Genealogy Chat

What does non purchased mean in relation to the burial area please?
I have a relative who is buried in Surbiton cemetery and the entry in the register says Section 10 grave 3807 non purchased. I have viewed it online but wondered what it meant.

Thanks Di

If you want to erect a headstone on a grave you usually have to purchase the plot. When you do this you actually only purchase the plot for a limited period of time, usually something like 25 or 50 years.

If the plot was not purchased, then chances are there is no headstone and the cemetery can use the plot again after a certain amount of time (not sure how long this is).

Kath. x

Kathleen
Thank you. I wondered whether it was a pauper grave but you have explained it well.

Di

I'm not certain that Kath is quite complete in her explanation. Yes, you cannot put up a headstone if you haven't purchased the grave, but even if there isn't a headstone you still had to purchase the grave if you wanted a say in who was buried in it (e.g. other family members).

She is correct in saying the plot is only "owned" for a certain amount of time (75 years in our local one) - but the cemetery can used the plot again after that time, whether there is a headstone or not, unless the person with the "grave deeds" pays some sort of fee to "re-purchase" it for a further period. After the period, no new bodies can be interred unless the plot is re-purchased.

Despite this, I wonder if any graveyards do actually re-use graves, especially if there is a memorial stone. Sounds a bit grisly and mean.

I would guess that Di's relative WAS buried in a common grave - not necessarily as a pauper as really only quite wealthy people could afford a grave (unless, as a relative of mine was, you were the cemetery registrar and a stonemason to boot!). The registrar of the cemetery should be able to tell you who else was buried in that grave, and confirm what "non-purchased" meant. My cemetery calls them common graves but another nearby calls them "board graves" because they were approved by the committee of the burial board.

Margaret

The old name for them was paupers grave but in Municipal Cemeteries here in the South East they are called public graves and will have unrelated burials in them.
I found my grt gran, who was buried in 1907, was in a grave with 8 in total all unrelated.