Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
When and why was the GPR created?
The GPR was first started in 1997 as a private hobby website by its creator Charles Sale. After a year of testing and development, he had a working version that containing a number of cemeteries. This version was initially available as a section with the Oultwood Local Government web index. It 2001 he then registered the domain name "www.gravestonephotos.com" and made it publically available on the internet.
A major reason why Charles started the project was because of the family history research he had been doing about his own family. In the course of this research, he visited a number of churchyards in the villages where his ancestors had lived. During these searches, he never found a single grave monument for a family member. However, what he did notice was that although there were some very legible monuments, many were completely illegible. It was while looking at a particularly interesting and legible monument that he thought "I wish that was one of my family - I bet someone would love to see it." And thus the idea of the GPR was born.
The original version of the GPR website was very primative compared to the current version. It was written in static HTML and could not be searched.
The ability to search came in about 2001 when the website transferred to its own domain and was converted to PHP and started to use the MySQL database.
Fundimental principals of the website
There were a number of principals that were established when the website was first created:
- Only entire churchyard and cemeteries would be included.
- All names mentioned on a grave monument would be included.
- Relationships mentioned on the grave monument would be included.
- Grave monument photos would be supplied free of charge.
- Encourage others to help photograph and index grave monuments.
Once people started to receive their free grave monument photos, some sent copies of their own family grave photos. Thus there are now some churchyards and cemeteries that only have one or two photographs.