Parish burials

[baytree1970]

Maybe a silly question, but if a person is listed in the parish burial register, does that mean they were buried in the parish church graveyard?

[Little Nell]

It usually does, but it may depend on the date.

Burials that took place in a local cemetery (20th century) that I know of have been recorded in the church's register, possibly because the the minister carried out the funeral service.  I don't know if this was a practice peculiar to this particular vicar.  Generally the burials in municipal cemeteries that I have found don't appear in the parish registers. 

Nell

[emeltom]

I have at least one example of the burial service taking place in the village where the deceased had been living, but the deceased was buried in the churchyard in the village where they had been born, some 30 miles away. I wouls say that if a name is in the burial register then the burial service took place in that church but not necessarily the interment.

[MollyC]

I have an urban parish churchyard which was closed in 1854.  Burials appear in the parish register up to 1881, after which they were not entered.  Change of vicar?  The same burials generally appear in the register of the nearest cemetery, with more details.

[baytree1970]

The burial I have in mind was mid 1850s in a rural English parish. Also, the person concerned was a non-conformist, although listed in the parish register.

Does that narrow things down at all?

[Top-of-the-hill]

  I would say it was likely the burial took place in the church graveyard; many non-conformist chapels did not have graveyards.

[dobfarm]

As already posted it depends on the time period of a burial, early 19th century, 18th century or before were big parishes with a mother parish church with it own churchyard, but the parish had chapelry churches with their own churchyards in different villages in the big parish and the burial sometimes recorded in chapelry register and duplicated in the parish mother church register.

It could get more complicated when  2 or more big parishes boundary met in the same village
 
For example;- Holmfirth in the then old West Riding of Yorkshire in England UK, Kirkburton Parish was in the south of Holmfirth and Almondbury parish in the north but the mother churches of both parishes were miles away near Huddersfield and close to each other by a mile or two. Then to make life more complicated some pockets in Holmfirth Almondbury parish boundary belonged to Kirkirburton parish.  (One big headache for a researcher  ) 

[Top-of-the-hill]

  It also depends where in the country they were. Dobfarm is describing North country parishes, I think, which bears little resemblance to the parishes in my area, which are smaller with one ancient church and graveyard.

[dobfarm]

  It also depends where in the country they were. Dobfarm is describing North country parishes, I think, which bears little resemblance to the parishes in my area, which are smaller with one ancient church and graveyard.

I agree, there was ancient  parishes of various sizes and its not always the case a member of the  parish church (Minster) is buried in that churchyard, there is a case were one male who died 1845 died aged 60 years who had been a Overseer in the Selby (Minster) parish  administration was found buried in a Quaker burial ground as a none practicing member.

There are cases where a deceased was buried in the nearest churchyard ? even though it was in another parish to their abode, as parish boundaries and road routes to nearest church were not always the same thing - that could be miles difference in travel their own parish church. (Mostly in rural countryside parishes)

Best take nothing for granted in genealogy