Lack of burials

[diggerman2]

Sorry - yes they normally will give details , such as name , date of burial , address at time of death etc...

[Vasquez109]

Is it a case of phoning the church or will all records over a certain age be sent to the RO?

[lesleyhannah]

Thanks for that Diggaman. It hadn't occurred to me to try to get information that way. I've got CDs of all the memorials in the cemeteries I suspect they should be buried in, but they don't appear.
I'm doing this long-distance and what's the best way to go about it.  In your cemetery would you provide the information by post or email if the enquirer couldn't make it in person? It seems like a bit of a cheek, just writing and asking someone to start searching records for my great grandparents, as you all have jobs to do, and can't spend your time running round helping genealogists - but now I know that information might be there I feel quite optimistic, after years of brick walls!
Lesley

[diggerman2]

Again , i can only speak for the authority i work for , but they would do this whichever way you wanted.
If you wrote to them , phoned them , or emailed them , they would respond to your request.
As i say , as long as they have the name and date of death , then it only takes seconds for them to come up with a grave number ( as long as the person IS in one of our Cemeteries).
Then it would be up to you really - if you could visit , then they'd send you a plan of the Cemetery , and make arrangements for you to meet one of our Cemeteries staff - who would happily show you the grave.
If you weren't in a position to visit the Cemetery , then it wouldn't be a problem for us to photograph the headstone (if there was one) , and send the photo to you.
They really are obliging , and would help in any way they could - dont feel cheeky - we're here to help people after all

Obviously (as i've said) , i can only speak for the bereavement services /Cemeteries depts in Stockton-on-Tees , but if you are alluding to Stockton then let me know and i'll post the contact details.
Hope you find what you're looking for.

[lesleyhannah]

The great grandparents I can't find are in the east Midlands. I must say your authority sounds unbelievably helpful and I'm not too confident that others will be so good! But the information is very useful - I'd never thought of writing directly to cemeteries, so thank you.
Lesley

[diggerman2]

Yes i must admit , most people that come to find a grave DO comment on how helpful our admin staff are.
Anyway - Good luck with your searching. 

[Little Nell]

Sami,

I'm guessing this is likely to be pre-1855?  Many burials prior to 1855 were not recorded in the parish registers and in rural areas this is likely to be case.  This is not unusual.  But you may find records in the Kirk Sessions which record the rental of the mort cloth (used to cover the coffin prior to burial) and this is the closest thing you may find to a burial record.  Unfortunately the Kirk Sessions records are in the National Archives for Scotland and not online.

Have you checked what records exist for the parish(es) of interest?  See here for Aberdeenshire:

http://www.scotlandspeoplehub.gov.uk/pdf/list-of-oprs-168to249.pdf

A quick scan through the list shows just how many gaps there are in the burials column.

Nell

[SamiW]

Thanks Nell, for the link and advice.  I had actually checked for mort-cloth rentals - but I think my lot were so poor they couldn't even afford that!
I guess I shall just have to take it that they were buried in the appropriate churchyards, sans stone or records.
Best
Sami