British Cemetery and Cremation Records from Deceased Online

Now that all Lewisham Council's burial and cremation records have been uploaded to the Deceased Online database, I look at the twentieth century history of the cemeteries at Brockley and Hither Green and discover how hard the area was hit by air raids during the two world wars. Hither Green Hither Green Cemetery Hither Green continued through the end of the 19th century and into the 20th as a popular resting place for the people of South East London. As for many across Britain, life in the Lewisham area was transformed during the course of the First World War . War was declared on 4th August 1914 and on the 4th January 1915 the first official war burial at Hither Green took place. 53 year old Able Seaman Frank Finn RN 97447 of the HMS Pembroke died on the 29th at the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham, Kent. Finn had previously served in the Egyptian Campaign of 1882-4 and left a widow, Jane Finn of 21 Medusa Road, Catford. His body was returned to South East London and he...

This week Deceased Online adds burial records for the celebrated Brockley Cemetery in the London Borough of Lewisham     We are very pleased that the records for the cemetery of Brockley being launched on the database this week. In this blog, I explore Brockley's Victorian past. Brockley Chapel and Memorial With the addition of the Brockley and Hither Green records (coming soon), there are now nearly 400,000 burials and 1 million records for Lewisham Council on the Deceased Online website .  As with its neighbouring sister cemetery, Ladywell , Brockley was opened in 1858. Originally named "Deptford Cemetery" , the site was designed by William Morphew of Tinkler & Morphew after the parish churchyard of St Paul's became overcrowded. Deptford Burial Board bought the plot next to that of Lewisham Burial Board's (Ladywell) and appointed the same architects. Up to the 1940s, the sites were separated by a low wall. The two sites have both b...