Just in time for Halloween, we asked our Members and Student Members to contribute their best spine-chilling, otherworldly or downright spooky genealogical-related titbits. Here’s a rundown of some of our favourites.
#1 – I once did stand as thou dost now

Standing in the shadow of St. Bartholomew’s Church and within the grounds of Elvaston Castle, there is a Derbyshire gravestone which never fails to send a chill up the spine. Unsuspecting visitors have long been caught unaware by the darkly humorous epitaph that greets them as they walk through the churchyard:
I once did stand as thou dost now,
And view’d the Dead, as thou doest me,
Ere long thou’lt lie as low as I,
And others stand and look on thee.
The gravestone marks the resting place of bricklayer Stephen Allcock and his wife Elizabeth (née Gorden). The couple was recorded living in the nearby village of Thulston at the time of the 1841 census, and by this point they had been married for over forty years.
Stephen passed away, aged 68 years old, on 18 September 1842, and the cause of death was listed on his death certificate as dropsy. Stephen predeceased his wife by 27 years. Elizabeth, who lived to be 94-years-old, passed away, on 2 July 1869.
#2 – It’s all in a name
RQG Member Claire Bradley has identified a series of macabre surnames belonging to individuals recorded in the 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses. There were 31 individuals with the surname Death who were recorded on the 1901 census.
Likewise in 1911, there were 119 recorded individuals in Ireland bearing the surname Graves. However, special mention must go to a family of Skeletons residing at Mack’s Court in Lisburn, County Antrim, in 1901…
#3 – Signs from (beyond) the grave

From one set of Graves to another, RQG Student Member Stacey Dodd made an illuminating visit to Coventry’s London Road Cemetery this year. Designed as a place of natural beauty during the garden cemetery movement of the nineteenth-century, the cemetery is home to a wide selection of unique graves brimming with symbolism.
As told and photographed by Stacey, one grave depicting an anchor represents ‘optimism, hope, resilience and perpetual existence’, while another featuring a hand pointing upwards is directing the deceased to heaven. Perhaps most eye-catching of all is the grave taking the form of a broken column which serves as a poignant representation of a young life cut short.
#4 – Read all about it!
Historic newspapers are a fantastic genealogical resource and can shed light on all manner of triumphs and misdemeanours connected to our ancestors’ lives. However, newspapers also offer a fascinating insight into how previous generations viewed the supernatural.
More often than not, a treasure trove of real-life ghost stories were recounted in local newspapers with a surprising degree of sobriety.
In October 1852, an ‘unaccountable series of knockings’ heard at a house in Ashby Road, Hull, was sincerely documented across several issues of the Hull News in the month of October. The headmaster of a local school, Mr. Sellitt, went to great lengths to examine the physical construction of the house in order to quell the hysteria.

#5 – Ghost or no Ghost
However, there was always room for scepticism, particularly when it was well-founded…
An article headlined Ghost or No Ghost was published on 13 June 1879 in the Isle of Wight Times. It was reported that a farmhouse near Tenbury Wells had been plagued ‘for several days and nights’ by ‘some spiritual manifestations of a most decided character’.
A young farm employee stated that he was a witness to these ghostly events, and windows would smash and furniture would be destroyed whenever he entered a room alone. Two policemen advised that the boy should be sent away from the house, and the newspaper duly remarked that ‘strange to say … the “manifestations” at once ceased’.
References:
- Bradley, Claire. 24 October 2023. ‘Halloween Genealogy’. Accessed via: https://cbgenealogy.ie/halloween-genealogy
- Burials (PR) England. St. Bartholomew, Elvaston, Derbyshire. 20 September 1842. Stephen ALLCOCK. Collection: Derbyshire, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1991. Derbyshire Record Office. Accessed via: www.ancestry.co.uk
- Deaths (CR) England. Shardlow, Derbyshire. 18 September 1842. Stephen ALLCOCK. General Register Office, UK.
- Dodds, Stacey. 31 May 2024. ‘Graveyard Symbolism at Coventry’s London Road Cemetery’. Accessed via: https://thatsgenealogybaby.wordpress.com/2024/05/31/graveyard-symbolism-at-coventrys-london-road-cemetery
- Hull News. 30 October 1852. ‘Supernaturalism’. p. 6a. Collection: Newspapers. British Newspaper Archive. British Library. Accessed via: www.findmypast.co.uk
- Isle of Wight Times. 13 February 1879. ‘Ghost or No Ghost’. p. 8f. Collection: Newspapers. British Newspaper Archive. British Library. Accessed via: www.findmypast.co.uk
- Marriages (PR) England. St. Peter, Derby, Derbyshire. 5 November 1800. Stephen ALLCOCK & Elizabeth GORDEN. Collection: Derbyshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932. Derbyshire Record Office. Accessed via: www.ancestry.co.uk
RQG is not responsible for the content of external websites, blogs and resources.