A party of Costain family members, visiting the island from America for Tynwald, went to see the grave of one of their ancestors in Foxdale.

In today’s world of Skype and Facebook, where a flight across the Atlantic takes only a matter of hours, it is hard to imagine waving your children off to work in America knowing you that you were unlikely ever to see them again.

But that is what happened to John and Isabella Costain and many other families on the island in times gone by.

John and Isabella lived in Foxdale with their six children, in a cottage called Break O Day.

In the mid 1890s the collapse of the mining industry caused a major depression and led to closures of the mines, including the Foxdale mine which had previously employed 250 people underground.

Like many others around that time, five of John and Isabella’s children decided to try their luck in the United States.

The first of their children to leave the island were their two daughters, Elizabeth and Isabelle, who went in 1903.

The following year, 1904, their sons William and John left to join them. In 1910, another son, Joseph Edric, also left.

All of them settled in Ohio.

A younger son, Athol Costain, stayed behind with his parents.

John and Isabella never saw their other children again: one of their sons returned for a visit, in 1958, but this was after his parents had died.

This year, Joseph Edric’s son, Joe who is now 86, was one of the party who visited the island and he was able to lay flowers on the grave of his grandparents.

’It was quite an emotional journey for him,’ said Jill Collings who helped to organise the visit. Jill is the granddaughter of Athol Costain who stayed in the island.

She said: ’The Costain descendants hold an annual reunion every year in Ohio which I attended last year with over 70 family members.

’On returning to the island, I tried to locate the grave of John and Isabella in Foxdale but was unable to find it.

’Looking at records in the Manx Museum, I was able to find the plot number and the wording on the grave stone. As the stone was completly worn away, I decided to have a replacement made.

’It felt appropriate to do this during the visit of the USA family.’

During their visit, the family have also been able to visit Break O Day cottage and the Tynwald celebrations.