Congratulations to Finches our featured Volunteer of the Month for November, 2020! We’d like to recognize Finches for her volunteer work in Scotland. So many of the headstones that she photographed are upright and in beautiful settings, such as this wondrous grouping on the hill in Old Beath Cemetery.

We were first drawn to Finches work when we saw the care that she put into documenting headstones, even when reading the inscriptions was very difficult to access, as see here with the memorials for William Williamson and Thomas Veitch. She’s angled the camera just right, to be able to get the best reading possible for these stones that have fallen.

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Finches has contributed over 50,000 photos over the nine years that she has been a volunteer. While looking through the headstones photographed in her account we found one from 1636 for Thomas Younger, and maybe that’s not the oldest one! Thank you for recording this information!

Her profile biography shares one of the reasons she photographs headstones. This gives her a chance to pay it forward as a thank you to those that have helped her.

“It is very satisfying to record a headstone while it’s still standing and readable. I’ve seen so many broken, fallen or so badly weather worn they are unreadable.” – Finches

She’s also come across headstones that have become unstable due to the passage of time. This cemetery added a warning to help visitors know which headstones to steer clear of. Even with these challenges she continues to try and help others, photographing and uploading headstone photos.

Due to her fine work and also other members who contribute from Scotland, we can catch sight of, enjoy and learn from the unique headstones and scenic landscapes located there. Here’s a few, photographed by Finches, that we’ve gathered together.

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Our accolades to you for your extraordinary work in cemeteries! We are so glad that you are a Find a Grave member and appreciate all your efforts in recording and memorializing those that have passed.

We welcome your suggestions for Volunteer of the Month. If you’d like to submit a volunteer for consideration in future months, please send an email with details of their work to feedback@findagrave.com.