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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => London & Middlesex Lookup Requests => London and Middlesex => England => London & Middlesex Completed Lookup Requests => Topic started by: joyce341 on Monday 22 September 08 11:29 BST (UK)
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Just posting on the offchance,to see if anyone liveing near Nunhead cemetary who go,s there often(as I believe it is a park now) could help find a headstone,I have a map sent to me locateing where it is,would love to find it,my niece and i intend to go there later this year.it is my husbands mother,my nieces grandmother,Florence Annie Lawrence,died in 1936,I understand from communication it may not be possible as might be in undergrowth.will put map on if someone can help.
thanks for you time.
Joyce
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Hi Joyce
I'm quite local to Nunhead Cemetery, and could visit tomorrow if you'd like. Regarding overgrowth, I've visited there once before for another RC member, and it is very dilapidated in places, but I'm quite happy to have a root around.
Probably not a good idea to post the cemetery map online (copyright etc, got to keep RC squeaky clean ;D) but I'll PM you my e-mail address and you can send it to me by ordinary e-mail if you'd like.
I'll take the dog and a camera.....!!!
Kind regards
Gaie
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Thanks Gaie
That would be brilliant,something my niece and i wanted to do for a long time,have also a copy of the headstone,I recieved this from my husbands adopted brothers son,we did,nt know it existed.thanks again.
Joyce
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Just posting on the offchance,to see if anyone liveing near Nunhead cemetary who go,s there often(as I believe it is a park now) could help find a headstone,I have a map sent to me locateing where it is,would love to find it,my niece and i intend to go there later this year.it is my husbands mother,my nieces grandmother,Florence Annie Lawrence,died in 1936,I understand from communication it may not be possible as might be in undergrowth.will put map on if someone can help.
thanks for you time.
Joyce
I visited Nunhead cemetery about 8 years ago to try and trace the graves of three of my relatives all who died in 1935/1936. I have the exact plot details (their grave numbers are all around 39000 area) right in the corner of the cemetery unfortunately this area was hit by German bombs during WW2. This area is now very overgrown and the broken gravestones are lying around or placed in piles and although I was in the exact spots I could not find the actual stones; it was very overgrown, dark and a bit eerie around that part of the cemetery! It's a great shame but I do intend to go back
Stewart
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Hi Stewart,
Thanks for that,Gaie is going to look for me,so keep your fingers crossed,my mother-in-law died 1936,it is very good of her to offer and extremely greatful to her.
kind regards
Joyce
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Hello Joyce, and thank you Stewart for the fore-warning!
Well, Joyce, get out your machete, and if you're wise, call Ray Mears ;D ;D, it could be a bumpy ride ;D :o ;D ;D The area where your mother-in-law was buried is now a brambly wood :'(
Nunhead cemetery is the second biggest cemetery in London, and unfortunately was abandoned by its owners after years of neglect some time in the 60s or 70s. Although Southwark council bought it (for £1), and parts of it are still used for new burials, a large area of it is now a nature reserve, and the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery (FoNC) have a policy of conservation not restoration (I can't imagine the cost of major restoration, the site is 52 acres.....).
Well, Rizla (my dog) and I had a lovely walk around, and did manage to get some way through the undergrowth, but he is a Westie, ie little, he couldn't manage some of the bits on his own, and I couldn't manage whilst carrying him to get any further, so....
We're going back with the children and some friends this weekend - hooray!!! ;D ;D It may be possible to get to the grave along the cemetery wall, even though the trees and undergrowth are right up against it in many parts. We did walk up the Brockley Way which runs up the other side of the wall, but it runs uphill and the wall is quite high in places, so no luck that way.
Wish us luck for this weekend; I was so engrossed I forgot to use the camera, doh, but we went in the morning and the weather held out, didn't rain until the afternoon.
Kind regards
Gaie (honorary Mears)
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Hi Gaie,
thanks for trying fpr me.
take care
Joyce
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I also had a plot number for the gravestone I was looking for at Nunhead. I had previous experience of London overgrown cemeteries, I macheted my way through parts of Abney Park cemetery in Hackney (it helps if you go in late autumn/early spring) but Nunhead was something else as it really is overgrown and a bit like primeval forest in lots of places. Machetes sometimes just aren't big enough. To have reached the spot I was trying to access I would have needed a chain saw.
In its time some very wealthy people were buried at Nunhead and very large mounuments can be seen amongst the trees.
http://www.heritagedevelopment.co.uk/vdetail.asp?ID=271
http://www.derelictlondon.com/cemetery.htm
http://www.worldofbadger.co.uk/2008/05/14/i-see-dead-people-a-visit-to-nunhead-cemetery/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/image_galleries/satellite_photos2_gallery.shtml?6
Fantastic place to visit
Regards
Valda
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Hi Valda,
was it you who also had Lawrences in London?
Joyce
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Hi Joyce
I have recently replied to a lookup request for finding William Henry Lawrence in censuses
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,332016.0.html
Regards
Valda
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I thought I recognised the name,my husbands father was born in Greenwich in 1902,the family all seem to have ended up in Bermondsey area,he was Henry Edward Lawrence,father Joseph Lawrence married to Maria Willis,his parents,William married to Keziah Lamb.
http://www.tribalpages.com/j111048
I doubt there is a connection but you never know.
Joyce
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I had been looking for my grandfathers gravestone at Nunhead for about 7 years. Had a map also, but it didn't do any good as it was impossible to find your way in. As the years went by the FONC have cleared more and more away and there are little pathways springing up all the time.
In the end (just this year) I had to get aerial view of area and overlay council map to scale and count my way up the path. 144 steps/metres. Found my way in... and after finally finding a couple of stones in the undergrowth and getting the numbers off of the back of them I was able to find my grandfathers. It was under a foot of ivy/nettles and was buried all but top quarter.
If you see my link here below I have uploaded some photos that might be of interest to some.
http://www.pricklytree.webhostingpal.com/thornegrave.html
Over joyed after years of searching to finally "stumble" upon it.
The council had originally told me that the graves in that area, had no stones. It wasn't until a relative found an old photo from the 1950s that it was plain to see just how many stones there were.
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That is Brilliant,I would love to find my husbands mothers grave.
Joyce
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How does one find ... if it exists ... a listing of grave locations at Nunhead? I have a 2xgt grandfather and a couple of other rellies buried there, - and can't visit, 'cos i'm on the other side of the planet :-\
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Hi Deb,
Details at this site... Scroll down to gravesearch enquiries.
http://www.fonc.org.uk/
"Gravesearch enquiries can be made to Southwark Council who, at the time of writing, make a charge of £14 for each name that they search in the records. Payment must be in pounds sterling, Cheques should be made out to "London Borough of Southwark".
If you think that a relative might be buried in Nunhead Cemetery then please write in the first instance to:
The Superintendent of Cemeteries,
Camberwell New Cemetery,
Brenchley Gardens,
London,
SE23 3RB,
England
giving all details including the full name of the deceased and their date of death (searches will include two years either way). The cemetery staff will supply a grave number and a square number which will enable you to visit the cemetery and look for a gravestone."
They didn't use to charge. Seems a bit steep but no other way to do it really.
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Thanks, GeneCat ... erk, ... ummm, given the euro-aussie dollar exchange rate at the moment ... I think perhaps I might just believe the family bible that says he's there, somewhere! :o
Cheers
Deb
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Ha ha.. I like that !!
I wish I had said years back I believe I have ancestors.. somewhere.. and stuck to that.. would of been cheaper too.... hehehe ! ;D
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Southwark local history library has burial listings for Nunhead. I was browsing there one day and found this entry for one of my wife's ancestors:
"1 February 1899
Oliver, Alfred John
Private Grave
Reopen 18170
Owner Oliver
Sq 75"
Presumably this means he's in square 75 but I'm not sure what the reopen 18170 bit means?
NB the charge for a search by Southwark Council is now £10 see http://www.southwark.gov.uk/DiscoverSouthwark/LocalHistoryLibrary/BurialAndCremationRecords.html
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When I applied for my search in about 2004 it was Eleven pounds,they sent two maps,a postcard and letter.
Joyce
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Hi just to let everyone know that I telephoned Nunhead Cemetery yesterday with a grave number, and was kindly told that the area that the grave was in was too overgrown to get too. They imformed me that they would go to the area over the next few days, and contact me with the info from headstone .
I explained to them that I had another relative buried there, but did not have a grave number ( just had memorial cards for both Great Grandparents )
I was told to ring Benchly Gardens where the records are kept, with the name and year of death and found out the grave number, and that both graves were common graves. This took 5 mins to do , and no charge, and the staff are very helpfull.
Hope this helps somebody else
Rose x
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Hi Rose
You were very lucky ;)
They must have changed their system or you spoke to someone who didn't know the system.
Until quite recently they were still charging for look-ups or you had to visit in person to look for yourself.
Dawn
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Hi Dawn I have just had a telephone call from John Turner who is head groundsman, he has just imformed me that he could not find the grave I wanted, I then imformed him that after speaking to Benchly gardens that it was a common grave.
He also siad that just because it was a common grave does not mean it did not have a small tablet placed , but I have to recheck with Benchly gardens that I have the right number, in the mean time he is going to check for the other grave number I have just given him.
All I have to go on is two memorial cards for my Great Grandparents which were left in my late Grandmother's belongings, one states a grve number, the other I got from Benchly Gardens
Rose x
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Hi
I have a gut feeling that one of my ancestors is buried at Nunhead. She was Ann Roberts, my 4xgreat grandmother who died in December 1858 in Bermondsey and I heard that Nunhead was used for many Bermondsey residents.
Ben
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it maybe that you already had the grave number and found someone who was willing to help,I know you have to pay for a search,as it cost me £11 in 2003,not sure what the price is now but as i said you already had this information.
Joyce
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For Bermondsey burials the closest cemeteries open at the time would be
Brockley Cemetery, Ladywell Road (1858)
Camberwell Old Cemetery, Forest Hill Road (1856)
Ladywell Cemetery, Ladywell Road (1858)
Nunhead Cemetery, Linden Grove (1840)
Though the Bermondsey family I researched in the 1850s and 1860s I discovered their burials were occurring across the river Thames at Tower Hamlets cemetery which opened in 1841.
Regards
Valda