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The Death and Burial Question

A space for genealogy-related conversations.
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Norfolk Nan
Posts: 506
Joined: 16 Jun 2020, 11:54
Location: A Londoner lost in Norfolk

The Death and Burial Question

Post by Norfolk Nan »

As Guy has posted about finding graves in the Tips section I thought it might be an interesting subject to discuss. We tend to dash off looking for births, baptisms and marriages because they move us forward with family names etc but do we take as much notice of deaths and burials? I'm the first one to hold my hand up and say, in the name of economics, that I didn't bother with death certificates very often so burials were overlooked too. But, interesting things do crop up on both. During lockdown I've had the time and the opportunity to look for deaths, bought a few certificates and traced burials. I'm converted.

I've discovered three couples (different branches) who died within a couple of days of each other and were buried together. That's a very neat ending to a life together, isn't it? The first such discovery was made via a burial register in a London cemetary and concerned a couple who I suspected of being the parents of my ancester but I couldn't find any evidence - I bought both death certificates (partly to see why they had died, it was natural causes and not something more dramatic as I'd imagined) and details of the person reporting both deaths neatly solved my longstanding mystery. Why did I wait so long?

Another trawl through a burial register, in Cambridgeshire this time, not only revealed the burial I'd gone looking for but also a burial for an 8 year old child. The child had lived with the first person but was her nephew, the son of her widowed sister. The widowed sister was my direct ancester and I hadn't known that she had been pregnant when her husband died suddenly within a year or two of their marriage. That added more tragedy to an already very sad story.

I've yet to find a burial in a graveyard with a still-standing headstone. Many of my 20c London ancestors opted for community burials so headstones weren't allowed and now there's nothing to find. Nowadays the family opts to scatter ashes at favourite beauty spots, which makes me wonder what researchers of the future will make of all those missing burials? How will they ever know what happened to their ancestors?
devonliz
Posts: 60
Joined: 13 Jun 2020, 20:31

Re: The Death and Burial Question

Post by devonliz »

I am referring below to some 19th-century gravestones:
I have just completed a study of the people listed on my old 'family gravestone', which covered three generations. I believe that my great-grandfather compiled the names and dates of his family to have them inscribed on a marble stone that had been set up by his own grandfather , but which remained 'empty' for 40 years. I surmise that he wanted to put up a full family history, in order of birth years, but since he had been orphaned when young and there seems to have been nobody to consult about the correct dates, he got several dates wrong, and omitted an aunt.
Other graves in the same churchyard were evidently set up by the heads of families, with names inscribed as each death occurred, sadly often several children before their parents. Even here I have found that the dates on the memorial differ from those in newspapers or death certificates.
So, while gravestones are wonderful memorials and provide a good deal of information, it's always worth checking the death notices in newspapers, the civil registers of death, and the church registers wherever possible.
avaline
Posts: 77
Joined: 13 Jun 2020, 23:23

Re: The Death and Burial Question

Post by avaline »

I've long been a 'fan' of death certificates, as not only can they give you useful information such as addresses & informants, but the cause of death can be illuminating too.

For instance, I learned that my 14-year-old GG Uncle died in an asylum. His asylum records were heart-breaking, but also confirmed my suspicions as to his & my GG Grandfather's biological father. Without his death certificate I would never have found this information.

Death certificates can also lead to a better understanding of the social conditions. My GGG Grandfather died of consumption aged 35, and within a year his wife & mother had both died of cholera. This led me to a sanitation report detailing the conditions street-by-street. While we might already know these things in the abstract, it really does hit home when there's a personal connection.

I've also discovered things like 20th century industrial accidents - too commonplace to even make the papers before the days of health & safety.

My OH thinks I'm morbid, but I do look forward to each new death certificate landing on the doormat :D
pinefamily
Posts: 64
Joined: 26 Jun 2020, 20:16

Re: The Death and Burial Question

Post by pinefamily »

Death certificates, burial registers, and headstones all can be informative. I have made further links with all three, as well as "putting meat on the bones" of the bare BMD's of my ancestors.
A good example is by looking at the actual images of the Temple Guiting burial registers, I was able to prove that an ancestor died as a child, and therefore not the ancestor of so many trees online.
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Guy
Posts: 135
Joined: 01 Jun 2020, 19:14
Location: Wakefield
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Re: The Death and Burial Question

Post by Guy »

I would suggest one of the most informative records of the death register group of records for family history may be grave plot registers.

Grave plot registers otherwise known as lair registers can be a bit hit or miss, but can tie in family members as they record everyone buried in the grave plot. This may include sons & daughters born and died before or between census, daughters in law and even grandchildren.
Not many people seem to mention them but they are a very useful source.

Here is an example of a grave plot number 1465
Corporation of Manchester Register of Burials, Philips Park Cemetery, The Consecrated Part, records the following burials in plot number 1465.
Each register entry, recorded by date of burial, spreads over two pages and details the following information:
(For clarity I have recorded it in the following order listing in order of burial - page number, year of burial, (on one line followed by the details given on the line below) burial number, date of burial (here I have repeated the month & year), name, age, rank or profession, abode, parish or district, mode of burial, section, plot number, signature of minister, signature of registrar. 

843, 1904, October.
19445, 20 Oct 1904, Elizabeth Etchells, 63 years, married, 22 Durham St, Harpurhey, Freehold, C, Stombele, S.A. Andrews

39, 1905, February.
80567, 24 Feb 1905, Richard Etchells, 70 years, P. Constable, 22 Durham St, Harpurhey, Freehold, C, Stombele, S.A. Andrews

296, 1906, September.
85714, 27 Sep 1906, Elizabeth Hayes, 5 years, Infant, 43, Sun St, Newton, Freehold, C, 1465, H. Stombele, S.A. Andrews

226, 1922, June.
126570, 26 Jun 1922, Alice Hayes, 50 years, married, 43, Sun St, Newton, Freehold, C, 1465, S. Sidebotham, Wm. Swanwich.

306, 1923, November.
128965, 19 Nov 1923, James Hayes, 56 Labourer, 43, Sun St, Newton, Freehold, C, 1465, W. H. Austwick, Wm. Swanwich.

Richard & Elizabeth Etchells were the parents, Elizabeth Hayes their grandaughter and Alice hayes their daughter who had married James Hayes
Cheers
Guy

PS each of the above records can then be checked for further information on the relevant page
As we have gained from the past, we owe the future a debt, which we pay by sharing today.
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