British Cemetery and Cremation Records from Deceased Online

This week we continue our competition to win copies of Darren Beach’s handy pocket-sized guide, London’s Cemeteries. Darren’s book is the perfect companion to Brompton Cemetery and many of the other London cemeteries featured in the Deceased Online database . Our first winners, Carlos Amenguel Jackson from Mallorca and Rosemary Rowley from Macclesfield, were delighted to receive their prize copies. We hope to be adding the final set of Brompton records next week. Romanesque statues in Brompton Cemetery Recently, I caught up with Darren to find out more about his interest in cemeteries. He told me, ‘I've always been interested in London - my home town - and especially the awe-inspiring feel you can sometimes get from the traces left by its previous inhabitants. I don't really mean artefacts in museums, more the 'living' stuff in the streets with which we can look at social history, such as old railway lines, Roman ruins, and of course cemeteries. I...

Last week's competition to win copies of Darren Beach's London's Cemeteries has proved to be something of  a challenge. Happily, we do have two winners. They have been notified and their copies of London's Cemeteries (pictured) are winging their way to them.   This week, I have been speaking with Darren, who has been telling me all about his interest in cemeteries and the inspiration behind his book. I'll be featuring the interview with him on this blog next week. The correct answers to last week's competition are: Q1. Which of Beatrix Potter's great literary characters is said to have been inspired by a memorial in Brompton Cemetery?  Answer: Squirrel Nutkin - it is believed that the memorial below inspired Beatrix Potter to choose the name. As we discovered on visits to the cemetery, squirrels are rife in Brompton Cemetery, along with birds, foxes, and other wildlife. Q2. Name the sugar merchant, philanthropist and founder...

This week Deceased Online adds 19 th century Brompton Cemetery burial records   We are very pleased that the first set of records from Brompton Cemetery is now on the database . 65,000 records were uploaded this week. They include coverage of the first three decades: 1840 to the early 1870s. The original registers are held at The National Archives in Kew but are only available as scans online through Deceased Online .  The Central Avenue of Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery is famous for being one of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ of London’s 19 th century private cemeteries. By 1832, the burial grounds of London had become overcrowded and breeding grounds for disease. To counter the problem, Parliament passed bills allowing the creation of commercial cemeteries in the more rural suburbs of the City. In response, private cemetery companies built the following seven cemeteries over the next nine years: Kensal Green Cemetery (established 1832) West Norwood C...