Genealogy Chat

Does anyone know if people who died in the workhouse were generally buried in a paupers individual or mass grave or in a local cemetary?

The ones I've come across so far were buried in pauper's graves with other people, I found this relating to Pauper's Graves: COMMON GRAVE The general term for a grave belonging to the owners of the cemetery, in which no private burial rights existed. Common graves were filled over the course of a few days with the bodies of unrelated people who died during that period and who could afford nothing better. No headstone was erected, so the occupants were uncommemorated. (See the LOCK-UP GRAVE and PUBLIC GRAVE sections below.) 'PAUPER'S GRAVE' A pauper was a penniless person buried by the Board of Guardians (i.e., at public expense). Any common grave would probably contain some paupers as well as some people whose families had managed to pay for the burial, so there is really no such thing as a 'pauper's grave', and the term is never used officially.

Thanks for the reply Sam. Do you know if the graves were in the nearest local cemetary or in the grounds of the workhouse ?

Just from personal experience, the ones I have found so far were in the nearest local cemetery. I suppose it is possible that people were buried in the workhouse grounds but I have yet to come across it. Some did have their own burial grounds though. If you go to http://www.workhouses.org.uk/ and click on 'Workhouse Life' on the list on the left, Death is one of the options. Click this and you get some useful info. Sam x

Thanks again Sam. I will have a look on that site