Genealogy Chat

Please read on.....

I visited All Saints church in Ascot Heath Berks yesterday, looking for three graves, I emailed the church in advance, asking if there were such things as plans for the grounds re: graves, but said I didn't want to put them to any trouble, and that if it was a small grave yard I was happy to browse around. I had a nice reply saying there were no plans, and I was welcome to browse, and visit the church. It was a lovely little place, but a little disappointing not to find who I was looking for. The deaths were in 1906, 1929 & 1936 and I got the burial info from the Family History Online website. There were only a few headstones I couldn't read, certainly not 3 together. I know they could be scattered but the first death was the father & he was a Baronet so quite possibly made provision for other family members to be close by. The other 2 were his unmarried adult daughters. The grounds were well kept except for one patch of 3ft high stingers, I could see 3-4 tall headstones/monuments poking out, so I did wonder how many smaller ones were totally obscured. I popped into the church but no one was about for me to ask, it was such a shame. It’s one thing to visit unannounced, but when your relations are dead and buried you really do expect them to be home!!

your last remark did tickle me!!!!!!! i went to chiddingly sussex and walked round looking for rellies, gr gran amongst others got quite a few but not hers!! on the way home realised i looked for her maiden name, silly me. went back the folling week and their she was!! Also went to east hoathly same area and wandered round found a few, the bumped into the vicar, they have had a book published on all the plots and names in the cemetry, so i bought 2 one for my parents, i thought that was a lovely idea, if you sometimes are unable to travel happy hunting sandra

I am surprised that there are no plans. I was under the impression that graves had to be numbered and the number recorded in the burial register. There are often little iron markers with the number on and sometimes the stonemason incorporates the plot number on the headstone.

The book is a nice idea Sandra, and Brian I think there must be plans, maybe not kept at the church though, not sure where else to try. I think it's more frustrating knowing they ARE there but not being able to find them, than just pottering about just in case there are ancestors. I was bothered about the overgrown patch at the back, I guess those were older, unattended graves, but it still seems a little disrespectful. I pulled bits of ivy off one headstone, and moved weeds & grass off another, I really don't mind doing all that, I find them very interesting places. I want to go back, but I know for sure that I checked all the ones I could check, my mum was with me too. Perhaps I could email again and ask if the patch at the back is going to be cut back....without sounding too cheeky!!

Hi I was at All Souls church in South Ascot on Tuesday, and found 6 graves of relations of mine including my GG/Gandfather an mothers graves, they have a plan of the churchyard in the church, and I also have to go Ascot Heath cemetery as there is a relation there as well as All Souls was not built until 1897 and the Mark Goodchild died at the age of 24 is buried there according to Family History on line although I do not find that it is a very good site. I will be going again Margaret

I have found indexed entries of my ancestors burials giving a reference to where they are buried. However the plots have since been covered by other graves and are no longer there. I suppose this would be ok if they were a couple of hundred years old but my 2 x Great grandfather was buried in 1951!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its worth checking with the local family history group as they may have catalogued the graveyard. I know that Cheshire are slowly doing the rounds, and I have a lot of the MI's on microfiche. When they 'did' a church in Hoylake, they cleared away a lot of the vegetation, and lifted fallen stones. Apparently you have to get permission from the Bishop to do such things. I had a location of a grave in Thurstaston but when I got there there was only grass. I spoke to a church warden who came over to the place where the grave should have been, and after a bit of prodding he found the edge of a flatstone. Together we pulled back an eight inch thick carpet of grass and moss to reveal the beautifuly undamaged grave of my great great great great great grandfather! Next to him we found his daughter also hidden under inches of grass and moss, where as two of his sons had upright graves so they were visable. It was a great day! Babs

Sam, I wonder if the parish council could give you advice on where the plan would be kept. I traipsed around iron Acton graveyard in hopes of finding some of Tony's family last week ( he looked too surprisingly). Found one distant connection who was related to his GtX6 grandfather's brother. (Gabriel Amos). But, like you a part of the graveyard was very overgrown so no hope of getting to the graves there. I am going to write to the parish coucil for advice i think. Ann Glos

Hi Sammy and everyone Here in Hull the burial and cremation records are kept in the offices at the crematorium. What I've done in the past is to make an appointment at the crematorium to search the burial records - of course you will need an approximate date of death to do this. When you find the entry you want it will have a plot number by it. As the cemeteries in Hull tend to be large, you can make an appointment for somebody to show you where the grave is located - they generally have the plans with them. I know the crematorium will also search the burial records for you as I have helped another member who lives in Lincolnshire. She rang the office and got the plot numbers and I met the chap there to find the grave so I could take a photo for her. Hope this helps Jeanette

Thanks for your replies everyone. Margaret, when you go to Ascot Heath....take your strimmer!!! It's the Bruce family I'm after, maybe you'll see something I missed :) Barbara, that's amazing isn't it, also never heard of upright coffins before. Ann, I will definitely contact them whan I go again, like you I'm sure there must be some sort of plan somewhere. Jeanette, thank you for the info about the crem, it seems with all your help I'll be able to locate them sooner or later.

Hi All, I have to give a huge vote for Milton cemetery in Portsmouth! They have a big map of the cemetery in the office,with all the sections shown in relation to the office and chapel. The staff are really helpful, they looked up the names I was searching in the registers, then produced a smaller version of the map and marked where the graves were, so I could take it with me. They also have the records there for Kingston cemetery (which is just up the road), I`m not sure if they have little maps for that one though! Rebecca

:-) Sammy Some of my relies are buried in Limpenhoe churchyard, Norfolk. I contacted the Norfolk Records Office who had a plan of the churchyard, to check that my gt grandad was buried there, as he had died elsewhere. I found out they had this document by typing Limpenhoe into a2a website. If I were you I'd do the same with Ascot.

Thanks Helen :)

Sammy, Just a thought, did you look for them inside the church? There may be a memorial or wall plaque dedicated to them, especially if he was a baronet. Regards, Viv.

just a tip for everybody who are looking for burials,contact the local crematorium belonging to councils they will have index books for burials.i contacted my local council by e-mail and they told me so long as i ring them and make an appointment i can trawl through the books all day until i find the burial i am looking for or they would do a search for me which would cost £46+vat,am booking appointments sue

Oh gosh Sammy that wasn't what I meant! I mean that the grave stone was vertical ie the way you expect them to be, rather than the larger flastone that lie on the ground. Perish the thought of a vertical grave. Although isn't that what these environmentally friendly graveyards are like? :-D

Most of my family was cremated and their ashes scattered in a garden of rememberance. They don't have any plaques, but when my late great-aunt took me their for my grandather's funeral, she walked me round it. There were about 14 relatives scattered there, the earliest in 1941, and she could pinpoint the exact spot all their ashes were scattered. I'm pretty cetain she was accurate, other family members corroborated some of what she said. It's a shame really because none of them have any headstones or markers of any kind - at £300/year they just couldn't afford them.

BARBARA..................... I'M STILL LAUGHING!!!

Sammy I was horrified lol Can you imagine? Eugh I just don't want to go there ! :-D