Recording of burials

[onefortheroad]

Hi.
Ive been searching on and off for several years now for a 1954 burial/cremation.
I'm left with one annoying question: was there a legal requirement to register a burial/cremation or could remains just be buried anywhere without a record being kept?
Happy New Year to you all.

[groom]

Where have you been searching as not all burials/ cremations are on line?

I’ve always started by finding out where the person died and their home address,  as most people are buried/cremated near where they lived. Then I’ve contacted the bereavement team at the local council and asked if they can help. Most have replied quickly.

Ashes can be scattered almost anywhere I believe but burials have to be in consecrated ground or approved places.

[onefortheroad]

Hi. Many thanks for your reply.
Ive searched online: Ancestry, BMD, Family Search LGI, Local cemetery registers. She's not there.
The search is made slightly more complicated by her death certificate. Under Name and Syrname, it gives "Annie SMITH  otherwise  Ann Elizabeth AUSTON". She was born AUSTON.
I have searched the above sites using both names and all possible derivatives and combinations.
I have visited the West Yorkshire Archives in Leeds - she died in St.James's Hospital, Leeds and lived in Chapeltown Rd., Leeds.
I have also visited Lawnswood Cemetery, Leeds which is supposed to hold all the burial and cremation records for Leeds cemeteries. They could not match anything for 1954 under either name.
The informant was her son (surname Auston) who lived in Dumfries. I have contacted Dumfries bereavement services but, you guessed it, shes not there either.
I'm really at the most solid brick wall ever with this one and its a shame as she was my gtgrandmother.

Thanks, David.

[Gadget]

Hello David 

Have you checked old newspapers for a burial/cremation announcement?

Gadget

[YatesJones]

Its weird but I have the same problem but in the Birmingham area.  I have death certificates for my grandparents and know their last addresses but cannot find their graves anywhere.

Have tried multiple online sites and also contacted the local council who confirmed that they have no records of a burial either.

No idea where to go next as we know where they died, where they loved, where their family lived etc and know they werent buried out of area.  Its so frustrating!

[carol8353]

Have you tried crematoriums,as by the mid 1950's cremations were becoming more and more popular.

[YatesJones]

Pretty sure the local authority should still hold the records for the crematorium.

In my own case they have no record of my grandparents which is really odd (especially as my dad remembers going to the funeral) but I know given the date its worth considering.

[onefortheroad]

Hi Gadget.

No, to be honest, I havent checked out the 'despatches'. I'll give it a go but, to be honest, she was a loner in later life and she didnt treat her children as one would really expect. She lived for fortyodd years under an alias and sailed very close to the wind on occassion. I'm not sure her passing was mourned by many so would her son have paid for an announcement? Maybe as payback for her putting him in a reform school at the age of nine while posing as his 'guardian'. Who knows, Gadget.
But I will definitely have a look online at the local press.
Thanks for that.
David.

[Rhododendron]

It is not impossible for a person to bury ashes in an existing family grave without the Church (and maybe the Cemetery) knowing about it.  By doing that, the fee normally payable is avoided!  (I am aware that this has actually happened!)