Genealogy Chat

I have known the date of death for my great grandmother for a long time. I finally wrote to Islington Cemetery to ask if she was buried there. I gave them the date of death, her place of residence, her age etc. I gave the a SAE. I finally got a reply this morning. She is buried there. However all they have told me is the grave reference, unlike St Albans cemetery, who gave me a map and pinpointed where the graves were, and told me if there were headstones. They then added that in this instance they have waived the search fee (well I bloomin' well hope so considering it wouldn't have taken you long to look it up given the info I gave and the uncommon name). Anyway!! How do I go about find more info? Is there a headstone? Where is the grave in the cemetery etc? Thanks. Chloe

You were very lucky to receive a prompt reply. I have been chasing the Islington Cemetary for information for well over a year now. I gave them the grave no. and as it was a public grave asked who was buried there. 8 months later after a complaint to the Islington Council, they replied asking me for a list of names who might be buried there. I replied with both my grandparents, giving the year of death.5 months later they replied telling me no such persons were buried anywhere in the Islington cemetary. My grandfather I'm not sure about but I know my grandmother was definitely buried in the Islington cemetary They now tell me to get the death certificate and they will let me know where she was buried. As for the grave number I gave them I still dont know who is buried there as they wont supply me with any futher info relating to that. Grace

Thanks Grace. They aren't as helpful as some, are they? Mind it has taken about 4 months to get this reply.

Hi Chloe My local cemetery were rubbish as well. I emailed and wrote to them asking for location of a grave and I had correct date of death etc. After waiting six months for a reply, I discovered that my local Archives had the burial registers on CD so I went and looked it up myself along wih a few others as well. Once I had the grave numbers, I phoned the cemetery office to ask how I could locate the graves in the cemetery. I was advised to write in (again) and that they would write back advising me of the block and row number. One that I had looked up gave this info in the register so they advised me to go to the cemetery mon-friday and find a workman, they have maps so would be able to show me where it was. I haven't been yet as I would rather find all of them at once but guess what, I'm still waiting for a reply with the information from the other graves with no row/block no! Sam

Thanks guys. Will have to get to London one day (I guessed she was buried there, lucky guess!). If it's a public grave - that would imply that there is not headstone, right?

Hi all I had a trip round a graveyard in Marple (Cheshire) a couple of years ago to try to locate the grave of my mums baby sister who died aged just 1 month. The family were so poor they never put the babys name on a headstone and my mum could tell me was that she thought she was buried with a member of the Tymm family. I wasnt able to find the grave but when I found a date of burial on the NBI I decided to email the vicar to see if he could help. Not only did he give me the reference for the grave, he also told me who else was in there. I asked if he could possible give me an idea of where to look on my next visit so he said he'd call me back in 10 minutes. During that 10 minutes he trotted off into the graveyard and located the grave then called me back to tell me exactly how to find it when I was next in the area. What a star! :) Netty

JUst rang them. I will be going to visit on Tuesday, so hopefully will find the grave of my g grandmother. I asked them if I wrote again to them with the details of death, where they lived at the time and the names if they would be able to find where they were buried..... they now charge £30!!! How can that be justified? £5 maybe.... but £30!!! Just for one search if you have all the details they could possibly need, so annoyed cos two of my other ancestors are probably buried there (died in Islington in 1906 and 1910) and they had money so they might have had headstones! £30!!!! Grrrr!

Chloe My husband and I went to St Pancras Cemetery (now called East Finchley cemetery) on Sunday as we happened to be in the area, and looked for his great-grandmother's grave. I had a memorial card with the grave number on it. We found the right area but not her grave. A security man went to the office and checked the names of other people in adjacent graves and we couldn't find any of them either. S*ds Law! I was of course hoping to find a huge headstone with a family history names, dates etc all engraved on it. Ah well! On the plus side, I can recommend London Borough of Richmond - they have a searchable website for their cemeteries and I e-mailed someone who sent me a map with the grave number marked on it. No charge. nell

LOL Nell. Sorry you were unable to find it. I will probably be going to the LMA too, but I have so much to look up, I highly doubt I will be able to do everything on my own in the one day. No ancestors in or around Richmond, shucks! I can highly recommend St Albans. No charge (I sent them in SAE), and they gave me a map and details that that grave was unpurchased, and one of them is now a privately owned grave (I gave them the date of death for one of them in 1940 and the quarter for the other one in 1954). They were very pleasant to deal with. I can't believe this cemetery though, £30! How on earth can they justify that?

Gosh How Lucky I,ve been then with Greenwich Borough Council!!!,.I phoned them two weeks ago on a thursday giving them my Grt grans name & date of death in 1907 & they said would look into it & ring me back the next day & the next day they rang back with the grave details & a contact no for the cemetary supervisor so we could arrange with him the date we would visit so he could show us the loction of the grave.She is in a general grave so there probably wont be any headstone marker. They were so helpful & genuinly interested in my enquiry.And there wasnt any charge!!! My husband & I are travelling to London tomorrow to pay our respects to the lady who didnt know any of her sons family as she died 3 weeks before my dad(her grandson) was born. Shirley