The Graveyard Squirrel

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The Graveyard Squirrel

Among the Tombstones with Tee - A Seeker of the Elusive Dead and a Wanderer of Unquiet Graveyards. Sleuthing YORK and BEYOND. Writer and Grave Hunter for Hire.

Founder of THE DEAD SLEUTH - Genealogist. Have you ever heard the one about how there are only two things that are certain to us? The first one being that we are all subject to some form of taxation and the second is that one day we WILL all die. As a genealogical researcher my time is usually spent grappling with the mystery of death. And if I’m not in search of a missing ancestor or researching another life long lost to history – I will be poring over the details on a newly discovered and often indecipherable certificate of death or trawling through the parish records in search of a burial entry. Being able to locate the final resting place of those from my research endeavours has always been an important task and an unsuccessful search is disappointing as the final piece of the jigsaw remains missing. However, if you struggle with the thought of death – MY world is probably NOT for you! As I love nothing more than a ramble through a graveyard and have been pottering among the tombstones for as long as I can remember – join me as I share the tales and triumphs of my wanderings among the dead. The author Lailah Gifty Akita once said that – “The graveyard is an everlasting home of every man” and within most of our cemeteries there is evidence of spectacular craftsmanship, awe inspiring stonework, history, sublime words of poignancy and the occasional flashes of humour ALL just waiting to be discovered! See YOU on the other side?

24/12/2025

Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas. 🎄

with The Dead Sleuth 🔍

22/12/2025

Monday afternoon. The view from my world.

From my garden to their forever home. A little ancestral grave festive gift and tidy up for my maternal 2 x Greats.

🪦 York Cemetery. York. UK.

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10/12/2025

Bare trees and old stones bathed in a December sun.

The view from my world today.

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11/11/2025

'Went the day well?
We died and never knew;
But well or ill, England, we died for you.' ~ John Maxwell Edmonds

Lest We Forget 🥀

⚰ York Cemetery. York. UK.

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04/11/2025

Remember! Remember?

In the NOVEMBER publication of The Yorkshire Dalesman magazine - I muse upon sleuthing the 'missing infants', the meaning of ancestral inheritance and a legacy of murder.

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30/10/2025

'Him who is dead and gone, honour with remembrance, not with tears.' ~ Saint John Chrysostom.

Framed by a perfect portrait of infant ferns and vibrant autumnal leaf - a partially buried gravestone protects the long forgotten at rest.

⚰ Parish Churchyard of Holy Trinity Micklegate. York. UK.

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19/10/2025

'This Star for a Moment Given'

Peppered with moss and standing tall among falling leaves underneath a greying October afternoon sky - the monument to one John Fisher who died at the age of three months in the year 1851.

🪦 Parish Churchyard of St Olave. York. UK.

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02/10/2025

A broken wing, the remains of a halo and with one tiny perfect foot peeking out from under an elaborate stone gown while protected by a delicate cobweb are all that remains of an angel perched upon an tombstone.

⚰ York Cemetery. York. UK.

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02/09/2025

As summer shadows dance across verdant grass, iconic familiar old stones are bathed in a low evening sun.

⚰ The Cholera Burial Ground. York. UK.

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14/08/2025

Nestled in a bed of lush grass against waves of cloud in a sky of cerulean blue - a restored grave of the palest stone celebrates the life of one SIDNEY REYNOLDS who drowned at sea at the age of 16 in the April of 1876.

⚰ The Parish Churchyard of St Stephen. Parnell. Auckland. New Zealand.

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07/08/2025

Lichen topped and standing tall amid low cotton cloud - a monument to recollect the life of one MARGARET DEWAR (1860-1939) and that of her family in Queenstown.

⚰ Queenstown Cemetery. New Zealand.

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31/07/2025

"Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates." ~ MARK TWAIN (1835-1910)

Under the shadow of the iconic Whitby Abbey, a much worn stone decorated with a skull and crossbones awaits the gaze of the curious.

⚰ Parish Churchyard of St Mary. Whitby. North Yorkshire. UK.

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York

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https://graveyardsquirrel.com/, https://deadsleuth.com/, https://teetomb.com/

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