Birstall burials

[sutty6979]

Hi I was looking for any records that listed all the persons buried in one grave. I have a husband and wife both buried in Birstall graveyard and I wanted to see if they were buried in the same grave.Does anyone know if I can find this info  from somewhere ?

[Milliepede]

I would suggest contacting the church or cemetery directly.  If you have names and dates of death or burial they should be able to check burial records for you 

[sutty6979]

Thanks for that.I was hoping the burial records would show a grave number but nothing.

[BushInn1746]

Hello

Monumental Inscriptions
Memorial or Monumental Inscriptions published by Family History Societies, but many Memorials have been lost, damaged or replaced by later ones, or cleared back to grass, before recording was started.

Home Office and Public Health Records
Churchyards often dug up the remains of former burials or kept burying on top, when digging a grave to bury the current dead, according to Government and Public Health Inspections of Churchyards in the early to mid 19th Century, reported in newspapers.

Permissions.
Occasionally, special permission was given by the Home Office (see also Coroners & Public Health records) to open a grave in a closed Cemetery to bury another family member (Home Office Burials and Closure correspondence files are date order only) 19th Century Home Office and other records are either Local or at TNA, Kew, (see 'Visit Us' before going as a Readers Ticket will be needed).

I have seen Board of Guardians records for a Town have references to burials and graves.

Burials by Quakers
Quakers and Jews (Quakers have huge collections), the Quaker collection held at Leeds is reputed to hold over 50,000 files for the York area, many files each having numerous references to their named Members in one file!

One of my Kin (on another line) had special Home Office permission and the Quaker request to the Home Office is mentioned on a Quaker Memo and the reply letter granting Home Office permission, that when deceased the Quakers have government permission to open the grave and bury Jane.

A Car Park now occupies most of the site and when Yorks Arch. Soc. visited, they recorded 'No Stones'  , held by a City Library, some miles from the town of burial.


Expect a possible lengthy hunt and probable disappointment if your ancestor didn't require any special treatment or permission.

Sextons or Churchyard Books and Cemetery Plans
Some Cemeteries including Parish Churchyards etc., still have the Sexton's or Churchyard Books (notes made about Burials, Graves and burying locations), or Cemetery Plans.

Try the County/Area Archives, University Collections, Diocesan Archives and in church safes. These are probably worth asking about, as to whether and where they survive.

Church or Diocesan Acts
A Church Act, was sometimes needed to clear the Cemetery of Headstones, although that particular one was not helpful.

Church Renovations
A book was made 100 years ago of the Floor and Churchyard Grave stone inscriptions, during a Renovation / relaying of the floor, of one particular Church.

Cemeteries Sold and/or Developed
If the Cemetery has been sold in the 20th Century, I was informed that it was and is a requirement for owners to also keep names of those buried on the land with their Deeds, or can refer you to their 'Place of Deposit'.

I did hear that a well known UK supermarket brand, had Burial Books in their supermarket safe.

Planning & Listed Building Permissions at Churches and for Church Halls
See also the Local UK Town Hall Planning Department and Application files, where a Cemetery has been built over, or building work or alterations have been made at Churches. Some Planners insisted on a transcribing of Grave stones, before work commenced, even laying of water pipes or cables.

Contractors then had to employ Archaeologists to conduct Memorial Surveys, who also looked for and noted their other sources for information as well.

You find these for NHS Hospitals where the site once had a Cemetery, or was previously a Workhouse building or site.

Funeral Directors Records
Worth trying Funeral Directors and their successor firms in the Cemetery town, or the place of death town, a polite letter sometimes brings great rewards for the Family Historian.

I wrote 3 letters to Funeral Directors in one town (in business in 1940), yes came the reply from one and these were the names of those identified and unidentified bodies, that we collected from an Air Crash site and they sent an extract copy of the page and the RAF Station making the request is listed. A search of the RAF Station Daily Routine Orders has a list for burial and the Churchyard place and a mention of the Funeral with a Band and the Procession (organising the Funerals RAF end).

Added
Newspaper Notifications or Reports of Funerals
Some families had an insertion in the Deaths. Worth a check, varying from one line to very occasionally a small paragraph. Some well known 20th Century or local employers or characters, very occasionally even listed family or attenders.


Of course you might search extensively and find nothing.

Mark