Author Topic: Burial Records  (Read 1750 times)

Offline Matherino

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Burial Records
« on: Wednesday 12 September 18 10:37 BST (UK) »
Hi
I'm relatively new to all this. Can anyone give me some general pointers to finding burial records. Short of trailing round every cemetery in Northumberland, would a visit to the archives at Woodhorn (20 mins away for me) be beneficial? I would add that I've never visited an archive before. The information I have for some ancestors is the year they died and roughly where they lived at the time of death. Would I need to order and see the death cert to get the exact place and date of death. Places I have are the Rothbury area, Cowpen and Alnwick. Finding a grave of some of these individuals may help trace dates of death for certain spouses for whom I've been unable to trace a date of death.
Any help greatly appreciated.
Paul

Online Tickettyboo

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Re: Burial Records
« Reply #1 on: Wednesday 12 September 18 11:19 BST (UK) »
Yes, the archives would be a good bet for the information, but unless you are near enough and have the time to visit regularly I'd advise doing some groundwork first to have an idea of which records to look at.

What sort of time frame are you talking about?
If you can give us an example, (name, age, year of death, any census info etc you have to show where they were living) we can perhaps help with where and how to search for that time frame and area.

Boo



Offline Matherino

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Re: Burial Records
« Reply #2 on: Wednesday 12 September 18 14:01 BST (UK) »
Hi, thanks for your response.
An example would be James Robert McLaren, died 1952 aged 81, living in Alnwick as per the 1939 Register. Have physically searched Alnwick Cemetery and found no trace of his grave. Not to say its not there but I just haven't been able to find it. A burial record would hopefully confirm confirm these details.
Thanks
Paul

Offline JenB

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Re: Burial Records
« Reply #3 on: Wednesday 12 September 18 15:10 BST (UK) »
Hi, thanks for your response.
An example would be James Robert McLaren, died 1952 aged 81, living in Alnwick as per the 1939 Register.

Do you definitely know that he was actually living in Alnwick when he died? His death is registered in Northumberland North Second registration district which comprised a huge number of parishes
https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/northumberland%20north%20second.html
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Online Tickettyboo

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Re: Burial Records
« Reply #4 on: Wednesday 12 September 18 15:23 BST (UK) »
Not easy online this recent. Though you have looked around the cemetery, there may not have been a gravestone at all, so as you say not finding one doesn't mean he isn't buried there and you'd need to check the burial registers.

Okay, so first thing I did was check FreeBMD and there is a death registered in Q1 Northumberland North Second District for a James R W McLaren, aged 81. So that looks like his death registration and tells me where he died. UKBMD gives me the places covered by that registration district
https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/northumberland%20north%20second.html
Which is quite a long list and you need to bear in mind that, at his age, he may well have been living with a son or daughter who could have lived anywhere in the area and therefore may have been buried elsewhere in a civil cemetery or even in a churchyard (so you may need to check Parish burial records too)

A date and place of death, plus home address at time of death (if, for example he died in hospital) is very useful when searching for a burial - in any decade and in any register/newspaper/ database. A death cert from the GRO (or the slightly cheaper .pdf option) would give you that info. For me, the budget is limited and unless its my direct line I look for alternate sources of that info.
 
So I checked to see if there was a will or grant of administration for his estate (may/may not have been one) which would give me his exact date of death and, at that time, usually where he had been living, where he died and who did the probate/admin.
https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills
Unfortunately there is no entry in the probate calendar for him - but its always worth a shot.

Then I checked the available online newspapers for the Alnwick area, to see if there is a death announcement which would mention funeral arrangements, but there isn't yet anything in the database for that area this recent. The only one they currently have for that decade is the Alnwick Mercury for 1950.

Another good source of free info is https://www.gravestonephotos.com, which do have 80% of the existing gravestones in Alnwick in their database - but sadly no Mclarens


Alnwick Library may have old copies of the local papers if you can get there - I have no experience of either the local libraries or the archives at Woodhorn but others may help with info. The Woodhorn site has info on their holdings and details of what to expect if you visit and opening times. Research will most likely involve using a microfilm reader so I'd tell them in advance to ask them to reserve one if possible.

The Northumberland council site says on this page
http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/Registration/My-Northumberland-Wedding/Copy-certificates.aspx#searchingforgraves

That says if you are searching for a grave post 1900 to contact the cemetery you think they may be buried in - again a date and address would greatly help - though do be aware that there may be a charge and in some councils the charges can be hefty. Shy bairns get nowt though so email and ask. If they say there is a charge you don't have to proceed if its too expensive.
http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/Registration/Deaths/Crem.aspx
contact details are there.

Good luck with it, come back if you need further help.

Boo

Offline Matherino

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Re: Burial Records
« Reply #5 on: Monday 17 September 18 16:48 BST (UK) »
Thanks for your advice. Clearly, a copy of the death cert may well narrow down the search. He's great grandfather so cost is probably worth it. Thanks again.

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Re: Burial Records
« Reply #6 on: Monday 17 September 18 21:52 BST (UK) »
Sorry I couldn't give more specific help, but hopefully the general pointers will help with others.

As he is a direct line ancestor it 'is' good to document them in as much detail as possible and the death cert is one of those things which is on my 'definite' wish list. (though sometimes it has to wait a while till the budget allows)

Good luck with it and if you get a specific place of death it may well be worth posting back as someone may have access to the burials in that area.

Boo

Offline c-side

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Re: Burial Records
« Reply #7 on: Tuesday 18 September 18 23:40 BST (UK) »
I notice that you have burials for the Cowpen area.  There's not much in the way of churchyards in that area so the first place to look would be Cowpen civil cemetery.

Have you got any names?

Christine

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Re: Burial Records
« Reply #8 on: Tuesday 02 October 18 14:25 BST (UK) »
Hi
I thought I would post back with an update following my initial post and all your helpful posts in response. I have visited for the first times the Archives at Woodhorn.

Boo, by shear chance I discovered the actual date of death and burial place of the person I detailed, James McLaren. The lady archivist at Woodhorn was showing me things there and it so happened she had a printed transcript for Spitalford Cemetery near Embleton. I mentioned the surname McLaren and she opened a page to display numerous McLarens including the said James. I had actually visited the cemetery previously as I was aware of various relatives of James buried there but hadn't seen a grave for James. I knew he lived in Alnwick so assumed, wrongly, that he was buried there. The transcript for Spitalford showed he was buried there, the date of burial, the actual date of death and place of death. From FreeBMD I was only aware of the year of death. I'll have to re-visit the cemetery to see if I can find his grave.

Christine, in answer to your question about Cowpen, I had in mind one individual, Mark Allan (possibly spelt Allen), born Monkseaton 1854. I am unaware of his date of death but had him on the 1911 Census living in Cowpen. I guess I was wondering if he died there and was buried at Cowpen Civil Cemetery. As I said above, I have just visited Woodhorn and managed to find a printed transcript for Cowpen Cemetery. There was no trace of a Mark Allan or Allen being buried there. This ties in with finding no trace of him dying in the area on FreeBMD. The only Mark Allan that leaps out from that site, based on his date of death, is of someone dying in Sunderland in 1923. There are 2 Mark Allens showing, one dying in Auckland 1915, the other in Leicestershire 1936. My guess is the Sunderland person but I am wondering on how to confirm this. I've never requested a death cert from GRO but have seen examples. If memory serves they do not show parentage, only place and date of death and informant. The informant if a relative may confirm things but it seems a long shot. Not sure if anyone has any tips on how to proceed here. The 1921 Census once it becomes available may confirm things if it shows him living in Sunderland. Few years to wait for that though.

Thanks