Ladywell and Brockley Cemetery Headstone Photo Request - Rangecroft

[ruthie_gray]

My great great grandfather, William Henry Rangecroft, is buried at Ladywell and Brockley Cemeteries.  The reference number given by NWKFHS for the memorial inscription is 12030, so I know there must be a headstone/memorial in there somewhere.  As I am in Brisbane, Australia, I was wondering does anybody over there in lovely London fancy a trip to the cemetery with their camera?  If I could reciprocate either here in Brisbane or in Canberra, please let me know!

[Valda]

Hi

London civic cemeteries are very large places.

Brockley Cemetery, (formerly Deptford Cemetery) Brockley Road
Ladywell Cemetery (formerly Lewisham Cemetery), Ladywell Road

'Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries were opened within one month of each other in 1858 and are sited on adjacent plots of previously open land.....The cemeteries occupy 37 acres (150,000 m2) of land.....They are also nature conservation sites of borough importance Grade 1 and a haven for wildlife, plants and wildflowers'

Wikipedia

The nature/conservation part means that older areas of the cemeteries are not maintained. Example of Brockley Cemetery's more overgrown areas - link below

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2437887


So the first thing is it Ladywell or is it Brockley cemetery? The cemeteries no longer have the wall in place which separated them but never the less it narrows it down if you know whether it is the large cemetery on the left or the large cemetery on the right.

NWKFHS simple outline map

http://www.nwkfhs.org.uk/ladywell.htm

The NWKFHS memorial inscription transcript was done by an individual (he didn't do all of them by any means) in the 1980s so at least 20 years ago. The numbers given by NWKFHS do not relate to plots and to the cemeteries' burial map held by the London borough of Lewisham.
As NWKHS states

'If you want to find a particular gravestone you're very unlikely to succeed by just turning up and searching, unless you have further information beforehand. The cemetery is huge and parts of it are overgrown or wooded. The best approach is probably to contact the Cemetery Office at Lewisham Crematorium, 1 Verdant Lane, London SE6 1TP. They hold the original burial registers for Ladywell and Brockley...'


So the first step is to obtain further details from the London Borough of Lewisham Bereavement Services to obtain the plot number of the grave and a map showing where precisely it is located. Lewisham will not be able to tell you if the gravestone is still standing, but they should be able to tell you whether it is situated in a relatively easily accessible part of the cemetery.

http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/myservices/birthsdeathsmarriagesCP/deaths/Pages/Cemeteries-and-crematoriums.aspx

With that information it would be possible for someone to find the gravestone though it may take sometime depending on where in the cemetery the gravestone is. Volunteers are few and far between on the London and Middlesex board so also consider once you have the information it maybe worth contacting The Friends of Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries

http://www.foblc.org.uk/



William Henry Rangecroft left a will probated 31st July 1918, died 6th June. The will was probated in London. He lived at 37 Arran Road Catford.



Regards

Valda

[ruthie_gray]

Hi Valda,

Thanks for your comprehensive reply, I will follow up your tips and see if I can eventually get a picture of the grave.  I wish I could go there in person as it looks like a beautiful place!

[Elaine65]

Hi did you manage to get photos of your great great grandfathers grave? I went up there last week to look for my great great grandfathers but its huge! I'll be going again in a couple of weeks if you want me too look for you  :-)

Elaine

[ruthie_gray]

Hi Elaine,

Thank you so much for your kind offer!  I haven't managed yet to get a photo, so if you were going to the Cemetery Office to check the registers for your great great grandfather's plot number and you wouldn't mind searching for mine in the mean time and hunting him down, that would be fantastic!  I'd be interested to know what details were provided for the registration as well as to see the grave itself!

William Henry Rangecroft was born in 1850 and died 6 Jun 1818 in Catford.  I don't think there would be any other Rangecrofts buried at Ladywell or Brockley so he shouldn't be hard to find (in the register at least, maybe hard to find in the cemetery!). (If there are other Rangecrofts there, I'd love to know who!)  If there are any expenses please let me know and I could do a PayPal transfer to you or something.

Thanks once again,

Ruthie

[Valda]

Hi

I'm pretty sure Ladywell and Brockley cemeteries are closed cemeteries in the sense there are no longer burials going on in the cemeteries. As they are no longer in use I don't think there is an open cemetery office there. When I visited I had to go to Hither Green cemetery which is where Lewisham Bereavement Offices are and where all Lewisham cemetery records are kept, certainly when I visited. Without a plot number and a map these cemeteries are really to vast to search successfully for a grave site.


Regards

Valda

[Elaine65]

No problem we will track it down!... Valda is right though the cemetery is huge there are around 35,000 burials there best way is if you search and contact lewisham council they then will do a search for you and hopefully a map of where your GG grandfather is buried they charge £30 for the search .. then I can go get your pictures :-) also seach for Brockley and ladywell cemetery (NWKFHS) they have some trancriptions listed.
 

Elaine 

[forester]

Hello Ruthie,

Some-one else on the Forum pointed me in this direction. It's a shame I didn't see it when you first posted - the brambles will be growing well by now. It has taken me over three years just to locate the WW1 CWGC graves. One day I'm going to get arrested for skulking around up there - I've had some strange looks from people.

The NWKFHS listing doesn't follow a pattern for more than half a dozen graves usually, but I may have a bit of an idea where the grave you are looking for is located. If it only has a kerb though, it will be harder. The last one like that I had to dig out where it had sunk.

I have to go down into Lewisham on Tuesday and may get a chance to go up there afterwards. So hang on to your £30 for the moment. As Valda said, the Cemeteries Office is up at Hither Green but they are not very amenable to cold callers.

Phil

 

[ruthie_gray]

Hi Phil,

Thanks so much for offering to look for William Henry's grave for me!  It sounds as if you have a good working knowledge of the Cemeteries. Brambles - of course, it is spring over in England now, here in Australia we're in the throes of autumn!

What a day of celebration you must have had when you found the CWGC graves! I love the mental image of you skulking through the undergrowth... and I'll help with your bail if needs be!

William Henry certainly provided a good headstone for his father, son and brother at Nunhead Cemetery, so I'm hoping that his wife did the same for him there at Ladywell and Brockley.  I'm not sure why he was not buried in the family plot at Nunhead, his wife had the rights to the plot and another of his sons was buried there after his death. A mystery!

I look forward to hearing of your search, hopefully you'll find it!

_________________________________________________________

Hi Elaine,


As you can see, Phil is on the case at present, but if he has no luck, I will pay the Cemeteries Office and see what they can tell me, and take you up on your kind offer.  Good luck with your search in the meantime - perhaps Phil could give you an indication of where you should look too!

Cheers,

Ruthie