Search criteria
Firstly, you mustn't be disappointed - it's an unavoidable characteristic of MIs. Only about 10% of those names appearing on the burials registers are still today represented by a gravestone with a legible inscription. Look at the page on the vulnerability of MIs for an explanation of this. So it's very possible that there is no record. In order to make sure that you haven't failed to find an MI which does exist, however, you can revisit the search page. First, try to make your search wider and less specific. In other words, enter less information. Then you can use the search facilities to help you find spelling variants of the names. The two most useful ways of doing this are by employing in your search box the signs? (question mark) and * (asterisk). The ? works like a joker – it can represent any letter. So, for example, the surname ‘Grey' can be spelled 'Gray'. To search for both, enter 'Gr?y. Try it! The * works in a similar way, but it can bring up any number of letters. Try ‘Gr*y’.Other names are found in a wider variety of spellings. An example is 'Sewell'. The only common factor in the various versions is that they begin with an 'S' and end with an 'l'. Enter ‘S*l and you will get all the examples that are available which begin with ‘S’ and end with ‘l’. As you can see, this is a powerful tool. Good luck in your searches!
