In loving memory of my father, Sam Gillespie (1875-1954). In the search for his grave, I found a mystery that took me on a journey over a life-time that led to this collection of records. Who was the woman buried beside my father? Answer at bottom.
Read down as Gillespie records are added over the year. Counts are updated for each country. Summary at bottom of page.
AFRICA: 51
South Africa:
- Births: 1
- Marriages 33
- Deaths 16
- Family Histories: 1
- (see also Immigration & Passenger Lists)
ASIA: 58
China:
- UK Gillespie firm won international competition in China.
- Publication: Legal Reforms in China & Vietnam
- Births: 2
- Probate Records 1
- China Navigation Company Staff Report 1
- WWII Internees from Chinese Prisoner Camps released 4
India:
- Births & Baptisms 8
- Marriages 2
- Deaths 3
- Wills 2
- Bengal Orphans 2
- Medical Officers 2
- Bombay and Bengal Officers in Army 6
- Civil Servants 1
- Cadets 8
- Volunteer Rifles 2
- Miscellaneous Records: 11
Mynamar: (BURMA)
1 birth record
AUSTRALIA: 597
Births: 16
- Queensland 12
- Western Australia 4
Marriages: 63
- Queensland 20
- Western Australia 43
Deaths: 518
- ACT 11
- Miscellaneous: 31
- NSW: 301
- Queensland: 16
- Southern Australia: 12
- Victoria 91
- Western Aust. 56
(See additions to World War I and II soldiers databases)
CANADA: 471
Births: 77
Marriages: 24
Obituaries: 321
Other: 12
1931 census for Yukon: 5
1921 census Prince Edward Island 32 (almost finished of 38)
Reset Photo of Plaque for Squire Malcolm Gillespie of Cannington, Ontario. (Somehow it had been removed unknown to me)
CARIBBEAN: 3
Barbados Burials 2
Martinique 1
CENTRAL AMERICA: 1
Deaths: Mexico
ENGLAND: 879
Births: 1
Marriages: 164
Deaths: 714
EUROPE: not yet
IMMIGRATION & PASSENGER LISTS: 36
- India 1820 to 1830; 1840 to 1851 = 14
- New Zealand 1842 = 5
- South Africa 1850-1859 = 1
- South Africa 1870-1879 = 1
- South Africa 1880-1899 = 11
- South Africa 1890-1899 = 2
- South Africa 1900-1909 = 2
IRELAND: 248
Births: 1
- Co Donegal: 1
Marriages: 5
- Co Down: 2
- Dublin: 3
Deaths: 241
- Co Antrim: 4
- Co Armagh 2
- Belfast 3
- Co Cork 2
- Co Donegal 115
- Co Down: 5
- Dublin 2
- Co Fermanagh 1
- Co Galway 7
- Co Londonderry 7
- Co Louth 6
- Co Mayo 62
- Co Monaghan 1
- Co Sligo 8
- Co Tyrone 10
- Co Westmeath 3
- Co Wicklow 3
Other: 1
MIDDLE EAST: not yet
MILITARY: 311
Note: Arlington National Cemetery records are found in USA: Virginia Deaths.
Civil War – 1 Confederate soldier
WORLD WAR I: 126
- 8 new Gillespie burials in France, Belgium & on Memorials. Created a new page for World War I: Belgium burials. One new burial for Indian soldier.
- 43 Australia soldiers (National Archives of Australia)
- 75 New Zealand soldiers & reservists
WORLD WAR II: 100
- Australia 20 soldiers found (rechecked Australian Memorial)
- Canada 36 soldiers
- USA: 44 new soldiers found, including:
D-DAY
Fred E Gillespie, ID O-436334. 1st Lieutenant. US Army. 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment Entered from South Carolina. Died June 6, 1944. Parachutist. Normandy American Cemetery, FRANCE Plot A Row 14 Grave 35. Awarded Purple Heart.
-
- Nicholas Napoleon Gillaspie, American from Virginia. Died on Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944. Born March 28, 1918. Company A, 1st Battalion. 116th Infantry Regiment. Normandy American Cemetery, Plot J. Row 13, Grave 4. FRANCE.
Wilbert Howard Gillespie, Sapper, ID M/106592. Royal Canadian Engineers. Died June 7, 1944. (Survived the first day, but died the second). Buried in Beny-Sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, FRANCE.
William H. Gillespie, ID O-124847. US Army. Major. 23 General Hospital. Entered from New York. Died June 7, 1945. Epinal American Cemetery, Plot B, Row 41, Grave 32. (Died second day of invasion).
(See Asia for World War II internees released from Chinese Prisoner Camps)
KOREAN WAR: (1950 – 1953) 20 more soldiers.
VIETNAM WAR: (1955-1975) 61 more Gillespie soldiers found.
MIDDLE EAST CONFLICTS: 3
……………………….
Today, Nov 11, 2025, I honour a Vietnam soldier, Robert Gillespie Jr of Attleboro, Bristol, Massachusetts, the only son of Robert Sr, (1917-1994) and Lois Gillespie (1919 – 2014), who were very involved in sending out a Gillespie newsletter for many years. (Newsletters In Library Archives).
Robert J Gillespie Jr, birth Jan 12, 1942. Death Aug 11, 1968 (in Vietnam). Burial Mount Hope Cemetery, North Attleboro, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States of America. His photo with his record.
……….
MUSIC
Lovely, uplifting songs to enjoy. Some piano teaching & Gillespie musicians.
NEW ZEALAND: 975
Births: 349
Marriages: 357
Deaths: 269
See also Immigration & Passenger Lists (left menu bar)
CONGRATULATIONS: 50,000th record added to this website was a New Zealand death on Feb 28, 2025 at 11:20am EST Canada
SCOTLAND: 424
Births: 9
Marriages: 5
Deaths: 409 including Islay and Shetland Islands
Other: 1
SOUTH AMERICA: 8
- Argentina: 5
- Guyana Birth: 1
- British Guiana Marriage 1
- Ecuador 1
USA: 1, 030
- Alabama: (possible soldier of World War I) 1
- California: early immigration records: 19
Births: 95
Marriages: 9
Obituaries: 914 Arlington Cemetery records for VA included.
Goal Accomplished: 54,000th record typed for OHIO Deaths, Spruce Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati. December 19, 2025.
Other: 12
WALES: not yet
PERSONAL: My Family History (left menu bar)
Monthly Summary
January 1 Beginning Balance 49, 342 Gillespie records
January 96 49, 438
February 973 50, 411
March 131 50, 542
April 81 50, 623
May 155 50, 778
June 791 51, 569
July 661 52, 230
August 726 52, 956
September 124 53, 080
October 274 53, 354
November 406 53, 760
December 674 54, 434
Total Records New This Year: 5, 092
This website began Dec 6, 2016
(9th Anniversary 2025)
WEBSITE RECORDS SUMMARY
Record totals will change over the year, and gives a glimpse at total records in each Gillespie database, month by month. End of Year now provided.
| LOCATION | JAN 1, 2025 | AS OF Dec 31 | TOTAL RECORDS |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFRICA | 648 | +51 | 699 |
| ASIA | 564 | +58 | 622 |
| AUSTRALIA | 2,798 | +597 | 3,395 |
| CANADA | 10,984 | +471 | 11,455 |
| CENTRAL AMERICA | 42 | +1 | 43 |
| ENGLAND | 1,383 | 879 | 2,262 |
| EUROPE | 142 | 0 | 142 |
| IMMIGRATION | 1,512 | 36 | 1,548 |
| IRELAND | 9, 238 | +248 | 9, 486 |
| MIDDLE EAST | 26 | 0 | 26 |
| MILITARY | 3,983 | 311 | 3,894 |
| MUSIC | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| NEW ZEALAND | 626 | +975 | 1, 601 |
| OCEANIA | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| SCOTLAND | 5,949 | +424 | 6,373 |
| SOUTH AMERICA | 49 | +8 | 57 |
| USA | 11,555 | +1030 | 12, 583 |
| WALES | 122 | 0 | 122 |
| TOTAL | 49, 342 | + 5, 092 = | 54,434 |
Includes: Caribbean 58 3 120
Quiz answer: The love of Sam’s life, Minnie Elizabeth Gillespie (1876-1933) his third wife (m June 3, 1918 in Erie, PA) of Morewood, Dundas County, d/o William Gillespie & Lucy Beach, granddaughter of James Gillespie & Margaret Cameron formerly of Aberdeen, Scotland, who lived nearby in Chesterville. Family history of James and Margaret and also & his parents in Scotland from link. Minnie died of kidney failure, and her mother Lucy, a widow, came to help care for her in the east end of Toronto. Minnie’s father, William Gillespie, had passed away. Minnie lies in the grave beside my father.
