Burial/Cremation in Fife 1942 - Information sought

[diane747]

Hello, can anybody please give me some information about what the burial/cremation process was in Fife, in 1942? 

I have been searching for my grandmother's burial place for a couple of years, to no avail.
An entry in my mother's diary seems to indicate that my grandmother was buried in Fife.
My grandmother (Helen Brady) died in the 'Fever Hospital' (West Fife Hospital) in Dunfermline on 4 June 1942.

'Bereavement Services' have advised there is no record of her burial in their searches, and that 'there is no card held for her' - explaining to me that when someone is buried by Fife Council, a card is raised for them. 
The lair books have also been checked of nearby cemeteries, and a check has also been carried out by the Kirkcaldy Crematorium (as she had previously lived with her husband and his family in Kirkcaldy).
A search by 'oldscottish.com' also came up empty, with no record of her married name (Brady) or maiden name (McAllister) in the Kirkcaldy Register.

If no card was raised, does that mean that she wasn't buried? (i.e. that she may have been cremated?) Or is there somewhere other than Fife Council that would have buried people in Fife? Apologies if these are silly questions. I am not familiar with the process there. I live in Tasmania (Australia) and my family who would know such things have all passed away. 

Any help/information/ideas of where else to try would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks in advance,
Diane

[Rosinish]

What was her 'Usual Residence' at the time of her death & who was the informant which may hold a clue?

2 pics here...

https://olddunfermline.com/places/dunfermline-and-west-fife-hospital/


Annie

[diane747]

Hi Annie, thank you for your reply and for the pics. Very much appreciated.
Her usual residence at time of death was 78 Admiralty Road, Rosyth, Dunfermline.
The Informant was her husband, 'John Brady - Widower'.
The other information on her death certificate is the Registrar (David Watson, Dunfermline - I think it says), and the person who certified the cause of death A.A. Gilmour MB ChB.
Although I have been searching for a couple of years, I am still quite a novice at all this!
Diane

[Rosinish]

Have you tried Dunfermline Cemetery...

42 Halbeath Road, Dunfermline KY12 7RA
01383 724899
fifedirect.org.uk

Do you know when John Brady died & where he's buried?

Could she be buried with/near her parents?

It's an odd situation.


Annie

[Rosinish]

Have you tried the local Library for an obit in a newspaper?

https://www.fife.gov.uk/facilities/library/rosyth-library

There's also Douglas Bank Cemetery in Rosyth...

https://www.fife.gov.uk/facilities/cemetery/douglas-bank-cemetery

Pic of Admiralty Road...http://www.rootschat.com/links/01s3e/

Annie

[diane747]

Thank you Annie for all your great suggestions.

In answer to your questions, as she was unfortunately only 21 years old when she died, her husband remarried and died many years later, in Zimbabwe and was buried there.  So she is not buried with/near him.
Her mother died young (when Helen was 9) in England where they lived at the time, and Helen moved with her father to Glasgow, where he was from. He was buried with (his) family (I have the burial records for the lair) but there is no record of Helen having been interred with them. It is unlikely that her body would have been taken to England to be buried near her mother, I would think(?)

When my mum and dad visited relatives in Fife some years ago - who Helen had lived with not so long before she died - Mum noted in her diary that they all went to visit Helen's grave but that when they got there, the gates were locked and it was very run down. So they weren't able to access.

Helen's husband had once lived in Pathhead, overlooking the cemetery there, and my research led me to think this may be a possibility of where she is buried. There had been a mention of thanks to a Rev. A. Morton Price by the family in the Acknowledgements posted in the Fife free Press - who I discovered conducted services at the E U Congregational Church in Pathhead at that time.
This cemetery is apparently gated and very run down, with many headstones unable to be deciphered. I did try to get information, however her name was not on any of the visibly named headstones, and apparently records were destroyed by fire some years ago.
 
In 2021, another member of this forum assisted in finding the Death Notice in The Fife Free Press, on 20 June 1942 - (Helen died on 4th June) but no funeral notice or mention of burial or cremation was found.
 
It's all a bit of a mystery - hence why I am trying to find out why there would not have been a card raised/held for her by the Fife Council, if she was buried in Fife (could that be possible?). Or if this means that she definitely wasn't buried in Fife and the family had it wrong?

With thanks,
Diane

[scotmum]

It may not be of any help, but see https://scottish-monumental-inscriptions.com/products/pathhead-churchyard-nether-street-burial-ground-kirkcaldy-fife

[Rosinish]

I have/mean no intention of upsetting diane747 but...

"In 2021, another member of this forum assisted in finding the Death Notice in The Fife Free Press, on 20 June 1942 - (Helen died on 4th June) but no funeral notice or mention of burial or cremation was found."

I'm wondering with the lack of info. on burial/cremation arrangements, would it have been possible in the era to have a body handed over for research & how to find out 

"When my mum and dad visited relatives in Fife some years ago - who Helen had lived with not so long before she died - Mum noted in her diary that they all went to visit Helen's grave but that when they got there, the gates were locked and it was very run down. So they weren't able to access" ...

Is it possible there was a Headstone/Memorial erected at Pathhead which scotmum posted a link to?

Annie

[diane747]

Thank you scotmum.
I had previously ordered a copy and went through it but came up nought. Your reminder of it, however, jolted me to go through it again, and while there are so many graves that haven't been able to be deciphered, there is one that is listed just as (N) Nelly.  It may be nothing but Helen's name recorded on her birth certificate was Nellie, and she was apparently known by this name (as well as Ellen) prior to her marriage to my grandfather, where it was registered as 'Helen'. Family stories confirm she changed it when she got married. I wonder if this could be her grave? And how I might go about finding this out... Hmmm

Annie, I am not upset at all by your post and thoughts about whether bodies may have been handed over for research in that era. I have no idea about this but all possibilities and considerations are welcome, as I have come to a standstill with the path I have been following.   
One of my own wonderings was, in a time where there were lots of infectious diseases and my grandmother died with pneumonia in the 'Fever Hospital', whether cremation may have been common practice for people dying at the Fever Hospital...?  I have no real information about the practices of the hospital, or the times, so I am flying blind really.