Genealogy Chat

Recently, I saw a thread mentioning ownership of grave plots. How do I find out who owns my GGGrandfather and Mother's grave and how can I get (if I can) get ownership of it? Rowena

What if it is not a municipal cemetary? Do I go direct to the cemetary itself?

you need to contact the local council if its a municipal cemetary. who arranged the last interment cos they must have info,

That's what I actually though, so I am going to get in contact with the church now and see! Thank you Rowena

Well would guess you are talking local church? I would contact the verger then Shirley

Most graves r owned for 100yrs then the person whom ownes the land takes over.....this is usually from first burial date....Ciao Joanie

Just a word of caution. I enquired at the local council offices for the cemetery where my husband's great-grandparents are buried, regarding taking on ownership of the grave. The cemeteries officer nearly bit off my hand with enthusiasm and said of course they would be pleased to register the grave in my name (which I hadn't told her). She then went on to bemoan the fact that so many old gravestones didn't having living owners, and when these ownerless gravestones need to be laid flat due to being unsafe, the bill has to be footed by the council. If an owner is living, the bill gets sent to them! Having seen the state of the gravestone in question, which is a cross shaped monument leaning at an alarming angle due to the cemetery being on top of an old coal mine, I'm afraid I thought better of the idea. Be warned. :-) Chris

Thankyou for that. I have seen the grave in question and the headstone standing firmly upright. The stone that was lying on top was slightly craked. I have pictures of them.

Hopefully, the really helpful lady that I emailed would be able to tell me if they own the grave!

Where I live the church burial ground has been taken over by the council parish council. However not all areas have parish councils in which case it is a district council's problem. Clive

My farher is buried in a municipal cemetery and we only own the grave for 25 years. OC

This is the response that I got from the lady Mount Zion is not a municipal cemetery. It is owned and maintained by the Church. I don't think I can tell you who bought the grave. We keep a record of the number and the name of the first burial or the name of the owner if it is bought prior to a death. What is the best way to get in contact with the church. Mount Zion is in Halifax.

The business with unsafe gravestones being laid flat has become a big issue where I live, and we're talking about some graves that are less than 50years old. We know for a fact that some of them they've done it too were completely sturdy. It's all about the laziness of the grounds staff I think and some of them really are lazy, they just want to strim the grass arbitrarily and don't care about the graves. It's really sad when you consider that some people take good care of their graves and come to find the head strimmed off flowers etc. They just don't treat them with the respect that people used to I don't think. I think it depends on whether you're looking at a town graveyard or a church yard. And of course some churches still have graveyards but don't necessarily accept new internments. So you could buy the grave and end up not being able to use it.

Hi Rowena, If you google Mount Zion Halifax you will find they have their own website with lots of interesting information including graveyard plans and a searchable database. There is also a contact page. Regards, Audrey

Very interesting information on that site. they may even have a photo of the grave on there... very cool, every cemetry should have one.

A church near me is being turned into flats and they want permision to make the grave yard into a car park I think its terrible people have no respect today

I have already being in contact with the lady at Mount Zion her response is above. I also being to the Chapel and cleaned up my families grave. sutcliffefamilyhistory(.)co(.)uk

I think I would assume that the one of the people in the grave bought it, depending on how many are in there. Where it's a couple I would think the second of the two who died would own it. I find it hard to believe that they don't know who owns/owned it. They surely must keep a record of that in order to prevent double selling a plot? Or being able to sell a plot to someone else when the ownership expires. They have this page on the website: www*mountzionhalifax*org*uk/ (replace * with . and then down the side they have 'grave sales' ) you'll need to allow pop-ups if your browser auto blocks them. They have pages of grave sales depending on the area and years. What dates are we talking about for the death(s)? Liz

using the link to your site I have this grave: (year) (name) (abode) (trade) (grave) 1844 James Sutcliffe, Illingworth Moor, Weaver 191 actually quite a few sutcliffes on there...several from Illingworth Moor. also, I assume to be Jane: 1887 Mrs Sutcliffe Illingworth (the one for Mrs Sutcliffe doesn't give a grave ID) That said, this is meant to be a list of grave sales so I'm not sure if it says the person buried in it is the one who bought it. I would say given the date that ownership would have lapsed and if you're able to buy it then I see no reason why you shouldn't. Ah wait I see from the picture of the grave on your site that Sarah-Jane died first in 1871... that could change things...goes back to view again. BTW you did an excellent job of cleaning up the gravestone. update: OK... if I understand this right... I would take a guess and say that Jonathan bought the grave when Sarah Jane died. 1871 Jonathan Suttcliffe Thornton Coalminer

Thank you Liz for your complient. Your right about Jonathan Sutcliffe being a coalminer. When Jonathan died, I think his living daugther also called Sarah Jane may have taken over the ownership of the grave as she registered his death. Jonathan must have being the first owner