British Cemetery and Cremation Records from Deceased Online

Data protection is an important aspect of family history research, and use of documents and data. While genealogists like to explore as many records as possible of their deceased ancestors, records offices and websites need to balance this against legal requirements to protect the privacy of the living. In this post, I look at Deceased Online's approach to this subject and explain why some of the records in the database have been redacted. Where burial or cremation registers contain information about possibly living people, Deceased Online , like other data providers, is obliged to mask (or redact) the personal details in the register scans. The legal requirements are set forth in the UK's Data Protection Act . Further privacy measures are taken as a result of the individual preferences of the participating cemeteries and crematoria whose records have been published by Deceased Online . At first glance, it may appear that Deceased Online's database holds information on...

Deceased Online features a wide range of registers and burial transcriptions. Previously in this blog, I've highlighted some of the Scottish collections, particularly monumental inscriptions and how they can be used to tell you more about your ancestors. In this week's post, I show how best to use one of the most detailed English collections in the database for your family history research. Eastway House, Blandford Forum. An unusually decorative facade, by Blandford standards, for this house on East Street, with a curvy parapet, plus urns and balls. Copyright Derek Harper. One of the first set of registers to be digitized on the Deceased Online database back in 2010 was that of Blandford Forum Town Council in Dorset. Blandford is a pretty market town located 10 miles north west of Wimborne Minster, 16 miles north of Dorchester, and 104 miles from London. Although much of the town was rebuilt after a fires in the 17th and 18th century, the town dates from Roman times. Th...