Genealogy Chat

apparently vicars are buried upright, so I have been told something to do with them being first out when Jesus comes back again

I remember I first became interested in family history on my 11th birthday (back when everything was groovy, man). We went on holiday to Norfolk and visited the village where my dad's dad was born. We found memorial stone to my gt grandparents and I photographed it using my new birthday camera. I went back later with student friends and found it again, much weathered. Small world - I have a friend in Gosport and her mum is called Joy, also one in Farlington, Portsmouth. The last one is researching the history of a local house. Helen

Ann, It`s definitely worth giving them a call, as I said they`re very helpful. They even did a soundex search for me `cos I`d spelt my great aunts surname wrong, and told me where she had died. Rebecca

I used to live in Gosport, one of my children was born there.... Small World ;)

Hi Guys Why don't you try the local library my sister and I went to Ludlow to find our ancestors. We phoned ahead and the lady at the library had dug out the burial records for us. We found the plots we wanted but when we got to the grave yard there were nettles and all sorts about 6ft high. Shame it was so unkempt still we had a lovely day walking around Ludlow and paddling in the river. I still wonder why my ancestors ever left such a beautiful town? Janet xxx

Rebecca I will have to check the Milton cemetery out as I am halfway sure that my Grandparents may be buried there. I vaguely remember being taken there as a small child to put flowers on the grave. Ann Glos

Joy My Great grandparents are buried in Ann's Hill cemetery (actually it is in Gosport not Portsmouth). Their grave is badly delapidated but a second cousin who lives nearby went and found it and photographed it for me. Ann Glos

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

Thanks Helen :)

:-) 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.

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

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 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

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

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