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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Devon Lookup Requests => Devon => England => Devon Completed Lookup Requests => Topic started by: sueclog on Friday 01 June 07 21:47 BST (UK)
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I've just found out my g g grandfather, William Greeney, was buried in grave 6133R at Torquay cemetery. Others have since been buried in the grave as it was unpurchased. If anyone is at the cemetery, I'd be really pleased to know if it is traceable, and if there is anything there at all to suggest that he is buried there.
Thanks
Sue
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Hi Sue, very unlikely to be any sort of marker- so-called common graves are not allowed to have any stone or other memorial put on them. My grandfather is in one there and this is what we were told.
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Thanks for that info. I haven't any chance of getting back down to Devon this year, so it looks like a search next year just to find the spot will be in order.
Thanks for your interest,
Sue
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Dear Sue
My grandmother was buried in a common grave at Torquay cemetery but the staff there were very helpful and were able to let us have the location of the grave. It was just a piece of grass but at least we know where it is now and we also discovered that another occupant in the grave was her son. The third occupant was another person not related to them. The office at the cemetery do have a plan of the graves and hopefully can help you locate the one you are looking for.
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Did you get in touch beforehand to arrange the visit or did you just arrive on spec?
Sue
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Dear Sue
I phoned them first just to double check the office opening hours and then called into the office where they showed me a plan of the cemetery and gave me the grave reference number and its whereabouts. It took about 30 minutes to find the actual grave as their plans are always a bit difficult to interpret and if any other gravestones are missing nearby then you can get a bit confused - just a bit of perseverance needed.
This is their phone number 01803 329977
Torquay Cemetery & Crematorium
Hele Road
Torquay
TQ2 7QG
Mon - 09:00 to 17:00 Tues - 09:00 to 17:00 Weds - 09:00 to 17:00 Thurs - 09:00 to 17:00 Fri - 09:00 to 16:30 (But please double check times with them)
Am attaching the plan of the cemetery I guess the grave you are seeking is in section R - they will tell you which other named graves it is next to or near.
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Dear Sue
I have just noticed that there are 2 section R's
on the map
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Thanks for all your help. This is brilliant!
Sue :)
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Dear Sue
Is there a headstone on the grave? If you can get them to pinpoint where your grave would be in the R section, I am near enough to visit the cemetery and take photographs if you wish.
Regards
devongirl
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Dear Devongirl,
We don't know if there's a headstone, but I very much doubt it, especially given some of the help I have been given above. The info from Cheshiremog suggests to me we might be talking about a piece of grass (if we're lucky), but if you'd be prepared to go and look for me, I'd be delighted. Cheshiremog's plan pinpoints area R clearly, but I can e-mail the cemetery again if you think it's necessary.
Sue
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Hi Sue
I will try to get over there in the next week. The plan was quite clear but I wasn't sure if there are markers for the plots. The office probably wont be open when I go, but I'll have a scout around and let you know.
devongirl
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P.S. If you could find out if it is in the consecrated or unconsecrated section it would be a big help and also as Cheshiremog suggests they may be able to tell you what grave names are nearby to help pinpoint it.
devongirl
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Hi
I think that like in a lot of cemeteries the markers have got moved around and sometimes lost
It is very helpful to have some names on nearby graves to go on
I think you can phone them and they will look it up before you go
or maybe you can email them?
Torbay Borough Council website I believe
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Hello everyone! You're all being fantastic with this!
The info I got from the cemetery was that he was buried on 8 June 1889 in grave number 6133 section R consecrated. I will e-mail again and ask for any named graves nearby. I'll post again as soon as I receive a reply.
:) Sue
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Sue
Did you notice on the map I sent you that the shaded areas are consecrated
and the unshaded areas are not
mog
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Dear Devongirl
I have received a very quick reply to my e-mail. There was an error in the info from last time, in that the grave is 6133 in section K consecrated. I said that a friend was willing to come and look for it for me, but they want to know when so that they can prepare info in advance.
I guess this might make things more difficult for you. If so, don't worry about it; I will get down there again at some stage, probably next year, and I have all of your combined information to help me now.
Thanks
Sue :)
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Hi Sue
Only just seen your email, I came online to print map of cemetery out. Dont worry I will take a run out anyway as it is a nice day and who knows I may be lucky. If not I will try to go one day when the offie is open. Will let you know if I was succesful later.
devongirl
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Hi Devongirl!
Thanks for that! Good luck!
Sue
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Hi Sue
Well I found the correct section (thanks to the handy map from cheshiremog) but I'm afraid it was the same as she had found, that section is mainly grass. However we (my husband helped me) did check every headstone (barring 2 which were very badly overgrown with brambles) just to satisfy ourselves that there wasn't one for William Greeney.
I managed to find 2 markers on graves(most were worn off) one which was 3000 odd and another for the 4000 odd so I took some pictures of a couple of rows down where I imagined the rows for the 6000 odd would be. Also some general pictures of that section so you can see how peaceful it is.
I will have to upload the pictures tomorrow as I am awaiting the help of my son to do it and hes gone out!
Torquay cemetery has had some bad publicity this last year locally, as they have been removing headstones which they considered dangerous under the 'Health and Safety' act, but overall I found the Cemetery well cared for, I hadn't been there before only to the crematorium. Strangely it was a pleasant visit in the sun.
If you do have any further information to pinpoint the grave I dont mind revisiting and taking more photos of the exact location.
Devongirl
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Dear Devongirl,
You are a star! Thank you so much for doing all this for me. I'll send you a pm, and I think we can call this a successful completion. Well done!
Sue
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Dear Sue
I phoned them first just to double check the office opening hours and then called into the office where they showed me a plan of the cemetery and gave me the grave reference number and its whereabouts. It took about 30 minutes to find the actual grave as their plans are always a bit difficult to interpret and if any other gravestones are missing nearby then you can get a bit confused - just a bit of perseverance needed.
This is their phone number 01803 329977
Torquay Cemetery & Crematorium
Hele Road
Torquay
TQ2 7QG
Mon - 09:00 to 17:00 Tues - 09:00 to 17:00 Weds - 09:00 to 17:00 Thurs - 09:00 to 17:00 Fri - 09:00 to 16:30 (But please double check times with them)
Am attaching the plan of the cemetery I guess the grave you are seeking is in section R - they will tell you which other named graves it is next to or near.
Any chance you could send me a copy of the Torquay Cemetery Plan. Incidentally also located in Notts and wife has a connection wioth Knowles from Rotherham area. Many thanks.
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I've tried to attach the image, but am obviously not being very successful!
I have to go out now, but if anyone can tell me how to attach or paste a jpeg map of the cemetery, maybe you could let me know! I'll check this topic again later!
Sue
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Sueclog
could you email direct.
email address removed please use the PM system to exchange sensitive information
Many thanks
A.
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Hi Sue,
Here is a link to how to post an image on RootsChat
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=459330.0
The image must be no larger than 500kb :)
Regards
Sarah
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Thanks, Sarah, for picking up the problem.
ArthurL - I have sent you a pm!