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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Devon => Topic started by: vapcq45 on Saturday 31 July 21 20:36 BST (UK)
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Hi
Was there a cemetery in Plymouth called Crown Hill? My Gt Grandfather buried 4 of his children from TB and we think this is where they lie. But I can't find any modern day reference to this cemetery.
Any help welcome. Thanks
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Hi there, when did the burials take place and what suggests they were buried in a cemetery by this name? Could it be that your great grandfather lived in Crownhill rather than his children being buried there?
Crownhill is a suburb to the north of Plymouth and covers quite a wide area today. There are two Roman Catholic churches there and also a Methodist church, with CofE at Eggbuckland. The main Plymouth cemetery is at Ford Park which opened in 1848.
EDIT: one RC church, not two.
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As far as I can recall, Crownhill had a large naval barracks/married quarters. I don't recollect a cemetery there. As Flemming says, the main cemetery was/is Ford Park, which is off Mutley Plain. I think there might have been one at Efford and also a small one at Stoke Damerel.
Add - and D&C police headquarters. It's coming back to me know - we left 20 years ago!
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I have a note written by a relative that says in 1933, my Gt Grandfather “drove to Crownhill cemetery, Plymouth, a lot ...”. His 4 children died between 1910-1922. He was a Boatswain in the Royal Navy. At the time of the childrens’ deaths the family were living first in Barton Avenue, Devonport and then Fleet Street East.
Thanks for your help. It would be lovely to be able to locate their graves.
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Here's a very large scale map of the area,. If you pan around you might be able to locate a cemetery. I've centred it on Crownhill
https://maps.nls.uk/view/189247781#zoom=6&lat=7722&lon=6604&layers=BT
Gadget
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Also, the adjacent map to the east, showing Efford cemetery, which I mentioned earlier. I wonder if they meant that one.
https://maps.nls.uk/view/189247955#zoom=7&lat=5194&lon=1385&layers=BT
Gadget
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I've just remembered that my cousin and his family lived there for while in the 70s when he was a naval officer, so he would have known if there was a cemetery there. Sadly he died a few years ago.
I've had another look at the first map but can't see anything as yet.
Do you have the names?
Add - you could ask:
https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/birthsmarriagesanddeaths/deaths/burialandcremation/cemeteriesandcrematoria
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With burials in those years, it's unlikely to be connected with Crownhill RC as St Peter's didn't really get established until after that - see below.
https://stp-stm.org/st-peters-history/
The Church of the Ascension (CofE) is also too late (consecrated in 1958), although the Methodist Church was earlier (see below) but no graveyard attached.
http://www.crownhillmethodist.org.uk/joom25/index.php/about-us/history/20-cmc-main-menu/about-us/history/69-a-new-chapel-is-built
With the family living in Keyham, you'd expect any burials to be at a cemetery closer to them. Weston Mill or Ford Park would be the obvious choices. The latter offers burial searches for £10.50 (see below). Not sure if Weston Mill offers the same but you could try calling them.
https://www.ford-park-cemetery.org/index.php/cemetery-services/gave-searches
Have you tried searching on FindAGrave, BillionGraves and/or Deceased Online?
I also wonder if the children died in hospital rather than at home which may account for burials further away from Keyham. Brian Moseley has a page for hospitals on his 'Encycopaedia of Plymouth' website (now archived - see below) and it may be worth looking through these for TB and 'isolation' references.
https://web.archive.org/web/20131117020147/http://plymouthdata.info/Hospitals.htm
Do you have any of the death certificates? As well as saying where the children died, you may find some clues about burial location. If they died in hospital, and the records have survived, you may be able to access them from The Box in Plymouth. These usually say if the deceased was buried in hospital grounds or elsewhere, and typically mentions their religion.
One other thought - you may want to look at St Budeaux CofE church which is on Crownhill Road. Devonport people sometimes used it for BMBs, and there are some instances of services being conducted there with burials then in Eggbuckland.
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There is some great advice here and I thank you all. I will take some time to look at the map and I agree with you - they must have meant Ford Park or Weston Mill so will get in touch to see about searches, plus Efford. I've been an Ancestry member for years and have tried all the usual searches on there plus FindMyPast plus Deceased on Line and Findagrave with no joy. I also have all their death certs but no clues there, it looks like they all died at home with their mother present.
Thank you again for all of your time on this. Really appreciate it.
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Another thought - the PWDRO had a volunteer project ('Of the Parish') that photographed or scanned images of headstones in Plymouth churches, St Budeaux being one of them. The catalogue is archived but information still available at the link below, although the search links don't work. Again, it may be worth asking The Box about this.
https://web.archive.org/web/20200227163059/https://plymhearts.org/archives/collections/archives-of-the-parish/
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Devon Family History Society has indexed Efford & Weston Mill cemetery registers and can be searched via the surname search on the members' area of the Society website- www.devonfhs.org.uk.
Society has also done some but not all of Ford Park. A volunteer has also photographed the grave stones in Efford and they are being indexed.
Membership starts at just £12 a year (Jan to Dec).
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Thank you Terryleaman, I shall join and have a good search.
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Devon Family History Society has indexed Efford & Weston Mill cemetery registers and can be searched via the surname search on the members' area of the Society website- www.devonfhs.org.uk.
Society has also done some but not all of Ford Park. A volunteer has also photographed the grave stones in Efford and they are being indexed.
Membership starts at just £12 a year (Jan to Dec).
Is the info free to members or are there extra charges? I ordered a pdf of Ford burials a few years ago and had to pay for it (as a member).
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If it's in the members area then it is free to members. Ford Park is not there yet! but it is on Findmypast. Efford & Weston Mill are ONLY in the members area
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Hi,
I run a local Facebook group & some of my members have mentioned that there are two cemeteries in the area not mentioned so far. The first is Ernesettle (at the top of Ernesettle Lane) & one at the top of Eggbuckland.
There's also a church at Higher St Budeaux on Crownhill Road.
I will let you know if I hear more. Just one thing, but there's a huge Naval building in Crownhill. I don't know if a cemetery would be part of it?
Suzanne.
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Hi Suzanne, do you know the name of the cemetery in Ernesettle (the top of Ernesettle Lane is an industrial estate now), and which Naval building is in Crownhill - do you mean the forts? EDIT Or Manadon Naval College which opened in 1940 and is now a housing estate?
Also, Eggbuckland and St Budeaux have been mentioned above (see replies 1 and 7), just to avoid any confusion for the OP.
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Sorry. I am operating on a tiny phone screen, in a tent, with limited WiFi!
I am only passing information exactly as those local have said. A post has been put on with a link to Google maps as to the Eggbuckland one.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.4006409,-4.1145886,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sWLtiIhS4eMbR49NnaEOxMQ!2e0?hl=en
The one at the top of Ernesettle Lane could possibly be St Budeaux Church. They are discussing among themselves.
As for the military buildings, they are on Fort Austin Road (B3413).
They were used through into the 2000's.
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St Budeaux church is near the south end of Ernesettle Lane so possibly the bottom, not the top.
The military buildings on the B3413 (Crownhill Road and Fort Austin Avenue) are old army forts, not Naval buildings.
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This is great information. Thank you so much!
A relative is en route to Plymouth for a visit for a few days and I will pass this on as she is keen to investigate. As am I.