28 February 2011

Afflicted with taphophilia?

Is the word taphophilia in your everyday vocabulary, a word that trips off your tongue?

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries, which might involve epitaphs, gravestone rubbing, photography, art and history.

Taphophiles are frequently able to help family historians, it pays to be nice to them.

Recently New Zealand's Clareville Cemetery Taphophile Group helped me find out a bit more about my relative James Lewis, a photographer and inventor from Lancashire who is buried at Claireville, and even helped put me in touch with distant cousins in Australia.

How about declaring Taphophile Day in recognition of the service they provide?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The Findagrave.com site is a good starting point for North American taphophiles and others, too, who are interested in sharing research.

--Brian (Switzerland)