Cemetary records

[lindand]

I don't know if this is the right place to post this - please let me know if I am wrong.
I have a record of my ggparents graves in the Belgrave Cemetary. The listing is as follows:
Mary Greaves - 1 mth - June 30/88
Florence Lily Harding - 6 mths - Mar 28/1900
Mary Ann Greaves - 61 - Feb 21/1911
John Greaves - 71 - June 7/1915

I have no record of the name Harding appearing in this family. Is it possible for an un-related child to be buried in the same site? I am stumped. Any suggestions?

[Geoffers]

I would think it unlikely that she is not related.

Could she be a granddaughter? Try searching freebmd to see if there are any possible matches for a HARDIN(G) and GR(E)AVES marriage in the previous 50 years. Does the girl's birth/death show up in the GRO index?

[Barbara Wilkinson]

Did they not bury babies and children in other graves if they were open on the same day and there was no family grave? I don't know from your posting if this is a transcription of the headstone or from the burial record. A child in my family as recently (well relatively speaking!!) as the 1950s was buried in a grave belonging to someone else because there was no family grave and absolutely no fuss about the funeral as he was one of twins and the other lived. There is no mention on the headstone, but the parish and undertaker's records show in which grave he is buried.

[lindand]

Thanks for the replies. There is a slight possibility that Florence was a granddaughter - John and Mary Ann had only 1 daughter live beyond childhood (Betsy) and she would have been 16 at the birth of Florence. Betsy married Joseph Fairbairn and they had no children. So it is possible Betsy was an unwed mother. I'm especially intrigued by Florence's middle name (Lily) as Betsy's best friend and eventual sister in law was Lily (my grandmother). Coincidence? The plot thickens!
Freebmd lists Florence's birth at Barrow S, vol 7a, page 151 and her death at Leicester, vol 7a, page137. How can I find Florence's parents names other than ordering a birth certificate?

Linda

[Barbara Wilkinson]

Unless you have access to the parish records - and she was baptised - I think you will have to order the birth certificate.

[ChristineR]

I have found lots of infants buried with other members of the family whilst researching my lines. Grandchildren is the usual, but sometimes nieces and nephews. I have one fellow buried with his sister-in-law and 4 of her grandchildren. His wife and grownup daughter are buried in another grave.

Another plot for another family was really complicated. Both parties had been married before, with the husband's ex wife having been married twice. So in this grave there was the infant of the daughter from the previous wife's previous marriage (yeah, I lost myself there) so not a blood relative. All others buried in the plot belong to the new wife's family.

An unexpected surname can lead to all sorts of finds that might not have been discovered. I am sure that there will be a connection. I like to wander up and down the lines of spouses, then you can recognise when this happens.

I have also found that sometimes the children get left off the headstone if it is erected many years later when the parents have died. Either the living children did not remember or know their names or they were not aware of their existence. In this latter case, they are usually left off the death certificate too. (Australia) I think it depends on how old the living children were at the time, and if the family talked about them.

ChristineR

[Diane Grant-Salmon]

In my husband's family, his Gt.Gt.Grandfather was buried in the same grave as his Gt.Gt.Grandmother, so nothing unusual there. Years later, the second *wife* was also buried there, it was an illegal/non marriage, as she was the sister of the first wife ...... but she must have wanted them all to be together in the end!