Genealogy Chat

My Grandmother was married twice. Her first husband died in London. She married my Grandfather and they, with her three children, moved to S.Wales. My Grandfather died and was buried in S.Wales. My (half) cousin lives in the same house that my Grandparents lived in, in 1912. About 18 months ago I discovered my Grandfather's grave - now, my (half) cousin frequently visits his grave and lays flowers. I have tried to find her Grandfather's grave, without success. I've contacted the local councils/cemeteries - but can't find him. My cousin says 'I've got your Grandfather down here with me and you've got mine up there with you'. Only trouble is, I can't find him. Any ideas? M.Steer

Could he have been cremated?

Could he have been buried in a churchyard rather than a cemetery. If you have his death certificate you could try to find out which churches were closest to where he died. The County Record office may have churchyard plans or the churches themselves. Kath. x

Are you ABSOLUTELY sure that he was buried in London, and not Wales? OC

Not sure of the dates covered but the National Burial Index (NBI) might show something up.

Thankyou all for your replies. This really has me stumped - I've been trying for years to find him. I've contacted all the relevant councils/cemeteries but they have no record of him. He may have been cremated but in 1906 I think it unlikely, even so, there should still be a record of him. If he were buried in a churchyard as opposed to a cemetery, would the present day councils not hold a record? There's no reason for him to be buried in Wales. He had no connection with Wales. He was born in Oxon., he lived and died in London. I've checked with the parish church in Oxon., even though I doubt my Grandmother could have afforded to send him back there, again no record. If he were buried in a 'pauper's grave' wouldn't there still be a record? Perhaps I shouldn't say this (don't want to upset anyone) and it's a bit 'ghoulish' but I read somewhere that 'in those days' bodies (of the poor) were used for 'medical research'. What happened to them afterwards? This man has been dead for almost 100 years - I doubt that anyone has visited his grave, let alone laid flowers, in all that time. I'm not asking anyone to do my research for me, maybe I just need 'another slant' on things. Thanks again, M. Steer

If he was buried in a churchyard it would be in the parish registers, held at the Record Office, not by the Council. I would try the nearest church to where he died.

Margaret If this were my relative, then this is what I would do - you may have already done some of it, so forgive me for that. You have his Death Certificate, I take it? If he died of an infectious (notifiable) disease then he may well have been cremated - the authorities would insist on this. You have his residential address at the time of his death? Look in the local papers to see if there was a death notice/report of his funeral - this may say where he was interred. Generally, the smaller the local paper, the fuller the report, I find! I think you can completely dismiss the idea of 'medical research'. This only happened when there was no one to claim a body, and no obvious relatives - I assume your grandmother was the informant, so this is obviously not the case here. I would not completely dismiss the idea of cremation - London was running out of burial space in the 1870s and unless your family already had a purchased plot in a Churchyard, they would have been unlikely to have got one (unless they had strong affiliations with that Church - again, unlikely in this case as you would have presumably found it by now) That leaves burial in a Municipal Cemetery or Cremation. A Pauper's grave would have been almost certainly in the nearest <Municipal Cemetery, to save on costs. But the widow may have been 'persuaded' to opt for cremation, as this was a far cheaper option for local Authorities. Even a Pauper's grave should have details of who is buried there - the problem is, they usually charge for a blanket search of the records which could prove expensive if you have to search several cemeteries. Try the newspaper option if you haven't already done so - I have had some fantastic results using this method, including a report of one ancestor who was buried in one place, then disinterred and buried in another place because his widow fell out with the Vicar of the first Church! Good luck OC