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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Kent Lookup Requests => Kent => England => Kent Completed Lookup Requests => Topic started by: weeknightingale on Saturday 03 October 09 06:17 BST (UK)
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Hello to All,
Warm greetings from Sunny California!
Where do I start to find where my uncle maybe be buried?
My mother was born in Glasgow and my father was in the Polish Navy. I was born in London, England. We came to the US in 1954. Just a little background on me!
I have come here with a quest to help find my uncle's burial site. My cousin got in touch with me after many many years. He has been trying to find the place where his father my mother's brother is buried. I guess it is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack when not having all the specific details.
All I know at this time is that my uncle died in 1953 at the Seaman's Hospital located in Greenwich, Kent. He was born in Glasgow 1915 Arthur John Robin.
I will come on here again if I am able to get any other specific information and post in the appropriate forum. All comments are appreciated, thank you!
THANK YOU to all the dedicated people who have spent many hours searching and helping others find their long lost relatives.
Where do I start? ???
Thank you and best wishes,
Karola
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Karola, the first thing you need to do is to establish the exact date of your uncle's death by tracing his death certificate. You can look this up on the FreeBMD site (http://www.freebmd.org.uk) or on sites like Ancestry.
Once you've established exactly when he died, you can try to find out where he was buried. Unfortunately, all the records from the Seaman's Hospital (known as Dreadnought) pre-1948 were destroyed as a result of WW2 bombing - see http://www.seahospital.org.uk/tracing_seafarers.htm
The death certificate will at least reveal who registered the death, which may give you some clues. It's possible that your uncle was buried in the nearest churchyard (St Alfeges, Greenwich), but it's also possible that if there were other family members involved, they may have had his body buried somewhere else.
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Hello Nick,
Thank you for your informative reply! This helps me get some ideas of what to do and where to start.
I realise it is important to have as much information to even start a search.
But a good strategy will help us look in the right places. Thank you for your kind reply.
Nice to know there are so many dedicated people here.
Best wishes,
Karola
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I hope you're successful :)
Let us know how you got on. I noticed your family tree on Ancestry whilst trying to help.
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Hi Karola (and Nick of course!)
I'll move this to the Kent board, where you might get some more specialised local knowledge to add to what Nick has already told you.
Kind regards, Arranroots ;)
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Hi Karola
Welcome to Roots, I have checked the BMD's for an Arthur Robin death from 1945 to 1950 and couldnt see one ???
regards
ricky
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There is a Merchant Seaman's pouch for R109897 ROBIN A J born 20/03/1915 GLASGOW at the National Archives, Kew, London - would that be him? Search the catalogue of the National Archives for (name) ROBIN A J http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/
The pouches vary as to what they may contain see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=128#4
I could see what I think could be him on a crew list 1943 so searched deaths 1943 and 1944 but couldn't see him
Casalguidi :)
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Hi Karola (and Nick of course!)
I'll move this to the Kent board, where you might get some more specialised local knowledge to add to what Nick has already told you.
Kind regards, Arranroots ;)
Thank you, Arranroots.
Sending my happy thoughts through the looking-glass.
♡ ƙarola
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Hi Karola
Welcome to Roots, I have checked the BMD's for an Arthur Robin death from 1945 to 1950 and couldnt see one ???
regards
ricky
Thank you, Ricky for the warm welcome! Thanks for checking I really appreciate your help!
Wish I could send a big HUG through the looking-glass but my computer is limited!
Karola
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There is a Merchant Seaman's pouch for R109897 ROBIN A J born 20/03/1915 GLASGOW at the National Archives, Kew, London - would that be him? Search the catalogue of the National Archives for (name) ROBIN A J http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/
The pouches vary as to what they may contain see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=128#4
I could see what I think could be him on a crew list 1943 so searched deaths 1943 and 1944 but couldn't see him
Casalguidi :)
Oh my goodness! Could this be my Uncle Arthur?
Thank you, Casalguidi for taking the time to search. I am e-mailing my cousin in Australia. I do hope this is his Dad.
I am so impressed with the dedication here. Thank you!
Karola
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Found it (I think) .................
Deaths
ROBIN Arthur J Greenwich registration district age 38 June quarter 1953 ref. 5c 497
You can order a death certificate online for £7 http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/
A death certificate won't say where he was buried but will give you name, age, date/place/cause of death.
Greenwich Council would hold the records for cemeteries in their area http://tinyurl.com/c8tp3g
Casalguidi :)
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Found it (I think) .................
Deaths
ROBIN Arthur J Greenwich registration district age 38 June quarter 1953 ref. 5c 497
You can order a death certificate online for £7 http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/
A death certificate won't say where he was buried but will give you name, age, date/place/cause of death.
Greenwich Council would hold the records for cemeteries in their area http://tinyurl.com/c8tp3g
Casalguidi :)
Thank you, Casslguidi. I received e-mail from my cousin he does have death cert. So now we are searching for any clues to where he is buried. He might have been buried with family; but I don't know where in Scotland.
Thank you for your contribution to this puzzle. The pieces are there we just have to find them to complete the puzzle.
Best wishes,
Karola
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Hello, :)
Just a quick update. I 'm a step further in finding my Uncle's grave site. After some very good detective work now checking with the Mitchell Library Glasgow, Scotland a very good friend has found some promising information. Will keep you all updated! Keeping my fingers crossed but then I can't type. I can only do one thing a time. ;)
Thanks, :-*
K
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Found it (I think) .................
Deaths
ROBIN Arthur J Greenwich registration district age 38 June quarter 1953
I'll let you know if we have found the lair. :-\ Keeping my fingers crossed. ::) I'll be on pins and needles til next week sometime! ???
K 8)
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Did you manage to resolve this query ???
Casalguidi :)
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Did you manage to resolve this query ???
Casalguidi :)
Hello,
Yes! After getting a clue from a distant relative I found out that my Uncle was buried in Tottenham.
My cousin contacted the cemetery but was informed that no records were found. However after several months I decide to contact them myself and low-and-behold. Two days later I received an answer that yes their was a record and plot number. His plot was located in the Northern Section off of Hart Lane of the Tottenham Cemetery. Then as I was looking through some old things that had been put in storage I found a box of photographs. My son was handing them to me and he said Mom look at this! The photo was of the plot of my Uncle. Lesson learned never give up looking and don't accept no for answer.
My cousin has plans some to in the future to return to the UK and visit his father's grave.
I have not been very active in the last months with my genealogy searches. Maybe after the things settle down here I will start again. What I mean is that I have just moved from Southern California to Oregon. So my things are all upside down. :) Down sizing is so stressful! I also need to get myself a photo scanner to preserve some my my old photos.
So There can be a happy ending in genealogy. It is great searching for our roots. I'm thankful for all the encouragement, inspiration, and help that I have received.
Thanks for asking about my progress your post has given me a nudge to get going again!:)
So Hello from Oregon! :)
??? I have been trying to post the old photo of the head stone but I can't figure out how to post it here. :(
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Oh that's wonderful and especially so that the cemetery office were so helpful. Unfortunately, the posting of images is disabled on the "lookup requests" board to prevent people posting images of copyrighted items. Images can be posted on the other boards without problem. Hope you settle well into your new home.
Casalguidi :)
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Oh that's wonderful and especially so that the cemetery office were so helpful. Unfortunately, the posting of images is disabled on the "lookup requests" board to prevent people posting images of copyrighted items. Images can be posted on the other boards without problem. Hope you settle well into your new home.
Casalguidi :)
Hello Casalguidi,
It is amazing that after all these years piecing little clues leads us on to great findings. 8) Thank goodness to sites and people like you who contribute to all our searches. Thank you! Yes, the person that received my e-mail at the cemetery office went the extra mile. She was the manager and I think she actually went down or up to where ever the old ledgers are kept, pulled the box, and thumbed through the dusty sixty years plus old log to find the entry. The response my cousin got months earlier was a wordy e-mail reply so I feel that person just did not take the effort to get up from their seat at the computer. (Only guessing I maybe wrong.) ::)
It's always nice to have a somewhat resolved ending. The next chapter will be when my cousin actually gets to go and visit his father's grave. He lives in Australia, his son is getting married in December so maybe sometime after that he will arrange a trip to the UK.
Thanks again,
Karola :)
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Yes, I think it can make a difference who you manage to "speak" to. Quite some years ago I telephoned a number of South London cemeteries hoping to locate a relative. She wasn't at the most likely ones but a lady at the last one we phoned suggested we try another as she had had a relative die at approximately the same time who was buried at this other one. We phoned and the woman was dismissive that somebody from there wouldn't be buried here. I asked her to check just in case and, yes, she was there. Many years later we were able to visit in person and the lady in the current office not only found the plot in the ledger but photocopied a plan so we would be able to find the location.
Casalguidi :)
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We all have similar stories to tell. It just gives proof that we must keep going forward and never give up. Something will always pop up when you least expect. That 'ah ha' or 'oh! my goodness' moment. :)