Burial - James Donaghue 1895

[tfidonnie]

Hi there,

I was just checking if anyone knew what the burial information meant on this document? The word 'private' is fairly clear, but the following word less so. Is it 'jadman' or something?!

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/yy103/tfidonnie/th_image-4x.jpg (http://s782.photobucket.com/albums/yy103/tfidonnie/?action=view&current=image-4x.jpg)

Hop the link works!

Thanks!

[Joe Duffy]

Certainly looks like Jadman or possibly Tadman. Whatever it is, it's clearly referring to a location as it's in the "Where Buried" column. What area is the book from? I can find a couple of Tadman Streets in the UK. One in Wakefield, other in Hull.

[tfidonnie]

Aha! I think I've cracked it! There was / is and A&C Tadman funeral directors on Bethnal Green Road (which is where the document relates to).

Does that mean it would have been a cremation?

[tfidonnie]

Or not - looks like that branch only opened in 1998! Back to the drawing board!

[Mutley]

Have you looked at the other pages before and after to see if there are others that may be clearer. William Budgee (3 above) looks similar.

If you google for uk.epodunk.com there is a list of all the old Middlesex cemeteries, you may be able to eliminate them.

[Kerrywood]

I was just checking if anyone knew what the burial information meant on this document? The word 'private' is fairly clear, but the following word less so. Is it 'jadman' or something?!

I agree that it looks like Tadman, and it's definitely the name of the undertaker.

The left-hand half of the Where buried column refers to the burial, whether private or at E. L. C. (= East London Cemetery). The right-hand half of the column shows the name of the undertaker, for private burials.

Private in this context simply means the funeral was arranged and paid for by family/friends, not by the institution where he died.


Does that mean it would have been a cremation?
It's unlikely to have been a cremation in London in 1895.

Kerrywood

[tfidonnie]

Thanks for all the help / advice. Do funeral directors keep records of burials? Or is it a case of going and searching random graveyards?!

[Kerrywood]

Thanks for all the help / advice. Do funeral directors keep records of burials? Or is it a case of going and searching random graveyards?!

You occasionally find a few undertakers' records in local studies libraries or county record offices. But if you're looking for the grave, that's not normally the best way to go. First identify a likely cemetery, find out where the burial registers are kept, look up the plot/grave number, visit the cemetery and then start looking ;)

The register in question appears to be of deaths at St George in the East infirmary in 1895. So possible cemeteries might be Tower Hamlets, East London Cemetery (Plaistow), perhaps City of London Cemetery (Manor Park, aka Little Ilford). The East of London FHS (google for it) has a good page on cemeteries and the location of registers.

A word of warning. Unless you have easy access and are willing to do the legwork yourself, searching for a grave in London after about 1850 is likely to be a costly and time-consuming business, with no guarantee of success. Many of the deceased are not buried close to the area where they lived.

Also, bear in mind that in sheer numerical terms most Londoners in the 19th century were buried in unmarked graves, so if/when you find a grave there may, sadly, be nothing to see. :(

On the other hand, you could strike lucky :)

Kerrywood