Genealogy Chat

For some reason, it only occurred to me today that I might not find headstones for my ancestors because their relatives were unable to afford them. How do I check whether or not people are buried in a particular cemetery? Is the only way through Parish Records, which I assume are not held locally?

Any advice please?

Most large cemeteries keep records of the people buried there. Our local cemetery has an office where you can ask about a particular surname and they will give you a print out of all people with that surname buried in their cemetery. They will also give you a map of the cemetery with the position of any particular grave marked on it, so you can find the general area even if there is no gravestone.

Some cemeteries charge for this service but others don't. (Luckily mine doesn't and I have had lots of help from the lady who works there).

If a cemetery doesn't have an office, then you should contact the cemeteries department of the local council, who should be able to help.

Kath. x

I found this out last weekend. The man who runs the cemetry told me to go to the local council office and if i know the dates of the death i can ask to look at the records myself. Their version of the death certificate has an extra bit showing the burial plot number and most cemetries have a plan on display showing where these plots are.

My local office charges £25 to look for you but as he said, if you know the details you have the right to have a look yourself.

The National Burial Index discs contain 13 million burials, which sounds like a lot, but is a drop in the ocean really. Some counties have very good coverage, others are patchy,
if you would like a look up, either post the info on her, I need county, surname and village or town, or a specific name if it is just one person, plus a rough idea of the date. In theory they go up to 2002, but in practice there are not that many modern records.
if you don't want to put it on here, just send me a pm.

Linda