Missing burials - a general discussion

[chris_49]

In the thread about Frederick George Hirons and his many wives and children, Barbara H mentions finding burial slips for many of them at Warwick (Ancestry records). The conclusion we came to is that they had been buried in unconsecrated ground. In other counties we may not be able to find such records.

[coombs]

I have an ancestor William Inkpen who in 1796 was a pauper living in Oxford. I have never found his burial. His wife died in 1833 and is buried at St Pete Le Bailey. I have a feeling his "missing burial" could be he died in the local workhouse, and was buried in their grounds, and I thought I read that Oxfordshire Workhouse burial records do not survive as far back as the 1790s, early 1800s.

So your ancestor may have died in the local workhouse (pre 1 Jul 1837, or to a much lesser extent, maybe after) and buried in the grounds, and if those records do not survive then the record of your ancestors burial will be gone forever.

[philipsearching]

So your ancestor may have died in the local workhouse (pre 1 Jul 1837, or to a much lesser extent, maybe after) and buried in the grounds, and if those records do not survive then the record of your ancestors burial will be gone forever.

That's another thing I never knew.
My ancestors who died in workhouses (mostly in Cornwall) were buried in paupers graves in parish graveyards or cemeteries and recorded in the Parish Registers.

The responses to this thread (and a big "thank you" to all responders) indicate that there are many reasons why there may be no record of burials in the UK.  There are a variety of records of deaths before BMD records began, but there remain many reasons for a death or burial record not being found.

Philip

[coombs]

They boarded a ship to emigrate, or just to visit USA, Canada, Australia etc, and died on the voyage going out or coming back. Another reason for "missing burials".

[Maiden Stone]

I would imagine many thousands who died during the Great Plague, would be unrecorded.

Dawn M

There were also smaller outbreaks of The Plague and "plagues". There was a plague in Cockerham, Lancashire, the same century. Some of the dead were buried with no 1st name recorded in burial register.

[Maiden Stone]

There were unofficial burial grounds at the time when most people were buried in C. of E. churchyards. I've recently discovered that my Catholic 4x great-grandparents, 2 of their children and some grandchildren were buried in a graveyard belonging to a Catholic chapel during 1st half of 19thC. The graveyard was disturbed by road construction 30 years ago. A local historian was of the opinion that it was a plague pit. The 1737/8 death of a 6xGGF in the same family is still missing. His posthumous son was my 5xGGF.
 Some Catholics carried out secret burials at night in their parish churchyard. My 6xGGF may have been one.

[clearly]

Here is a part of Carlisle Archdeacon Walter Fletcher's visitation of Nicholforest church (Cumbria) in 1817:

There was no chapel yard before [1817]. Some few were buried in the field without the Service being read. Some were carried to Stapleton and the Clerk there assured me "If the Minister was not in the way, they just happed them up [vernacular for covered up] and left them."

No wonder we can't find burials!

[cristeen]

I have ancestors in the 1911 census recorded as having ten children to the marriage with only three surviving. Of the seven 'missing' children, I have only found one civil birth registration and corresponding death in the same quarter of 1871. No trace of the other six. I can only assume that the other children died within a few days of birth and were buried on their isolated farm.

[Maiden Stone]

I've seen a couple of wills where they ask for their body to be used for scientific research.

Not sure if they were pre-1837 though.

Was it allowed then?