British Cemetery and Cremation Records from Deceased Online

All records for Kensal Green Cemetery and West London Crematorium are now available to search on the database From this week, all 330,000 records for Kensal Green Cenetery and West London Crematorium can be searched on Deceased Online . They include all burial and cremation records from 1833 to 2010. This release heralds the exclusive digitisation of records on the site from two of the 'Magnificent Seven' cemeteries. And we have more to come soon. Watch this space! Among the famous names included in this latest release of records is the iconic sixties and seventies designer, Ossie Clark (1942-1996) . Immortalized in the 1971 painting (above), Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy , by his friend, David Hockney, Clark dressed Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, Liza Minnelli and the Beatles. His clothes are still highly sought after, with his vintage designs being worn by Kate Moss and other modern trend-setters. Clark's style continues to influence designers sich as Anna Sui, C...

This week I'm highlighting one of our lesser known datasets - the Scottish Memorial Inscriptions (SMI) Collection.   2014 is the year of Homecoming in Scotland. Those of us with Scottish ancestors can visit the region and attend a range of events focusing on its rich history. Scotland's Tartan Day , for example, will be held in the Easter school holidays (5-13 April), and marks the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320. Deceased Online's SMI collection can help you find Scottish ancestors, even if they are not buried in Scotland. Some may have died and been buried abroad or at sea, but are commemorated at their birthplace or family home. Compiled by our partners at Scottish Memorial Inscriptions, the SMI collection includes a huge range of varying data from roughly 200 cemeteries and burial grounds across the following counties: Angus Argyll Ayrshire Banffshire Borders Clackmannanshire Dundee City Edinburgh Fife Highlands Inverness-shire Lan...

As all records for 1901-1930 have now been added to the Deceased Online database, I conclude the series of posts on Kensal Green Cemetery with a look at its more recent history After 1900, the Cemetery of All Souls at Kensal Green continued to be a popular burial ground with all classes. Several of the remains buried were of those who died far from London. That year, the popular musician, Henry Russell (1812-1900) , was buried beneath a large stone seat, erected in memory of his emotional ballad 'My Old Armchair'. A pianist and baritone singer as well as compose, Russell is perhaps better known today for his work, 'A Life on the Ocean Wave'. 1904 saw the burial of General Sir Collingwood Dickson (1817-1904) , who was awarded the Victoria Cross in the Crimean War for his courage at the Siege of Sebastopol on 17 October 1854.  The Mausoleum of the Duke of Cambridge Above is the striking Egyptian-style Mausoleum of Prince George William Frederick Cha...

In last week's post, I looked at the early years of the cemetery after its opening in 1833. Below I explore the lives of some of the famous Victorians who were buried at Kensal Green between 1860 and 1900. The burial records for all have been digitized on the Deceased Online database . The area around the cemetery altered from the 1860s as Kensal New Town was developed. North Kensington quickly became home to large numbers of working-class people, with several households living in each of the newly built terraced properties. Slum-dwellers were buried not far from aristocrats and celebrities in Kensington's modern cemetery. A strong literary connection to Kensal Green developed in this period, with its grounds becoming the resting places of some the nineteenth century's most celebrated authors. William Makepeace Thackeray , Anthony Trollope and Wilkie Collins are three of the most significant British authors of the Victorian age. Each of them created complex c...