Genealogy Chat

This info is regarding a New Graveyard in Burmantofts,Leeds but I would think it was the same all over the country, in large cities at least. If you read the full article it gives an idea of what was going on in the 1800's. In the first forty years of the cemetery's existence the vast majority of burials were in common graves. A grave was dug and for the next week or so whomsoever arrived for a burial went in, irrespective of age or sex. No memorial was provided. As a cost cutting exercise incredible numbers were crammed into each grave. For example, Grave 6631 - opened on 5th July 1856 for an adult male, Ebenezer Kitchin and 16yrs old Elizabeth Graham, then five more adults, and then some tiny ones; Alice Lord 10yrs, Rachel Schofield 1½ days, Hannah Holt 18 months, George Smith 11 months, Joseph Binns 1 month, Sophia Penny 6 days, Josephine Malthouse 7 weeks, and on and on and on until on August 14th, 7 months old Patrick McAnnalys. In a grave, theoretically 12 feet deep, 38 persons now rested (in peace?). How this was physically done is open to speculation. It may be that someone made a small profit on re-useable coffins! Taken from the following:- http://dnausers.d-n-a.net/leodis-leeds/Certainty.html AND An Act of Parliament passed in 1832 allowed for the bodies of people dying in workhouses to be donated to medical researchers – undercutting the booming bodysnatching business in one fell swoop. (Found on a different site!).

Hi Blossom, where is the graveyard you are referring to? Carol

Oh Blossom That is a really a interesting site.....A lot of my B/family ancestors are buried in Burmatofts cemetery! I have bookmarked it + am going to read more later.(am babysitting G/daughter today!) I dread to think about all those poor house bodies being used for research. Regards Ann

Hi Carol, It's in Burnmantofts, Leeds. I would presume at that time though there were doing new Graveyards all over the country. If you read the whole article which is not long it refers to new laws at that time. It makes me very sad that those poor people had such hard lives and ended up burrying their dead like this. I also found that they used both sides of the gravestones, they would bury people back to back. The original person that could afford a stone used the front and the other person burried on the other side of the stone could have so many letters for so many pennies put on the other side! I know that there are a lot of 'back to back' graves in Leeds. So folks always worth checking the back of the headstones.