrose Abbey
Available as a CD or an A4 format book, each has the same content.
564 gravestones.
Photos of the gravestones and their inscriptions.
Hearth Tax and Militia Roll.
Gravestone inscriptions in Melrose Abbey and grounds.

As well as the recorded volumes of tombstone inscriptions, the society also have useful indexes for Magazine Articles, Poor Law Records, Borders Family Trees.

Visit the Borders Family History Society Website

National Archive of Scotland (NAS)- The NAS holds historical records created by businesses, landed estates, families, churches and other corporate bodies. Every year tens of thousands of people from all over the world use the NAS’s services to carry out research, seek advice on record keeping, and enhance the learning and teaching of history.