British Cemetery and Cremation Records from Deceased Online

Thanks to all of you who have responded to our regular requests to get in touch. We really value all the comments, Facebook posts, tweets and emails that you send to Deceased Online. In this week's post I look at some of the most recent comments that readers have contributed. The spectacular War Memorial at Greenwich Cemetery dominates the London skyline Four years ago I blogged about Deceased Online 's burial  records of  Greenwich Cemetery in south east London. Jackie Wealthall got in touch to say that she had visited the cemetery, and that although she had her ancestors' grave numbers, "it was impossible to find their actual graves". Thanks to Jackie for letting us know.  I have visited many churchyards and cemeteries over the years and have also been disappointed when my ancestors' graves are either unmarked or covered by brambles. One of my ancestors was remembered with a grand headstone, but unfortunately I discovered on my visit that the stone...

This week we launch the latest collection from The National Archives: military burials from overseas garrisons. Continuing our partnership with The National Archives (TNA), we have added burial records from collection WO 156 (War Office: UK and overseas garrisons: Registers of Baptisms, Confirmations, Deaths/Burials, and Marriage) to the Deceased Online database . The series dates from 1801 and includes miscellaneous registers of deaths and burials from British military bases in overseas. Details for some of the deaths recorded here may not be found elsewhere; not all those named have a surviving death certificate, for example. Previously, searching these records would have involved a visit to Kew. Much of the collection dates from the period of heavy imperial involvement in the years leading up to the First World War and most are not recorded as official war graves. The records include military personnel and their families. A surprisingly high number of British wome...

This week, Deceased Online launches another collection from our partners, The National Archives. The RG37 collection covers copies of records of local authorities and Church Commissioners relating to burial ground removals 1923-2007. This is not the period covering the dates of the burials (which go back to the 1600s) but purely when the records were collected. Following on from our recent work with The National Archives (TNA) to digitise the burial records of Brompton Cemetery and a number of military graveyards , Deceased Online will be adding over 175,000 records from the RG 37 collection, the first 105,000 of which are now available. These include records from Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Quaker and nondenominational graveyards in counties across England and Wales.  There is a complete list of all records included in this latest collection on the Deceased Online website . The oldest record is from the 17th century, but most date from the Victorian and Edwar...

This week we have been adding tens of thousands of military burial records held at the The National Archives to Deceased Online  The death records of ancestors who died whilst serving in the armed forces can be difficult to find. Where service records and musters don't survive, family historians are often unsure of where in the world their military relatives were buried. The families of those who travelled with their military husband or father can also be hard to trace. Families did not always travel with the regiment, but even if they did they are often not named in muster or pay rolls. Thousands of men who served in the Army, Royal Navy and merchant service before 1914 did not die on active service. Some of these men were buried in family plots and may be found elsewhere in the Deceased Online database . Many more died in or near their barracks or in a military hospital. Thousands of these servicemen's burial records are now available to search on Deceased Online . Th...

Launch event at Brompton Cemetery reunites Deceased Online user with her ancestors After we uploaded the final set of records from Brompton Cemetery last week, we were inundated with messages via email, and on our Facebook and Twitter pages, from users who found their ancestors in the records. With over 200,000 burial records from the cemetery online, it is perhaps not surprising that many family historians with London ancestors have found them here. The Gate Lodge of Brompton Cemetery This week, we held a launch event at Brompton Cemetery which was attended by the Charles Williams , the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea , renowned genealogist Dr. Nick Barratt , representatives of the Friends of Brompton Cemetery , as well as staff from the Royal Parks , the cemetery itself, The National Archives and other local authorities. The event was a great success and the highlight was when family historian, Jan Ellis , was able to visit the grave of he...