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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Hertfordshire => Topic started by: beedan on Saturday 24 April 10 05:43 BST (UK)
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Could anyone advise me if there are there any MI's available for the cemetery at Layston Church,Buntingford? My grandfather Sydney George Thomas Daniels, who I never met, was buried there in 1932. I have good information that a headstone marked his grave and would like to gather info from it and at some time obtain a photo.
Also,he was managing the shop of W.B. Moss & Sons in Buntingford at the time of his death.Any info on that company would also be helpfull as I can't find a listing of them and apparently they had a few shops around Hertforshire.
Keith Daniells. Australia
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I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings but unfortunately all the headstones have been removed from St Bartholomew's, Layston Church yard. Very few of the headstones were saved sadly.
There is a Film available from LDS which shows the MI's for Layston but that only goes up to 1900
(FHL 91733 Item 2)
This site may be useful if you want any other information about the church and what happened to the headstones:
http://www.layston-church.org.uk/default.htm
Good luck with your research.
Di
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Hi Lady Di
Was checking Google Earth and it looked like there were a lot of visiable grave plots still on site. I take it that it is a cemetery I am looking at. Why would they have removed the headstones?
Keith.
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Hi Keith,
I haven't seen the pics from Google Earth but I was told that the headstones were removed due to orders issued by the Cof E Church heirachy.
I have also found (on the 'net) what appears to be a recent picture of the graveyard around the church and it doesn't look that old (the pic, not the graveyard ::) ). There are headstones still in place at that time. Unfortunately there was no date on the picture.
Maybe contacting the new owners of the church will provide an answer or two.
Di
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Thanks for that. I will try and find out who the owners are and contact them.
Keith.
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The owners are on this site...
http://www.layston-church.org.uk/default.htm
Good Luck
Di
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Thank you,I will give them a try.
Keith
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Hi Keith,
two cemetery's to play with here ... the one around the church is all pre 1900 burials - post 1900 is in the new cemetery which is very much alive so to speak. Your Grandfather would be in the new cemetery with all the other 1930's burials.
These people ...
http://www.hertsfhs.org.uk/hfphs30.html
list all the instriptions in the new and the old church yards ...
don't get to excited - I've had a look over my copy and can't see any Daniels ... sorry
The headstones were cleared from the Old Churchyard for some mad reason, a fair number were recovered by a chap who lives next door and they are now all round the edge - your Grandad will DEFINATLY be in the new church yard.
top right picture here
http://www.layston-church.org.uk/archive.html
new graveyard is to the left of the picture.
happy hunting and hope this lot helps ...
Martin
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Thanks Martin that does help.Will just have to keep hunting.
Keith.
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Hi Keith,
two cemetery's to play with here ... the one around the church is all pre 1900 burials - post 1900 is in the new cemetery which is very much alive so to speak. Your Grandfather would be in the new cemetery with all the other 1930's burials.
Thanks for the clarification Martin. I didn't realise that there were two cemeteries.
That accounts for the LDS film only showing MI's up until 1900 as these must have been the old cemetery transcriptions.
Martin, Do you know if there are any other graveyards around the other churches in Buntingford?
Good luck Keith, hope you find your grandfather's headstone inscription.
Di
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I think the new graveyard around St Bartholomew's is the only one in Buntingford - some time ago the local coucnil tried to extend it but the local tax payes voted it down !!
Its also nearly full - few more years and there will be no room at the inn .....
These documents are good for info ...
http://www.hertsfhs.org.uk/hfphs30.html
very cheap and have good diagrams of layouts but it all requires the headstone to still be there .... and this I fear is Keith's problem.
I have most of the MI books for the local area so if Keith knows where his Grandad was married or anythign like that we can track it from there
Martin
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Thanks for your help Martin
It looks like HertsFHS has some very interesting books. I'll follow up some of those.
Much appreciated
Di
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Hello Keith,
You asked about W B Moss.
There was a shop in Hitchin, Herts situated at the bottom of Brand Street on the High Street with such a name. You can find a picture of a small part of this shop and a bit of it's history on the following web site:
"aroundhitchin.net"
I remember this shop as a boy as it stood by the town bus stop at Moss's Corner (named after the shop). Buses would go all over the place. Luton; Bedford; Letchworth plus loads of local villages.
This shop will be connected to your W B Moss of Buntingford. Buntingford is about 20 ish miles from Hitchin. I'm not sure, but I think the Moss's were Hitchin folk.
Benzol
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Hi Keith
My family are all buried in Layston Church yard, I visit often if you like I will look for your grandfathers grave while I am there.I will be going there in the next couple of weeks.
Dave
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Hi Dave
Thanks for your kind offer for which I will take you up on it. I wouldn't worry about spending too much time on it though as I am led to beleive that a family member went looking for it decades ago and couldn't find it. I am coming over there in May/June and it is on my list of things to do but should you find it in the meantime all the better. Good hunting.
Keith.
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Hi Keith
I visited Layston church yesterday,I had a good look at most of the headstones,unfortunatly I could not find your Grandfathers.
There are a lot of stones that are un-readable now, and a few that have no headstones.I will look again for you when I go just to make sure.
Have you tried the dioscese for Buntingford as they will have a map of all the graves,names dates etc.
Dave
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Hi Dave
Thanks for trying. I will try checking the dioscese while I am over there in May/June.
Keith
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Hi Keith,
I have been given the task of computerising the records for burials at Layston Church, I will have a quick look through the records for you and see if I can spot any information about your Grandad, it may take a little while as there's quite a lot of information.
The records I am working through go back to late 1800 to present day
Fingers crossed ....
Angie
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Hi,
Sorry not to have better news, I have looked through the alphabetical index of the folders I am currently working through with the burial records for Layston Churchyard and Im unable to find any Surname Daniels. It is a working progress and I believe there are other records held which I will get to see in the future, I will certainly keep my eyes peeled for you.
Very best wishes
Angie Findlater
Sexton of Layton Churchyard
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Hi Angie
The fact that you can't find Daniels in the records doesn't suprise too much as the verbal information I have been given by a second cousin in England,who I have never met, is that his mother,my greatgrandmother was annoyed by the fact that the Reverend was prone to have a couple of drinks after some funerals and at times notes did not make it into the church records. She also tells me that his mother would tend his gravestone on a regular basis.
I know he is buried there, his obit is huge and very detailed right down to the comments made on well over a hundred floral tributes. During my visit there in May /June I hope to contact someone at the church who can give me a general area of burials during that time in 1932 and then hopefully do a methodical search of that area.
It may be a total waste of time but it is something I need to do.
Thanks for your assistance.....Keith
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Hi Dave
I saw this old posting and wondered if you are still preparedto hunt through the churchyard at Layston.
If so perhaps you could see if you can find any graves for the surname Thorpe in the pre 1900 section. In particular I am looking for Diana Thorpe who died in 1875.
Thanks in advance
Roger
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Unfortunately Dave hasn't logged into Rootschat since Mar 2011
Diana Thorpe's burial is recorded in the Layston Church PR's as:
Diana Thorpe, buried 27 March 1875, aged 65.
If you send a PM to Church123 he may be able to help with any MI's for Layston.
Good luck
Di
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Hi Lady Di
Thanks for responding to my post. Very useful information. Please could you also look to see if there are burial details at Layston church for Diana's son William Benjamin Thorpe who died about May 1900?
Thanks in advance
Roger
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You're in luck Roger ...
William Benjamin THORPE of Newtown Buntingford was buried St Bartholomew's Layston June 26th 1900 - aged 66.
Hope that helps
Di
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Thanks Di you're a star.
Roger