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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Angus (Forfarshire) => Topic started by: Matherino on Wednesday 12 September 18 11:02 BST (UK)
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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
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Have you tried
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/1974320/dundee-eastern-cemetery
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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
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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
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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
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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
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I have had help from them at no cost on a few occasions the last being on 23/8/2018.
Unfortunately I cannot attach the emails here. They were for Balgay Cemetery, Dundee.
My email gave 3 names and dates of death. The reply said please find the section and lair number for them.
I will go back and check exactly who I emailed.
Dorrie
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Just checked back my emails they were to www.parks.burials@dundeecity.gov.uk the lady who replied and appears to deal with these queries is Clair.
As I am led to believe they will give you a lair number and location if you have name and date of death free of charge.
Hope this helps if not PM me and I will see if I can help further.
Dorrie
P.S. Just tried a wee experiment and have emailed them with a query for a burial location at Eastern Cemetery. I already have the information from my cousin but lets see what kind of a reply I get.
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Well my experiment worked :)
I emailed them last night and received this reply this morning -
Hello Dorrie,
Thank you for your email regards to the burial ground of Robert Small . I have searched and found he was buried in the Eastern Cemetery Section DD Lair No 20. Please see attached map of Eastern Cemetery showing Section DD.
Best wishes
Claire
This is the correct information so I would email them again Matherino giving the name and exact date of death.
Dorrie
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Thanks for that Dorrie. I am going to email them now to see how I get on.
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Dorrie, just to let you know, I got a successful reply to my query. Emailed them details of my great grandparents (had an inkling they were buried in Eastern) and they came back with the confirmation of the lair number and section. They also confirmed they do provide a free service in this regard. It may have been the wording of my original query that meant they omitted to mention this free service and instead detailed only their £31/hr service. I have since went back to them to ask exactly what one gets when employing their chargeable service. Their answer was that with regard a particular lair they provide you with names, addresses, parentage, ages, date of internment and dates of everyone in the lair.
Thanks for all your help here.
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That is great as I am all for getting the information free if you can.
The strange thing is there are two family lairs in section B and some of my Small ancestors are buried there including my Great Great Grandparents. When my Great Grandfather - Robert Small - died in 1913 there were two spaces still available in the family lair beside his parents but he was buried in Section DD beside his brother in law. He was the husband of the lady who is my Avator - Mary Malcolm. The next burial in the family lair was not until 1938 then Mary Malcolm herself in 1945. That means she is buried beside her in laws and some of her children who died young. We wonder why she did not bury her husband in the family lair in section B as there was space available?? strange one.
I am lucky to have a copy of the deeds to the lairs which lists the names of those buried there given to me by a cousin.
We will be visiting the cemetery in November with family so let me know if I can help further.
What section are your family in?
Dorrie
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Hi Dorrie
Where to start. I thought I had members of maybe 5 or 6 different branches of my family buried in the Eastern. What I had to go on at the start was the location in the city where they lived at time of death i.e. east side of Dundee, a couple of very old documents showing the purchase of a burial plot in Eastern and information from a relative of mine who told me that 1 or 2 were buried there. Following your help, I've established 2 of my great grandparents are buried in Eastern Section II. Another query resulted in finding out that 2 other great grandparents were buried in Western despite them having purchased a plot in the Eastern (section NN). A bit of a mystery there although if I ever see who is buried there, I might be able to clear that up. My intention is to gather details of as many lairs from the Council, decide if I need to use the chargeable service (other than getting burial dates, I'm not too sure what other information I would get that I didn't already hold) then in due course look to get photos of the graves. I have a brother not a million miles away from Eastern so if I am unable to get there myself sometime, I might try and persuade him to do some grave searching/photography (sounds a bit morbid!!).
Anyhow, thanks for all your help and all the best for the future.
Paul