Recording of burials

[onefortheroad]

Oh WOW, Arthur. That's fantastic. Having trailed through cemeteries and graveyards from Devon to Northumberland for various ancestors, I reckon I can find Annie's grave now, knowing the section and grave number and a headstone to look out for. It's only 70 miles away so I can have a full day there if necessary.
I first started looking for her over 15 years ago. I even took her death cert. to Lawnswood where they are supposed to have all the Leeds burial records but they couldn't find her. "Smith" was actually an alias (real surname AUSTON) she used to cover the fact that she'd put her own son (Edward Alexander AUSTON) in reform school. She said she was his guardian and his mother was deceased. He was in there for 7 years. It was that son who travelled from Dumfries to Leeds to bury her. I had started to wonder if he'd just dumped her body somewhere; hardly blame him.
Anyway Arthur, I owe you a debt of thanks for knocking down my one brick wall that at times seemed so solid.
Now, a trip to Harehills is called for.
Many thanks,
David.

[BumbleB]

Image for Harehills!

[arthurk]

Anyway Arthur, I owe you a debt of thanks for knocking down my one brick wall that at times seemed so solid.

Not just me - it was BenRalph who found her first, and I just fleshed it out a bit.

Image for Harehills!

Wonderful - did I miss that at Yorkshire Burials, or is there another useful source you could tell us about, please?

[onefortheroad]

I believe the image is available on Genuki.

[arthurk]

I believe the image is available on Genuki.

There is one there, but it's not the same as BumbleB's:

https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/WRY/Leeds/PhotoFrames/HarehillsCemeteryPlan_MB

[onefortheroad]

Hi again, Arthur.
I wonder if you could clarify something for me: is it usual or otherwise for mistakes to be made in the cataloguing of dates for burials? I ask because of an anomaly in Annie's record.
While I'm quite happy that it is her, I wondered what the "event day" and "event month" were. I presumed they were the date of burial. If so and if it's not a mistake, I have a problem: Annie's death cert. gives her death recorded as 2 July 1954 whereas the burial record says 31 March 1954.
Surely this must be a mistake, yet all the burials in the same grave are about the same time.
Have you ever come across this kind of thing before?
Regards,
David

[arthurk]

I have occasionally found mistakes at Yorkshire Burials, but they have a facility for reporting them and so long as they agree, are very quick to correct them. However, in this case I think there are two Annie Smiths, so the question arises whether this is actually the right burial and grave.

Because of the number of people buried in the same grave at more or less the same time, I'm inclined to think the Harehills date is correct for that particular Annie. Note the age is given as 89, and FreeBMD has a death for an Annie E Smith in the Lower Agbrigg district in the March quarter of 1954, age 89, which fits nicely.

That means the Annie who died on 2 July 1954 must be buried somewhere else - so if you're sure that's your ancestor (and your reply #2 suggests you are), we must look for another burial. I can't do it myself just now, but do have a good search at Yorkshire Burials - I don't think they claim to have 100% coverage, but it's the best place to look for a burial in the Leeds area.

And in case anyone else wants to have a search, what was your Annie's age given as on the death certificate, what was her usual address, and where did she die?

[onefortheroad]

Arthur, I've just finished searching for another candidate in every cemetery on Yorkshire Burials to no avail. I've search under SMITH and AUSTON, consecrated and unconsecrated but nothing that fits.
I feel you are right about this one not being my Annie by virtue of age, d.o.b. and date of interment.
I've attached a copy of her death cert. in case anyone can help but just to be safe (not trusting my techy prowess), her death cert. gives her name as Annie SMITH otherwise Ann Elizabeth AUSTON, died 2nd July 1954 St,James Hospital, age 83, spinster of 134 Chapeltown Road UD, informant; E.A.Auston, 36 Cardoness St., Dumfries, registered 5th July 1954.
It's a disappointment but not unusual for Annie. It's taken over a decade to get this far. Goodness knows what she'll be doing in the '21 census when we get to see that.
Many thanks for your help.
David.

[arthurk]

I've now had chance to look, but I can't find anything on her either. I'm sorry that we got your hopes up, but at least you haven't made a trip to Harehills to visit the wrong grave.

I wonder if she might have had another alias? Or if there's a variant spelling that's been missed? At Yorkshire Burials I used just 'Aust', which picks up Auston, Austin, Austen etc, but I wonder if Aston/Astin/Asten etc is worth a try? Or something beginning Awst-, Ost- or even Hors-?