British Cemetery and Cremation Records from Deceased Online

Records from Streatham Cemetery in south London are now available to search on the database. Records from the   London Borough of Lambeth's   Streatham Cemetery are available to view on   www.deceasedonline.com . Streatham Cemetery opened in 1893 under the Metropolitan Burial Act of 1852, which was instigated after the cholera epidemic of 1848 to 1849. Along with a large number of Commonwealth War Grave Commission burials from World Wars I and II, Streatham Cemetery provides the final resting place for many notable people. Among them is Edward Foster VC , born in Streatham in 1886. In 1915, during the First World War, he enlisted in the British Army in the 13th Battalion (Wandsworth), East Surrey Regiment and was eventually awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry in the face of the enemy. In April 1917, the regiment's advance in Villers-Plouich, Nord, France was held up by enemy machine guns, strongly entrenched and covered by wire. Corporal Foster succeeding in enter...

This week, I continue the series of posts on Macclesfield Cemetery by honouring two local military heroes  George Eardley VC George Harold Eardley VC MM (6 May 1912 - 11 September 1991) was an Acting Sergeant  of the 4th battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry,   and recipient of the Military Medal, when he risked his life in the face of the enemy  in October 1944. At the time, Eardley was just  32 years old  and serving east of Overloon in the Netherlands.  His platoon was ordered to clear enemy opposition from orchards, thus clearing the way for the Allied tanks to advance. However, 80 yards from their objective, automatic machine gun fire swiftly halted their advance. Eardley dodged heavy fire to get close enough to one machine gun post to kill the enemy officer with a grenade, and then went on to destroy two more posts single-handed. His actions enabled his platoon to complete their objective and ensured the success of their whole a...

This week's post explores the life and family of First World War Victoria Cross hero, Walter Napleton Stone (1891-1917), who was commemorated recently at a special ceremony in Lewisham  Politicians, relatives and local residents gathered in Lewisham High Street on 30 November 2017 to mark the unveiling of a paving stone in the name of former Blackheath resident, Captain Walter Napleton Stone VC .   The paving stone is one of 628 specially commissioned stones which are being laid in the home areas of each of the Victoria Cross recipients of the Great War. The date of 30 November commemorates the day Walter Stone was killed on the Western Front, at the Battle of Cambrai . Like many killed in action between 1914 and 1918, the grave of Walter Stone has not been found. He is remembered on a number of memorials, including the Cambrai Memorial to the Missing, the parish war memorial Shrewsbury's St Mary's Church, and on the Lewisham Shopping Centre mural.  Althoug...

This week tributes are being paid across Europe and the world to those who served one hundred years ago at the Battle of the Somme. In this week's post, I look at two extraordinary men who survived both the battle and the First World War, and whose cremation records are found in the Deceased Online database. The first day of the Battle of the Somme, the 1st of July 1916, remains the bloodiest 24 hours in British military history. Those soldiers of the British Empire who went "over the top" on this day a century ago had no idea how devastating this battle would be. Tens of thousands of men walked out of their trenches and straight into German machine-gun fire. On just this one day, 19,240 were killed and around 40,000 wounded. Those that survived were left with lifelong turmoil. Musicians like Ralph Vaughan Williams and writers such as J.R.R. Tolkein would, famously, transmute their experiences through art. Others were left with "shell shock" or what we now u...