Burial Records

[Matherino]

Hi
Am relatively new to all this. Have a lot of ancestors in Dundee and am sure a lot of them were buried in the Eastern Cemetery which I understand is pretty big. How does one go about tracing the burial records of such individuals without having plot details? Can I contact the Council or the local Archive? I live 2 and half hours away so visiting archives, etc wouldn't be easy.
Any advice would be most welcome.
Paul

[shanghaipanda]

Have you tried

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/1974320/dundee-eastern-cemetery

[Forfarian]

Am relatively new to all this. Have a lot of ancestors in Dundee and am sure a lot of them were buried in the Eastern Cemetery which I understand is pretty big. How does one go about tracing the burial records of such individuals without having plot details? Can I contact the Council or the local Archive? I live 2 and half hours away so visiting archives, etc wouldn't be easy.
Any advice would be most welcome.

You need to contact Dundee City Council, who are responsible for maintaing cemeteries in Dundee. See https://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/service-area/neighbourhood-services/environment/bereavement-services-guide-to-the-citys-cemeteries

The Eastern Cemetery was opened in 1863, so only a very tiny number of gravestones are included in the book of monumental inscriptions, because the book only list stones with at least one pre-1855 death mentioned (presumably pre-1855 names included in post-1863 stones).

There is no point in trying Deceased Online because the City of Dundee does not so far participate in Deceased Online; this site has only a small number of names from transcriptions of graves in Dundee, not including any in the Eastern Cemetery at the time of writing.

[Matherino]

Thanks for this. Have now been in touch with the Council who confirmed they offer a tracing service of sorts, at a cost of course! I've also uncovered a couple of plot numbers in the Eastern Cemetery for 2 deceased ancestors. Can one access online a map of the cemetery that shows where a plot would be if you hold the relevant numbers? That would possibly mean I could arrange a visit to the cemetery which in turn would possibly lead to tracing the graves of related individuals if they were nearby or in the same plot.

[Forfarian]

Sorry, I don't know the answer to that.

It's annoying when a council wants to charge you for looking things up until you reflect on what is more important for their staff to spend time on - mending potholes in the roads, or caring for old folk, or keeping the streets clean, or supplying textbooks for schools, or helping people with their hobby of genealogy?

[bleckie]

Hi All

I was looking for a grave site in the Eastern a few years ago and I asked one of the guys working there and he showed me a clue on how to find the plot.
If you know the section they are hurried in there are lair numbers carved into the base of any stone so find a clue of head stones in the area you are looking at the liars from memory are 2ft wide.

Yours Aye
BruceL

[ev]

Can one access online a map of the cemetery

From the link provided earlier by Shanghaipanda -
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/1974320/dundee-eastern-cemetery

Scroll down and the map is on the right hand side(click to enlarge).


ev

[dowdstree]

If you can give Dundee city burials a date of death for an ancestor they will look up the grave location free of charge. It is only if you ask for a list of burials in a specific plot or without a date of death that there is a charge.

Good luck

Dorrie

[Matherino]

Thanks for all the replies. Bruce, I like that tip about the lair numbers being carved into the base of the grave. I wonder if that is just the preserve of the Eastern Cemetery or its a common practice used in other cemeteries.

Forfarian, point noted. Just seems to be a very inconsistent approach to the matter of genealogy by Councils/Archives. Some charge, some don't, some are helpful, some aren't. Sometimes it seems to depend on who deals with your query. It can come across that some people dealing with you are passionate about their job and genealogy, others aren't. At the end of it, the rights or wrongs of Councils, etc charging you for information can just depend on one's point of view.

Dorrie, below is the response I previously got from the Burial Administration of the Council:

"......we carryout a research for an hour of £31.00 payable to Dundee city council all we would require is a full date of death name and maiden name if female."

This seems contrary to what you say in that you only have to provide the date of death and they will provide the grave location free of charge. Unless I'm missing something? I will pay them if I have to, I was just curious about what you said.

Thanks