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Thread: infant burials

  1. #1
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    Default infant burials

    prompted by another thread about DeceasedOnline vouchers I have just checked the burial record of one of my grandfather's brothers who died as an infant. For my £1.50 it said I would get grave details + "4 other burials" - so I guess I assumed this would be a plot with 5 family members. But the 4 others seem to be completely unrelated to my family and from completely different dates. My relation died October 1901 but the other burials are 1867, 1868, 1876 and 1881.

    So I'm wondering what to make of this. I've checked the other names and they all seem to be infants. Would a burial plot be shared by unrelated people in this way?

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    well I've now checked another of my grandfather's brothers who also died as an infant. Now I am getting 21 different names, all unrelated to my relation, but all dated in March 1897.

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    Acknowledging that my expertise lies in Scotland, infants were not treated as individuals. Rural scottish infants were generally added to whichever grave was convenient, apparently at random. Church records have entries such as “father’s name”’s child at feet of “whoever”.

    It sounds from what you say as though there was a grave purchased for infants which was used until full. Unless the family had money, such communal graves were common.

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    I now see that this is nothing to do with them being infants. Having checked some adult ancestors I am getting the same thing - multiple unrelated names listed together with the same "grave reference" as DeceasedOnline calls it.

    So I think the grave reference just refers to an area of the cemetery where several people are buried, rather than pinpointing one particular grave or grave plot. You wouldn't have 21+ different unrelated people in the same plot surely.


    cross-posted with Lesley

  5. #5
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    If they have the same grave reference, they are buried in the same plot.
    You can have up to six people buried in the same plot. Check out
    https://www.burialrecords.manchester.gov.uk/
    I (randomly)searched for William Jackson.
    If you click on the second result, I have 99.99% proved they are related, the Potters being either grandchildren or great-grandchildren of William and Sarah Jackson.
    Number one in the grave is the person buried first.

    Further research has found up to 14 burials in one plot, though I think most, if not all, are babies/children.
    I've also found another plot with thirteen burials, though three of these said 'child of..'.

    Pam
    Vulcan XH558 - “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

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    thanks for that.

    I don't know whether DeceasedOnline is using the phrase "grave reference" in their own peculiar way resulting in 22 people all apparently having the same grave reference.

    I've just looked at the scanned burial register page of a relation. There are 20 entries* on the page and all but 3 of them are in "Plot B" but with widely differing grave numbers. So I am wondering if the word "Plot" is being used in different ways by different people.


    *and those 20 people all died in the same month

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    Are you able to see a map of the cemetery, as that should give you an idea of how the sections are 'numbered' by the cemetery authority.
    If there's no map, then I would try phoning the cemetery next week and asking them how their indexes work. e.g. if someone is buried in Plot B in grave number 333, are they buried in the same grave as someone buried in Plot B grave number 198? I suspect the answer will be 'no'.

    I don't know for certain, but I would suspect that (unless they're being buried in a family grave) someone buried on 2 January will be buried next to someone who was buried on 1 January.

    Pam
    Vulcan XH558 - “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

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    thanks I'll try that.

    I rather misrepresented that burial register page. The grave numbers do follow a mostly logical pattern.

    Actually I think its me getting confused by the word plot. I guess I assumed family members would be in the same "plot".

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    One of the oldest and largest municipal cemeteries in England is Beckett Street, in Leeds. Their Friends organisation has published a guide to the kinds of graves found there, and much of this would apply to other cemeteries too:
    Code:
    https://www.beckettstreetcemetery.org.uk/faq.php
    It's a while since I looked for anyone there, but from memory it's fairly common to find around a dozen names listed for one grave - and here they seem to use the terms 'grave' and 'plot' interchangeably.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by arthurk View Post
    One of the oldest and largest municipal cemeteries in England is Beckett Street, in Leeds. Their Friends organisation has published a guide to the kinds of graves found there, and much of this would apply to other cemeteries too:
    Code:
    https://www.beckettstreetcemetery.org.uk/faq.php
    It's a while since I looked for anyone there, but from memory it's fairly common to find around a dozen names listed for one grave - and here they seem to use the terms 'grave' and 'plot' interchangeably.
    Thanks for that link. arthurk. It was an interesting read.

    Pam
    Vulcan XH558 - “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

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