Wording on Burial Entry

[Jane Masri]

If the wording for a burial entry in the parish records says something like,'Fred Smith of Dorking' with the burial being at Capel a small village close by, would it be safe to assume that Fred Smith lived & died in Dorking but was brought to Capel for burial?
I see numerous entries worded this way & it would help with the search knowing that the person lived & died in one place but, possibly, was brought to another parish for burial.

Jane

[casalguidi]

Hi Jane

Not necessarily.  It could just be that it was a temporary address ie. a workhouse.  Often it would appear to be where the person died or where the body was brought from rather than actual home address.

Best wishes

Casalguidi

[Nick Carver]

There are numerous examples in my own parish records of people who were born in the village but who went to the nearest towns either to work or to live as retired people in assisted housing who were buried in their home village.

I don't think there is any golden rule for this. You will need to take other factors into consideration when trying to work out a particular example.

[NigelG]

The other thing to consider is that if there were more than 2 or 3 Fred Smiths around at the same time in the same village, they would have to find some way of identifying each of them individually.

I've seen trades used (Fred "Baker" Smith for eg) or Fred son of David or just the location of birth BUT this can either be the birth of the relevant person OR their parents!

Quite commonly seen in Wales where you have to find a way to distinguish between all the Jones, Davies and Evans! 

[JAP]

I've just learned that, in 17th century - rather feudal - Scotland, "in" meant that the person was a tenant or sub-tenant, whereas "of" meant that the person owned the property!!!

My experience of entries in 19th century parish registers of persons buried in one place though living in another is that they are recorded as having died "at" a place in the parish "of" whatever (and as being formerly of some other place or places which is/are usually in the parish of the register) and then as being buried in a kirkyard of the parish of the register - which is usually their original home parish ...

And, of course, as NigelG says, the "of" can sometimes be a distinguishing feature i.e. explaining which X it is by specifying the particular residence of one of a number of people of the same name in a given parish.

Where was "Fred Smith" born?  If he was born in Capel I would think that your idea is a very good one - though not yet proven until you know "Fred"s birthplace and also his residence at the time of his death.

Regards,

Judy

[Jane Masri]

Thanks for all your thoughts on the subject.  It seems logical that there were no hard & fast rules about what they wrote in the parish registers, but by saying, 'Fred Smith of Dorking', the burial being at Capel, implies that he was living in Dorking when he died (& had been for some time) OR he had newly arrived in Capel, so he was known as Fred Smith of Dorking.  The family name in question was not a common one, so I don't think the 'of Dorking' was used to distinquish him from others.  He had spent his early married life in Capel, so perhaps it was his wish to be buried there.  His wife & sister were also buried at Capel, although they also have, 'of Ewell & of Dorking' on the entries, the sisters will having been written in Ewell, more evidence to suggest she was brought from Ewell to Capel for burial.
It would seem to me that it was quite common to bring the bodies 'home' for burial in the late 1700s, early 1800s!

Jane

[Andy_T]

I agree with another commentator that sometimes a deceased person is buried in a different parish.
A William Thurman was murdered at Bullbridge in Ambergate, Derbyshire in 1875.
I had been searching for his burial record at Thurmaston, Leicestershire and could not find it.
Through roots I found out his death was registered at Belper, Derbyshire and he was buried ar Crich, Derbys on 07 DEC, 1875.
I should mention that Ambergate, Derbys is almost 50 miles from Thurmaston in Leicestershire so the expense and logistics of moving a body that distance in 1875 was likely a consideration as William's widower father was a poor man. 

I noticed on baptism transcripts that often residency is mentioned and that place not always in the same place as the church parish a baptism took place in.

Andy_T   

[pinefamily]

With baptism records you need to have a good grasp of the parish; sometimes it might be a little hamlet just outside the village, or a farm considered a  local landmark. Or as you suggest, the parents might be from another parish; perhaps the baptismal parish is an ancestral parish for either of them.

[Andrew Tarr]

.... Ambergate, Derbys is almost 50 miles from Thurmaston in Leicestershire so the expense and logistics of moving a body that distance in 1875 was likely a consideration as William's widower father was a poor man. 

Ambergate was a major railway junction, so a train journey was quite possible?