Looking for a photo in the Punjab

[Linwood247]

After much searching I discovered that my grandmother's brother died in the Punjab in 1898 while serving with the British Army, and is buried in East Cemetery in Sialkot, now Pakistan. He and other men of the 11th Hussars are commemorated on a plaque in the Holy Trinity church. My mum and I would love to see a photo of his grave or the plaque. I have tried everything I can think of, contacting the Anglican church in London and Pakistan, the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia, British Library India Service, the Regimental museum, posting on Sialkot FB pages, and emailing total strangers in Sialkot I found through google. No luck. All I need is someone in that city to go to the church and take a photo of the plaque. (The church doesn't have email.) I would dearly love a photo of his grave before it's destroyed but that's probably asking too much. Does anyone have any ideas, contacts, suggestions - anything! Thanks.

[MaryA]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I wonder if you might have more luck if you posted on a specific forum for that area.

Have you tried http://www.rootschat.com/ which has individual boards for most places around the globe.

There is also a site called http://www.findagrave.com/ that you might try.

[Linwood247]

Thanks Mary, I will give both of those a try.

[VicMar1]

Hi Linwood,Just noticed your post and wondered,have you tried FIBIS to see if there are any avenues to try there ? They have some very good researchers all over the continent so I would hope that something would be available.
There is a chap by the name of Malcolm Spiers whose own area of interest is Lucknow but he does travel a great deal between here and india.
If he cant help directly he may be able to suggest a solution.
PM me and I will give you his e-mail.

edit to add.
There is a Pro Photographer named Irfan Mirza who is based in that area ? Have you tried contacting him ?
Check out his FLICKR profile and perhaps send him an e-mail request.
https://www.flickr.com/people/mirzairfan/
Dont know when he was last seen there but worth a try ?

[Linwood247]

Thanks for your reply, VicMar1. I hadn't tried FIBIS as I didn't think their interests applied to my soldier, but you're right, their researchers may be able to help. I'll try them and if I don't get anywhere I'll PM you for that fellow's email.
Funnily enough, Irfan Mirza is one of the people I found through google, and did email. He was nice enough to respond, saying he could get to the church in the near future. That was months ago and I've heard nothing. I haven't followed up as I don't want to pester him.
I also emailed the factory that made the footballs for the World Cup, which is in Sialkot. But nothing. But there is someone out there who can get this photo I'm sure. I'm grateful for your suggestions - thank you!

[VicMar1]

I think you may need to put your request to Irfan on a more business like footing maybe ? Ask him to quote you a price for doing the 'job' and what you could expect from him in return. You may have to accept quite a few photographs of the plaque,the stone,the church and the Graveyard and make it a real commission for him to undertake. Use the tariff at FIBIS as an example of what to expect. It will be a lot less than a trip there yourself ?.
You probably will need to chase him to get it done because it gets very,very hot for most of the year and when its not hot there are monsoons.
He has probably overlooked it,I would contact him again to show him you are serious and still interested, dont worry about 'pestering' him , he will require payment and he IS a professional after all.

[Linwood247]

You raise good points, I'd thought of offering cash to get someone to take the photo and who knows, sundry cousins may be willing to chip in!

[VicMar1]

I can only affirm that money does indeed make the world go around and Genealogy can turn into a very expensive hobby for some. My own family research spans Pakistan, India, South Africa and Ireland so I know this only too well. We are fortunate that this forum exists for us all to help each other when we can ?.
Good luck