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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: JackYorkshire on Saturday 25 May 24 18:08 BST (UK)

Title: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: JackYorkshire on Saturday 25 May 24 18:08 BST (UK)
As I've been slowly researching my family tree, I've been finding graves. I have come across one where I'm stumped. This one is in Bowling Cemetery, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.

It is the grave of Robert Wilkinson Booth (died 1936), Martha Clough (died 1945) and Raymond Boocock (died 1930 - infant). That makes sense as Robert and Martha are Raymond's grandparents. However, I've been told by Bradford Council that there are two people I don't know anything about also buried in the grave:
Sarah Ann Robinson
Death: 19.05.1905
Age: 55 years
Burial: 23.05.1905

Fred Hepworth
Death: 26.11.1908
Age: 11 weeks
Burial: 30.11.1908

I don't know who either of them are. There are related Robinsons, but the connection is weak - daughter's husband's
Grandmother.

So I've been researching Sarah Ann and Fred, but I can't find any information on them - only that Fred died in Bradford, which I already knew. My searches are coming up blank. A census, marriage, birth or baptism would at least show some family connections.

As Sarah Ann was buried first it seems likely the grave was purchased for her, so it would make sense for her to be part of the family.

Am I missing something here? Where else could I be searching? Is there anything else out there for Sarah Ann or Fred that im not seeing?

Thanks for your help!
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: aghadowey on Saturday 25 May 24 18:52 BST (UK)
Sometimes the connection isn't straightforward. In the 1970s I contacted a cemetery for details on a family plot. My great-great-grandparents, a granddaughter who died young, their son, second his wife and some of their children plus his first wife. Also in the list was the most recent burial- what seemed to be a stranger. Turned out to be the second wife's sister who lived with the family for years. The strange thing was that my father's cousin had also checked the plot with the cemetery but that was before the last burial so it wasn't until I started searching he got the updated details.
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: coombs on Saturday 25 May 24 22:16 BST (UK)
My great, great grandfather was buried in 1927 in a Oxford cemetery in the same grave as an Ann Bough who died in 1912. She was from Wexford in Ireland and I think it was a case of being buried in the grave with a stranger as I have never been able to find a link between the two people.
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: willsy on Saturday 25 May 24 22:18 BST (UK)
Looking at births, guessing Fred is also the 1908 Bradford birth MMN Turner, there is a marriage of a Lily Turner to William Hepworth 1906, Bradford
 
and 1911 Heaton Street

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWJ2-3VL

Baptised at Bowling, St. John

Fred and Edmund 30 Sep 1908 (some reason as Lily Crossland on the transcription page but it is not written on the register) address 20 Quill Street

Checking the GRO, Edmund- MMN Turner


Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: BumbleB on Saturday 25 May 24 22:23 BST (UK)
Only a thought - perhaps the grave was on a limited timescale - did the family only "own" it for a designated time?

Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: arthurk on Sunday 26 May 24 09:49 BST (UK)
I've been trying to find a Sarah Ann Robinson in the 1901 census, and the strongest possibilities seem to be these two:

837 Barkerend Road (RG13/4151 fo124 p11) - Sarah A Robinson as wife, but no husband present; also an unmarried daughter Alice M Storey, age 25. GRO index suggests Alice's mother's maiden name was Redsdale. FreeBMD has the marriage of Sarah Ann Storey to Harry Robinson in 1885.

27 Violet Court - in the Bowling area (RG13/4145 fo15 p21) - Sarah Ann wife of Lewis K Robinson; possible marriage in the Halifax district in 1875 of Lewis Robinson and Sarah Ann Jubb (from FreeBMD).

Do any of those extra surnames ring a bell? (But do check these for yourself, and there might be other possibilities that I've missed.)
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: PaulineJ on Sunday 26 May 24 12:07 BST (UK)
if you get to look at the Bowling registers themselves , they should have an address for the deceased. In several instances an infant will also have a named mother and father.

Pauline
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: sonofthom on Sunday 26 May 24 12:23 BST (UK)
Several of my ancestors are buried in a family plot in the Ramshorn Kirk in Glasgow . However there is one burial, interred while the plot was still in active use by the family, of someone who seems to be entirely unconnected with my family. I say “unconnected” but bizarrely there is now a connection as this mysterious lady is my wife's greatx3 grandmother!
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: JackYorkshire on Sunday 26 May 24 12:58 BST (UK)
Looking at births, guessing Fred is also the 1908 Bradford birth MMN Turner, there is a marriage of a Lily Turner to William Hepworth 1906, Bradford
 
and 1911 Heaton Street

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWJ2-3VL

Baptised at Bowling, St. John

Fred and Edmund 30 Sep 1908 (some reason as Lily Crossland on the transcription page but it is not written on the register) address 20 Quill Street

Checking the GRO, Edmund- MMN Turner

Thank you, that's very helpful. I will look those up.

Sorry, just to clarify, what does MMN mean?
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: arthurk on Sunday 26 May 24 13:15 BST (UK)
Sorry, just to clarify, what does MMN mean?

Mother's Maiden Name - can be seen in the GRO online birth index and from 1911 onwards (I think) at FreeBMD.
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: JackYorkshire on Sunday 26 May 24 13:45 BST (UK)
I've been trying to find a Sarah Ann Robinson in the 1901 census, and the strongest possibilities seem to be these two:

837 Barkerend Road (RG13/4151 fo124 p11) - Sarah A Robinson as wife, but no husband present; also an unmarried daughter Alice M Storey, age 25. GRO index suggests Alice's mother's maiden name was Redsdale. FreeBMD has the marriage of Sarah Ann Storey to Harry Robinson in 1885.

27 Violet Court - in the Bowling area (RG13/4145 fo15 p21) - Sarah Ann wife of Lewis K Robinson; possible marriage in the Halifax district in 1875 of Lewis Robinson and Sarah Ann Jubb (from FreeBMD).

Do any of those extra surnames ring a bell? (But do check these for yourself, and there might be other possibilities that I've missed.)

Thanks Arthur, themselves are good finds. I'll have a look at them. There is nothing obvious there, but the Violet Court one is in Bowling which seems the more likely connection.

I hope we can find the connection as I'd like the family to put up a headstone as there either there was none or it has been lost under the grass.
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: JackYorkshire on Sunday 26 May 24 13:46 BST (UK)
Mother's Maiden Name - can be seen in the GRO online birth index and from 1911 onwards (I think) at FreeBMD.

Thanks!
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: JackYorkshire on Sunday 26 May 24 13:48 BST (UK)
if you get to look at the Bowling registers themselves , they should have an address for the deceased. In several instances an infant will also have a named mother and father.

Pauline

That might be difficult as I'm not nearby, but I might be able to get the death info and address from the GRO.
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: Tickettyboo on Sunday 26 May 24 14:01 BST (UK)
When you consulted Bradford Council did they tell you IF the rights to burial were purchased and, if so, when and by whom?
Did they say if there is a headstone on the plot? (which indicates the rights of burial were purchased)

Boo
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: JackYorkshire on Sunday 26 May 24 14:03 BST (UK)
Just searching the GRO for:
Sarah Robinson
Death 19.05.1905, age 55 years
Bradford

I'm getting nothing, which is strange.
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: JackYorkshire on Sunday 26 May 24 14:04 BST (UK)
Fred comes up though:
HEPWORTH, FRED       0 
GRO Reference: 1908  D Quarter in BRADFORD  Volume 09B  Page 25
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: JackYorkshire on Sunday 26 May 24 14:12 BST (UK)
Okay, here is Fred. I can't quite make out the address. 20-2 Mill Street? Son of William and Lily Hepworth. Now off to find out who they were (again no obvious connection).
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: lydiaann on Sunday 26 May 24 14:33 BST (UK)
That looks to me like "Quill" street, it's certainly the way I was taught to write a capital Q.  And a search reveals there IS a Quill Street in said city.
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: JackYorkshire on Sunday 26 May 24 14:35 BST (UK)
When you consulted Bradford Council did they tell you IF the rights to burial were purchased and, if so, when and by whom?
Did they say if there is a headstone on the plot? (which indicates the rights of burial were purchased)

Boo

They can't tell me details of people who I don't already know about because of Data Protection. They can only confirm who owns the grave if I ask them "Does X person own the grave?" Rather frustrating!
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: lydiaann on Sunday 26 May 24 14:40 BST (UK)
The Bradford Parochial Voters Register 1896 (GENUK) gives the residents of the city by street who are entitled to vote.  No. 20 isn't on the list, but then so are other numbers missing.  Does this mean it was rented...I'm not sure what the rules were 'back in the day'.
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: jonwarrn on Sunday 26 May 24 14:41 BST (UK)
If they looked in the graves register for you, could they have misread an 8 as a 5? :-\
Death
June 1908 Bradford 9b 29
Robinson, Sarah Ann   
Age 55   

Fred was buried in 1908. 
Unless Sarah Ann Robinson and Fred Hepworth turn out to be related, could it originally have been a public grave that was purchased by your family when, or some time after, Raymond was buried in 1930?
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: JenB on Sunday 26 May 24 16:20 BST (UK)
Quote
could it originally have been a public grave that was purchased by your family when, or some time after, Raymond was buried in 1930
I recently did some research for a friend who couldn’t understand why four people unknown to her were buried in what she described as ‘her great grandfather’s’ grave, and why he wasn’t mentioned on the headstone. She had developed all sorts of intricate conspiracy theories as to why this had happened.

The answer was simply that it had been a public grave at the time of his burial but that the burial rights had subsequently been purchased by another family who had then erected a headstone which related only to their family and made no mention of him.

Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: arthurk on Sunday 26 May 24 16:23 BST (UK)
If they looked in the graves register for you, could they have misread an 8 as a 5? :-\
Death
June 1908 Bradford 9b 29
Robinson, Sarah Ann   
Age 55

If jonw65 is right about this, my 1901 census investigations (see Reply #5) will need to be revisited, because I used a fairly narrow age span. I can't do it just now, but I'll try to get round to it later, unless someone else gets there first.
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: arthurk on Sunday 26 May 24 20:28 BST (UK)
Some more from 1901 - the ones which seemed most likely:

RG13/4168 fo74 p13 - Royd St; age 48, wife of Israel; household includes Mary Schofield mother-in-law
RG13/4149 fo76 p29 - ?Mashington St; age 50, wife of Wright
RG13/4151 fo215 p6 - Garnett Sq; age 47, single
RG13/4147 fo87 p32 - John William St; age 46?, married but head; born Shropshire
RG13/4150 fo57 p25 - Gay Lane; age 46; single, with unmarried older sister Ann
RG13/4145 fo15 p21 - Violet Court, wife of Lewis (as above) [EDIT: looked again and it's Louis]

Some of these are just Sarah; I haven't done any investigations beyond the census, and I'm afraid I don't have time for them now.
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: willsy on Sunday 26 May 24 20:34 BST (UK)
From last night, I thought it could be a Sarah Ann Call who married Louis Robinson in Shipley 1 April 1872, residence Bowling and his occupation is ginger beer maker; he was a soda maker 1891. There's a Mary Jane Robinson Q3 1872 MMN Call checking the GRO, and he is as Louis Kossith 1891 census with Sarah Ann and Mary Jane

Louis marries again to Harriet Garside and his address for probate 1925 has him at 14 Quill Street!

Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: willsy on Sunday 26 May 24 21:19 BST (UK)
Apologies, on marriage residence is Shipley for both parties, earlier census returns has Sarah Ann Call born in Bowling.
Title: Re: There are people I don't know buried in one of our family graves
Post by: arthurk on Monday 27 May 24 13:37 BST (UK)
Louis marries again to Harriet Garside and his address for probate 1925 has him at 14 Quill Street!

Same address for them in the 1911 census (RG14/26753 sch128) - they'd been married for a year.

Added:
Louis is a mineral water maker (worker), and at 20 Quill Street (where Fred Hepworth lived) is a Robert Robinson, single, mineral water manufacturer (employer).

Robert is at 20 Quill St in 1901 too, with his widowed mother Mary as head, and her grandson Riley Kitson (RG13/4149 fo139 p7).