Grave details

[MUMMYG]

Can anyone tell me exactly what information a borough cemetery is allowed to give about the grave of an ancestor.
 ie is it worth asking them for more info  if you want to find out what is the relationship of the   deceased to each other,  if there is no headstone but only an index entry?

[cemetery friends]

To open a grave to bury another body rests with the terms of the Burial Rights. Firstly the space has to be designated either as a single or greater number for burial. Providing the Burial Rights Owner has agreed for an additional interment to be placed within the grave the cemetery owners are not particularly concerned as to whether the deceased were related or not so no reason why they would wish or need to record the relationship. If the Burial Rights were not renewed after a set number of years or if the grave was purchased as a double or family grave and only used for the first and only burial [ie there is still space within] the local authority may decide to offer that space to another family. This is sometimes the case where the family are very hard up and have no objection to sharing the grave. In such an example the "new" family would then become the Burial Rights Owner unless the local authority has retained ownership [often referred to as a common grave]. So to answer your question the cemetery owner may not know the relationship of the deceased although I would assume they could identify whether they later allowed another family to use it. Usually if there is no headstone it may indicate a common grave in the ownership of the cemetery but also take into account many families could not afford stonework and perhaps had a wooden cross which has since weathered and rotted away.

[MUMMYG]

Thanks for reply...

Aha,  I think that is what has happened, the woman I think is mother of the family  is in the pauper grave area ( although there are some very old headstones still there and I was hoping, but  no luck of course)  She was the first in the plot and then  four others are buried there forty years later,all in the same month, not related.

The second girl I think  is her daughter was first in the plot then 11 years later two more  and then 65 years later within a four month period 25 other children were interred in the same plot.
I understand they wouldn't have relationships between my  two people  but would they still have recorded addresses or people who arranged the funeral maybe.
I checked for the burial details in the church I know they all had to attend but the records are missing for the years I need, wouldn't you know

I think I may have to resort to the death certificate but even then I doubt I'll  get much info

I forgot to mention they died a year apart, the mother first.

[cemetery friends]

Depending on local practice which may have varied between different councils there was normally a column to show from whence the body was collected this could be a house and street or often a hospital or town mortuary. Often the name of the undertaker was included. As this was a common grave the column for Burial Rights Owner would be blanked off. Whilst it is reasonable to assume the street address given was the residence this was not always the case eg somebody could have died at a railway station or whilst at a boarding house and the column normally showed where the body was collected.

[MUMMYG]

OK, thank you for your help, I think I'll call them tomorrow and see what they say before I spend the hard earned pennies, sure wish they would get on with cheaper on-line BMD's.

[LeicsandWarksAncestors]

the information given and recorded by the local authority varies.I was surprised just how many can be buried in the same plot but when you think about it, an awful lot of people have been buried over the years and they must be somewhere! A local cemetery has 4,000 burials but i would guess about 100 or so headstones, no visible signs of plot markings so it's very difficult to locate any graves that are unmarked.
Good luck with your search!

[MUMMYG]

Thank you.
It is surprising how many are there you are right and I think there may be a bit of clearing goes on in those old graves before  updating them so to speak. Our cemetery friends have kindly funded a centre stone to commemorate all those buried there in unmarked graves so that people can still leave a tribute of flowers if they wish.