British Cemetery and Cremation Records from Deceased Online

Today's taphophiles and family historians often enjoy the calm and greenery of urban cemeteries. But would today's cemetery users want to return to a Victorian policy that sought to convert burial grounds into public parks? The Hardy Tree in the grounds of St Pancras Old Church In the 1860s, the graves of the ancient pa rish churchyard of St Pancras were cleared. Among those who  helped clear and relocate burials from the old St Pancras Church graveyard to the new St Pancras and Islington Cemetery , was a y oung Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) .  A famous tree still stands in the old graveyard which bears his name.  Some of the church lands was taken by the Midland Railway. During this period, around 8,000 bodies were exhumed from their burial plots and some were relocated to the new cemetery in Finchley. Some headstones, like that of the feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (1759-1797) were left standing and can still be seen in the churchyard today. ...

Finding Suffragettes in the Deceased Online Database Today, Tuesday 6th February 2018 , marks 100 years since the Representation of the People Act received royal assent. The passing of this Act of Parliament reformed the British and Irish electoral system, enabling almost all men and some 8.4 million women to vote in national elections. Emmeline Pankhurst c.1913 (1) Although single and widowed female ratepayers had been able t o vote in local municipal elections since 1869 (married ratepayers 1869-1872), the struggle for to extend the franchise to women nationally was hard fought. After John Stuart Mill MP's failed attempt at amending the Reform Act 1866 with the   presentation of the first mass women's suffrage petition to the House of Commons on 7 June  1866, women in the capital grouped together to form the London Society for Women's Suffrage . The movement grew across Britain, and in   1872 , women formed the National Society for Women's Suffrag...

With the recent birthday celebrations of the Queen, it feels timely to highlight some of the royal records in the Deceased Online collections The Queen, pictured in 2015 (Wikipedia) Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 91st birthday on 21 April 2017. Last year, she became the longest-reigning monarch in British history and on the 29 November 2016, she and Prince Philip celebrated 69 years of marriage. Not to be outdone, younger members of the Royal Family have also been in the news recently. Prince Harry , along with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge , have been speaking out about the need for improved mental health awareness and services as part of the Heads Together campaign. Notably, last week, Prince Harry spoke at length publicly for the first time about the tragic death in 1997 of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales . The burial place of Katharine of Aragon at Peterborough Cathedral The oldest royal record in the Deceased Online database is from Peterborough Cathedral ...

In honour of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11th February, this week's post celebrates the lives of some of the female scientists in the Deceased Online records The very first International Day of Women and Girls in Science is being observed across the world, today on Thursday 11th February 2016. The United Nations declared this date should mark the achievements of women in science, and should be used to inspire and engage more females to become involved. Britain has a long history of women working and innovating in science, but sadly they have not always been as celebrated as their male counterparts. Agnes Mary Clerke, astronomer (1842-1907) Yesterday (10th February) marked 174 years since the birth of astronomer, Agnes Mary Clerke , in County Cork, Ireland. Both Agnes and her sister, Ellen Mary Clerke (1840-1906) were educated at home and both went on to work in astronomy. Agnes was writing about astronomy at the age of 15. In their thirties, ...

As we move towards Armistice Day 2015, in this week's post I look at some of the war dead of 1915 who feature in the Deceased Online database. Image: iStock This weekend sees Remembrance events and services across the country. Although we take this time to remember all those killed in conflict, many are using this opportunity to think of those who died 100 years ago in the first full year of the Great War. The UK Parliament will also be focusing on 1915 this year with its projection of falling poppies onto the Elizabeth Tower after dusk on Sunday. The Kent Cycling Corps enduring the mud and cold of the Western Front A few weeks ago we found the burial record of Private Claude Richmond (No. 1118), who died almost exactly 100 years ago on the 23rd September 1915. 22 year old Richmond, a gas engineer in civilian life, served with one of just nine battalions of the British Army Cyclist Corps. He was sent home after being injured while serving with the 1st Battalion Kent Cyc...

For many of us, Christmas is a time of family, feasting and celebration. But f or the working classes of the late 18th and early 19th century, Christmas Day was regarded as a rare break fro m daily toil . Nevertheless, s ome Georgians and Victorians were obliged to continue working in the holidays. Among them were priests, cemetery staff and gravediggers who overs aw Christmas burials.  It faded on the crowing of the cock. Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated, The bird of dawning singeth all night long. And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad. The nights are wholesome. Then no planets strike, No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm, So hallowed and so gracious is that time. Marcellus...

This week, I look at the social and cultural influences on the design of Victorian and Edwardian cemeteries, monuments and headstones Currently, there are around a thousand Victorian-built cemeteries on the Deceased Online database . I have included a number of images from them in this blog. Many more can be found on the website . Mourning practices and artefacts, such as rings and lockets of the deceased's hair, were in common use when Victoria acceded the throne in 1837. But the elaborate funerary rituals we associate with the Victorian era only became widespread from 1861, after the sudden death of Prince Albert. The widowed Queen Victoria began a period of mourning that would last forty years until her own death in 1901. Jet mourning jewellery from the Victorian period By the 1890s, described by Julian Litten as 'the golden age of the funeral', Britons of all backgrounds were were copying the royal manner of bereavement. They wore black dresses, crape, gloves,...

Launch event at Brompton Cemetery reunites Deceased Online user with her ancestors After we uploaded the final set of records from Brompton Cemetery last week, we were inundated with messages via email, and on our Facebook and Twitter pages, from users who found their ancestors in the records. With over 200,000 burial records from the cemetery online, it is perhaps not surprising that many family historians with London ancestors have found them here. The Gate Lodge of Brompton Cemetery This week, we held a launch event at Brompton Cemetery which was attended by the Charles Williams , the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea , renowned genealogist Dr. Nick Barratt , representatives of the Friends of Brompton Cemetery , as well as staff from the Royal Parks , the cemetery itself, The National Archives and other local authorities. The event was a great success and the highlight was when family historian, Jan Ellis , was able to visit the grave of he...