Town Council fee for burial information

[Lemontree]

Hi

I spoke to a lady at the council office and asked was there a charge for looking for a burial and grave number.

The lady explained to me that as it was one burial there would not be a charge - thing is she told me I am recieving letters and phone calls from people that are requesting seven and eight names to be searched for for family history and I cannot keep up with the work, therefore we are getting others into the office to work and having to charge to cover costs. Or if I had a long list then I was welcome to visit the town hall and search myself through the book.

This lady telephoned with all the information needed within one hour of me calling and couldn't have been more pleasant , for one burial enquiry. I was also offered a plan of the cemetry to be sent to help me find the plot.

Lemon

[''Jane'']

I think the one thing that makes me mad about all this is that this information was kept from my parents after losing a baby in 1952. They took it away and offered no information whatsoever as to where he was to buried. All they knew was that he was buried in a shared grave...as they did apparently in those days. Therefore I am left wondering why I should have to pay for this information when it was never given freely in the first place. Plus I have given them all the information they need but for the exact location of the grave. If I'd ask for several names to be traced I would have been more than happy to pay their fee, but for all of reasons above....no.

J

[phrishy]

Liverpool charge £10 per cemetery per year, which could amount to a lot if you don't know which one.

[Nick Carver]

Gateshead Council - first rate - they located my grandfather's grave, sent me a map and then discovered it was very close to his wife's parents grave, one that I would never have thought of looking for in that cemetery.

Hull, tried hard but were unable to help with my g grandfather's grave. However, that is one major brick wall so can't fault them for that.

Bolton wouldn't release any info without a fee.

[Arranroots]

Hi Jaipy

I wonder if it would be worth contacting the present incumbent of the church in question and explaining the circumstances?

We recently did something similar, although in our case we contacted the cemetary direct, and we have been able to put a gravestone on the grave - after over 50 years - of the wee baby who would have been my brother-in-law.

Good luck - it is important to be able to conclude these sad episodes in our lives.

A 

[''Jane'']

ErrorSPAM REPORT THIS POST AS SPAM (Use 'Report to Moderator'). DO NOT CLICK ON ANY LINKS IN THIS POST. DO NOT REPLY TO THIS PERSON.]I am considering opposing the £15 fee for so little as this may just be a standard letter they send out to anyone requiring such information. Either that or throw in a few more names! After all there are bound to be a few more ancestors in that cemetery.

I did wonder Arranroots about contacting the church direct, but all enquries seem to go to the Town Council as they own it.

J[/color][/size]

[Guy Etchells]

If you contact the church direct you could end up paying far more. The Parochial Fees order sets out a table of fees to be charges.
http://www.stedmundsbury.anglican.org/pages/admin/downloads/parochialfees2006.pdf
From this you can see a search in the burial register is £18 for the first hour and £15 per hour after that.
Cheers
Guy

[Mr. MIGKY]

Hi ,if any would like to know how much it cost to search for a grave in some of Manchester's cemeteries, look on this site. You can search a name for  free and will tell you which cemetery they are in. It has not been going that long so they are still adding to it.

           http://www.manchester.gov.uk/opservices/bereave/onlinerecords.htm

If you want to search Tameside, it is all free. they give you lots of information for free. ie name , plot number where buried , who paid for the grave , if R C or C of E  and how many in the plot. A shame all of the can not be like this.
             http://www.tameside.gov.uk/corpgen2/cemandcrem.htm

Happy hunting folks.
Migky 

[suttontrust]

Providing this sort of information has tended to be a free service in the past, but as with other aspects of family history research, it is becoming unreasonable to expect it to be free, especially if the enquiry is from someone who doesn't live in the area.  If a council is having to employ staff specifically to do this sort of thing, then who is to pay their wages except the council tax payer?