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Thread: Grandad

  1. #1

    Default Grandad

    Hi Myself and my sister are trying to find out where our grandad is buried, or if he was cremated. He died in St Thomas Hospital Lambeth in 1957. We have his death certificate, which also says what date his body was released from the hospital. It also states his next of kin. A search of the usual websites has brought no luck. As we are from Wirral we have searched our local cemeteries and crematorium, with no result. We have also searched local councils local to where he was living at that time. We now have no idea where to look next. Surely, even if he was given a paupers funeral, there will be a record somewhere. Does anybody have any idea where to look next? Thank you

  2. #2

    Default

    I found my Grandparents graves in Dundee by working my way through the Council website to find out who controls burial grounds. In Dundee, and other places I've searched (all in Scotland), it's the Parks and Gardens department who maintain the big burial grounds.
    Of course, it may (probably is) be different in England, but it should be worth looking at their site.
    Of course, he could have been buried in a churchyard - do you know if he was a regular church-goer?

    Was he living in Lambeth at that time? Were the registered NOK? In the '50s, it was fairly common for people to place a short death announcement in the local paper, so it might be worth trying them. What was his name and date of death?

    PS Welcome to the British Genealogy Forum!

  3. #3
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    Default

    In the 1950s there weren't as many crematoria as there are now, and councils may have operated them jointly - if they had them at all. Based on my own family it wouldn't have been thought odd to have to go 15-20 miles to a crematorium, and in some parts of the country it could easily have been further. So you might need to look a bit more widely than just his local area.

    Some crematoria are run by private companies rather than councils, so you might need to approach them direct. The important thing would be to find out which ones were operating in the 1950s.

    Another possibility to consider is where his parents were buried. If I have found the correct death entry he was in his 40s when he died (this is based on your post and your profile information), and my gut feeling is that the younger a person is when they die, the more likely they are to be buried in a family grave - even if already married.

    And do you know where his wife was buried? Might it have been with him?

    Lesley's suggestion of an announcement in a newspaper might be the best way forward, both where he was living and (if different) where he originally came from, if there could have been significant numbers of family and friends living there. And if the death was other than by natural causes there might be a report of the circumstances too.

  4. #4
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    Default

    ...which also says what date his body was released from the hospital. It also states his next of kin.
    Never seen that before. Or is my brain playing up again?

    Anyone else got any thoughts on that?

  5. #5

    Default

    thank you all so much for your replies. My nan and grandad were divorced and he was not in contact with the family. They were informed on his death but were not listed as his next of kin. He died in hospital in Lambeth but was living in watford at that time. We have tried all the local cemeteries and councils in that area, the hospital archives, which is where we got the information from for the release date for his body. We have tried all our local cemeteries in case he was brought back by his side of the family. I have even emailed London Archives. All with no results. Surely there must be a record somewhere, even if he ended up in a paupers grave or disposed of by the Hospital (if that is a possibility) We have his death certificate which states his next of kin as one of his brothers who was living in our area. I have tracked down some of the descendants of that side of the family in the hope that someone may be alive who may remember anything. No luck there either. The newspaper is my next stop then to see if there was any announcement.

  6. #6

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    The other thing that I would do is to contact the local Family history societies and ask for suggestions. If the hospital records told you when the body was released, did they not say who was collecting it? You may be lucky and find it’s an undertaker that’s still in business.
    I’ve never been able to get a hospital to tell me anything!

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