Descendants of Scotsman in neglected grave in Shan State, Burma?
October 4, 2015 8:50 PM Subscribe
Twenty-five or more years ago I was visiting a school in Taunggyi District, Shan State, Burma (I live in northern Thailand). The school headmaster told me that there was a Westerner's grave in an overgrown field not far from the school. I don’t recall the actual township where the school was located. He pointed the way and I found a solitary grave marker, fallen over and weather-worn, in the midst of tall grass and weeds.
The stone read, "Loving Memory of a Devoted Husband and Father...Walter Edward Loader...Who Passed Away January 30, 1937 in His 70th Year. Gone But Not Forgotten. God Bless."For some reason I took a couple of photos of the grave marker. It was clear that, in spite of the sentiment on the stone, this grave clearly was forgotten. Upon returning home the photos were filed away and forgotten. Just recently I came across them and decided to try and locate Mr. Loader's descendants. Perhaps they would appreciate the pictures.
On the website ancestry.com, I located a record of Mr. Loader's birth and death, his Scottish ancestry, and a list of his descendants, many of whom have also died. Those who appear to be still living have their details marked "private." How do I pursue this further? [Please note that I am somewhat advanced in years myself and not particularly computer savvy.] Mr. Loader's grandchildren and great grandchildren may wish to have a visual record of their ancestor's final resting place. Can anyone steer me in the right direction? Any advice or assistance would be greatly appreciated.
The stone read, "Loving Memory of a Devoted Husband and Father...Walter Edward Loader...Who Passed Away January 30, 1937 in His 70th Year. Gone But Not Forgotten. God Bless."For some reason I took a couple of photos of the grave marker. It was clear that, in spite of the sentiment on the stone, this grave clearly was forgotten. Upon returning home the photos were filed away and forgotten. Just recently I came across them and decided to try and locate Mr. Loader's descendants. Perhaps they would appreciate the pictures.
On the website ancestry.com, I located a record of Mr. Loader's birth and death, his Scottish ancestry, and a list of his descendants, many of whom have also died. Those who appear to be still living have their details marked "private." How do I pursue this further? [Please note that I am somewhat advanced in years myself and not particularly computer savvy.] Mr. Loader's grandchildren and great grandchildren may wish to have a visual record of their ancestor's final resting place. Can anyone steer me in the right direction? Any advice or assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Isn't there a mechanism to add your image to the profile of the deceased?
Are the names also private? I'd google that last name with the towns last associated with the family.
Lots to be found googling and also on Spookeo, Facebook, etc.
posted by TenaciousB at 9:21 PM on October 4, 2015
Are the names also private? I'd google that last name with the towns last associated with the family.
Lots to be found googling and also on Spookeo, Facebook, etc.
posted by TenaciousB at 9:21 PM on October 4, 2015
I believe that by default, Ancestry marks any living person's details (including name) as private, provided that they aren't members and didn't enter the information themselves. I'd try to find the closest relative with a profile on the site, ideally the person who entered his information, which should be public.
posted by supercres at 9:34 PM on October 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by supercres at 9:34 PM on October 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
You should be able to add the picture and a comment to his profile page if you are logged in to Ancestry.com. They have free accounts.
posted by irisclara at 9:39 PM on October 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by irisclara at 9:39 PM on October 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
If ancestry.com has a family tree for Mr. Loader and it sounds like they do (not just individual historical records), you should be able to see which member uploaded the information in the tree. You can then send them a message - information on how to do that here.
The person may or may not respond, depending on how active they are in ancestry.com but it is an easy place to start.
posted by metahawk at 10:55 PM on October 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
The person may or may not respond, depending on how active they are in ancestry.com but it is an easy place to start.
posted by metahawk at 10:55 PM on October 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
On the Ancestry search function, where you are searching for more information about someone, one of the things they'll search is for links to other Ancestry family trees. Try running searches on the names (the parents for instance) of those closest to the 'private' not-named people, and see if there are any such links to other family trees.
Then message that tree-maker THROUGH ANCESTRY.COM, not through a search for their personal email or snail-mail address --- it'd be far more normal and WAY less stalkery & creepy. Heck, I get that kind of private message from total strangers trying to link to my tree (I have mine set to 'private' not 'public') all the time: it's the Ancestry equivalent of MeMail on this site.
posted by easily confused at 2:22 AM on October 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Then message that tree-maker THROUGH ANCESTRY.COM, not through a search for their personal email or snail-mail address --- it'd be far more normal and WAY less stalkery & creepy. Heck, I get that kind of private message from total strangers trying to link to my tree (I have mine set to 'private' not 'public') all the time: it's the Ancestry equivalent of MeMail on this site.
posted by easily confused at 2:22 AM on October 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh, and there's one thing to consider about Ancestry.com: watch out for people who build up info on their trees with no more proof or verification than links to other family trees, make sure there is some real PROOF that those links between names are real. Birth and death certificates, census records, military records, all sorts of stuff should also be there: to prove one particular John Jones is the one and only RIGHT John Jones. Too many folks on Ancestry just link to any old record with the name they're hunting for, and they don't stop to consider whether or not its a different person entirely; they choose the John Jones who was a Revolutionary War hero rather than John Jones the ditch digger.....
posted by easily confused at 2:47 AM on October 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by easily confused at 2:47 AM on October 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: You could contact the local archives for the town/area in Scotland where he's from. They might have more information and be able to share them.
Are you on Facebook? You could find local groups for the area and share them there. There might even be a local history group for the area.
Or you could contact the local newspaper with your story.
If you want to share the location, we might be able to point you to some specific resources.
posted by Helga-woo at 4:57 AM on October 5, 2015
Are you on Facebook? You could find local groups for the area and share them there. There might even be a local history group for the area.
Or you could contact the local newspaper with your story.
If you want to share the location, we might be able to point you to some specific resources.
posted by Helga-woo at 4:57 AM on October 5, 2015
A Google search for Mr. Loader on Ancestry presents a non-member results page on Ancestry.com which does not include links to public family trees that include Mr. Loader.
However, there appear to be about ten public family trees that include his information.
Here's one which includes a non-obscured owner ID. Here's another.
Due to the way publically accessible ancillary data propagates on Ancestry, getting your pix attached to one or two of these public-tree records will allow the administrators of the other trees to see and add the pix to their trees as well if they are active on the site. So getting it into the hands of just one or two of these tree admins should do it.
posted by mwhybark at 5:45 AM on October 5, 2015
However, there appear to be about ten public family trees that include his information.
Here's one which includes a non-obscured owner ID. Here's another.
Due to the way publically accessible ancillary data propagates on Ancestry, getting your pix attached to one or two of these public-tree records will allow the administrators of the other trees to see and add the pix to their trees as well if they are active on the site. So getting it into the hands of just one or two of these tree admins should do it.
posted by mwhybark at 5:45 AM on October 5, 2015
Response by poster: Many thanks for all of your suggestions. I very much appreciate it. Now a correction and update:
Correction: I didn't actually find out information about Mr. Loader from ancestry.com. It was a result of a Google search of his name which referenced that website.
Update: Mr. Loader was born in India and his children in Burma. But one of his sons died in Scotland in 1990. I have found a local historical/ancestry society in the town where he died and have written to them to try and locate members of the Loader family.
Hopefully, the photos will find a home soon. Thank you all once again.
posted by thaivagabond at 5:05 PM on October 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
Correction: I didn't actually find out information about Mr. Loader from ancestry.com. It was a result of a Google search of his name which referenced that website.
Update: Mr. Loader was born in India and his children in Burma. But one of his sons died in Scotland in 1990. I have found a local historical/ancestry society in the town where he died and have written to them to try and locate members of the Loader family.
Hopefully, the photos will find a home soon. Thank you all once again.
posted by thaivagabond at 5:05 PM on October 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by vrakatar at 8:57 PM on October 4, 2015 [2 favorites]