I wanted to share this headstone photo of my great-great grandparents William Liston and Agnes Slater with the community. Location: Skipton, Victoria, Australia. Date of death for Agnes: 1901.
I saw the grave for the first time in late December 2016 and was struck by the proximity of the deaths of three of their children, buried long before their parents - 20 April, 26 April and 4 May 1894. Perhaps there was an epidemic of a contagious disease? I tried to imagine the grief of parents losing a 2yr old, a 3yr old and a 7yr old within a two week period. It was probably not unusual at that time without the benefits of modern medicine, but must have been heartbreaking even so, and I saw the large headstone as testament to their grief.
Next step is to try to discover any disease outbreaks in that area at that time, though it's probably 'needle in a haystack' territory! I don't have a question, but if any WikiTreers are familiar with the Skipton/Beaufort/Hamilton/Ballarat areas and have any ideas for further research I'd be hugely grateful.
Warm regards, John Haberecht
Click here for the image details page or here for the full-sized version (768 x 1024).