Dundee Howff Conservation Group SCIO

We love the Howff in the snow! It’s got a whole different feeling than with other weather.
Pictures used with thanks to Paula Milne

Wonderful pieces of history like this never cease to amaze us. It’s an honour to be able to learn of the life and times of those buried in the Howff

Dundonian shines light on 'lost' grave of ancestor who fought in Battle of Waterloo In a quiet corner of Dundee Howff lies an unmarked grave. One of the last of the 80,000 burials to take place at the graveyard, it is the final resting

Here is a little story of William Gardiner – Botanist, Dundee. The information was taken from The British Association, Dundee, 1912 A Handbook and Guide to Dundee and Districts and the burial books for the Howff and the 1832 map of the Howff

Within the book there is a section on The Mosses of Forfarshire and towards the end of this chapter the author gives mention of ‘William Gardiner, of Dundee – an earnest student and lover of nature. With limited opportunities, and not too robust health, he devoted himself to the study of botany, especially flora of his own district. He wrote many papers on natural history, and published “Lessons on British Mosses,” “Botanical Rambles in Braemar” and finally, “The Flora of Forfarshire”. William died in 1852 at the age of forty-three and it is understood that he was buried somewhere in ‘The Howff’ but the spot is unmarked.

All of Williams’ botanical collections had to be sold to look after his orphan son (James Edward Smith Gardiner) and were purchased by C.C. Babington of Cambridge. Charles Cardale Babington was a botanist and archaeologist and overlapped at Cambridge with Charles Darwin. Babington was later Chair of Botany at the University of Cambridge. This just shows what tremendous work William must have produced.

In the previous text William was believed to buried in the Howff in an unknown & unmarked grave. After doing a little digging (pardon the pun) in the burial registers we can now reveal that he lived and died at Spence’s Close in the Overgate (no far from the city churches) his job title was ‘botanist’ he deid on 21st June 1852 from typus fever and was buried on 24th June 1852 at stone location 419-C. The cost of his burial was 6 shillings and 6 pence. William was married to Elizabeth Smith, who died on 24th May 1850 and was buried in at stone location 491-A (same location as William), she died of consumption aged just 37, her burial also cost 4 shillings and 6 pence. On 29th December 1843, she gave birth to William who unfortunately died of nervous fever on 9th January 1844 (just 12 days old) and was buried in lair 455-A at a cost of 3 shillings and 6 pence

For those interested there is a short video made by University of Dundee (see link below) that gives us more insight to the man himself. Also, to the rear of the Overgate shopping centre near the entrance to the multi-storey carpark and not far from his last resting place there is an area called William Gardiner Square with a beautiful mural painted onto the wall showing flowers and bugs

https://learningspaces.dundee.ac.uk/dundeeuniculture/2020/06/04/william-gardiner-and-the-flora-of-forfarshire-video/

https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17794093W/Flora_of_Forfarshire

Can you help us?
We’ve been looking through the Dundee Directory from 1834 and have found a page on the cost of burials. So in the burial books we have the cost of each burial and some of the books are quiet easy to understand (2pence child, 4 pence adult, 0 pence poorper)
Now looking in the later books, we find information which shows very different and throws a spanner in the works (please see picture attached)

On that page from the directory it is clearly showing different types of coffin or service provided.
Our question for you is: Is there a book that describes burials in scotland in 18/19 century or does anybody know what the difference is between a covered coffin and plain coffin, also what is a white coffin. We are aware of mort clothes but what was a covered coffin eluding to?

Any knowledge or even guesses would be much appreciated to help us figure this out.
Many thanks

It’s been another quiet year for us and we’ve been unable to meet up, but fingers crossed that 2022 will be much better.
The committee would like to wish you a safe and happy festive period.

Sometimes while looking through old books, we find lovely references to the Howff

Passage taken from The British Association, Dundee, 1912 A Handbook and Guide to Dundee and Districts:

To the meditative mind of the romantic tourist who happens to visit Dundee, the quaint old graveyard called the Howff will offer material for reflection. The very name has a species of poetic suggestiveness. The good old Scots word “Howff” means a favourite meeting-place and though that name was not applied to the cemetery as a burying-ground, it has a peculiar appropriateness. For three hundred years it was the principal graveyard of Dundee, and within its sacred precincts there lie the remains, as their tombstones tell us of “godlie and honest” men, and “chaste and verteuous” women of civic rulers and humble craftsmen who were the makers of Dundee, and the conservers of her political and religious liberty.

A.H. Millar, LL.D., Chief Librarian

We will remember them

It’s Autumn in the Howff and the grounds take on a whole new atmosphere.
Pictures used with thanks to Jim Glover

What season do you prefer in the Howff? It always puts on a show in the summer
Photos with thanks to Jim Glover

As mentioned in the previous post, we are celebrating Innes Duffus and all his work for the history of Dundee and in The Howff in particular.
If you have the time, this video is worth a watch.

https://youtu.be/VZhRDBSR3R4

Dundee Howff Conservation Group SCIO A conservation group that aims to preserve memorials within the grounds of Dundee Howff Cemetery.

A ceremony took place on Tuesday 15th June when members of the Three United Trades of Dundee. The Nine Incorporated Trades of Dundee and the Guildry of Dundee met in their historic meeting place, The Howff cemetery in Dundee, when the Lord Provost of Dundee Ian Borthwick unveiled a stone with a plaque commemorating the service given to the Trades and City of Dundee by Innes A Duffus who is a member of all three bodies.. Innes is the first port of call for information on ancient Dundee, its history and worthies.. Innes has been a member of the Trades for nearly 50 years and is still in demand for talks on the city on a regular basis. Last year the Trades’ bodies presented Innes with scroll confirming him as a Master of Trades as a thanks for the years of service he has given to the City of Dundee. Also present at the ceremony were Lord Dean of Guild Scott Williamson, Deacon Convenor of the Nine Incorporated Trades Iain Murray. Convenor of the Three Trades Grant Sturrock welcomed the company and assisted the Lord Provost to unveil the plaque. Fittingly The stone is from a Dundee Tenement and was prepared and donated to the Trades by W L Watson & Sons Stonemasons Ltd of St Andrews. Due to illness Innes was unable to attend the ceremony but a short video was made and will be given to Innes to remind him of a most poignant occasion. Attached picture(1) shows the plaque and (2) shows the Lord Provost and Grant Sturrock unveiling the plaque with the Lord Dean of Guild looking on.