British Cemetery and Cremation Records from Deceased Online

This week, I am delighted to introduce a guest blog by actor, Paul Rider, who, when using the Deceased Online database to  search for his great grandfather's burial record, chanced upon his great aunts' entries too . Paul Rider is an actor well known for both Shakespearean stage roles (including at London's Globe Theatre) and to a wide range of radio and TV appearances including Doc Martin, Eastenders and French and Saunders. Although he now lives in South London, he hails from the West Midlands and has been fascinated by researching his family history. He contacted us recently to tell us how, after three decades of searching, he made some great personal family history discoveries through the records on www.deceasedonline.com . Here's Paul's story: For some time I'd been researching my family and in particular looking for the grave of my great grandfather, Richard William Rider . I’d examined birth, marriage and death registers when they only existe...

Whether you love or loathe sport, it's difficult to escape the excitement of this year's Olympic games. In this week's post, I look into the Deceased Online database at some of the athletes of the past and their very different experiences of sporting life from those competing at Rio 2016. The Olympics is all about breaking boundaries, and pushing faster, higher, stronger as captured in its Latin motto, Citius, altius, fortius. This year's games broke records before it began with Rio de Janeiro being the first South American city to host the tournament. British viewers have so far delighted in the medal successes of swimmers Adam Peaty and Jazz Carlin, divers Tom Daley and Dan Goodfellow, and "trap" shooter, Edward Ling. In the wake of London 2012, I blogged about a couple of Scottish Olympians in the Deceased Online database . As the number of collections has increased over the past four years, more Olympians have appeared. Close up of the entry for E...

Next week sees the celebration of the UN's International Day of Friendship. In this week's blog, I reflect the importance of friendship by looking at some of the ways friend remember each other after death. The United Nations (UN) proclaimed the International Day of Friendship in 2011, aiming to celebrate the role friendship between people, countries, cultures and individuals can play in leading to peace. The UN encourages governments to mark the day annually on the 30th July with events and initiatives that contribute to international efforts in mutual understanding and reconciliation. As family historians, we often focus more on biological relationships than on friendships. However, our friends play a big part in our lives and some of our ancestors had companions who were more important to them than family. One problem when researching friendship in our families' pasts is that those relationships are not always recorded. There may be a reference to a friend in a will o...

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 tributes are being paid across Europe and the world to those who served one hundred years ago at the Battle of the Somme. In this week's post, I look at two extraordinary men who survived both the battle and the First World War, and whose cremation records are found in the Deceased Online database. The first day of the Battle of the Somme, the 1st of July 1916, remains the bloodiest 24 hours in British military history. Those soldiers of the British Empire who went "over the top" on this day a century ago had no idea how devastating this battle would be. Tens of thousands of men walked out of their trenches and straight into German machine-gun fire. On just this one day, 19,240 were killed and around 40,000 wounded. Those that survived were left with lifelong turmoil. Musicians like Ralph Vaughan Williams and writers such as J.R.R. Tolkein would, famously, transmute their experiences through art. Others were left with "shell shock" or what we now u...

Over the next few days, Deceased Online will be adding records for the final three sites in its Calderdale Collection. In my latest post, I look further at these West Yorkshire cemeteries and their extensive records. Sowerby Bridge by Bolton Brow by Malcolm Street, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4026626ion As you may know from my first post on the Calderdale Collection and the recent update , so far records for the following cemeteries have been uploaded to the Deceased Online database : Brighouse Cemetery , Lightcliffe Road, Brighouse HD6 2HH (1874-1996) Elland Cemetery , Exley Lane, Elland HX5 0SW (1861-1996) Halifax General/ Lister Lane Cemetery , Lister Lane, Halifax (1842-1962) Luddenden Cemetery , Stocks Lane, Luddenden HX2 6PR (1860-1996) Rastrick Cemetery , Carr Green Lane, Rastrick HD6 3LT (1884-1994) The last three sites to be added are: Park Wood Crematorium , Park Road, Elland HX5 9HZ (1956-1997) Sowerby Bridg...

In honour of the recent anniversary of the D-Day Landings in Normandy, this weeks post looks at some of those who died in its preparation - giving their lives for their country. Royal Marine Commandos attached to 3rd Division move inland from Sword Beach on the Normandy coast, 6 June 1944.  Royal Marine Commandos attached to 3rd Division for the assault on Sword Beach move inland, 6 June 1944. A Churchill bridgelayer can be seen in the background. (IWM Non-commercial Licence) Last week, surviving veterans and the families of those who have died travelled to France for the annual D-Day commemorations . It is now 72 years since that fateful day, 6th June 1944 , when Allied forces invaded Normandy in Operation Overlord - the allied invasion of north-west Europe. The assault phase of the operation, Operation Neptune , was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The successful attack on German-occupied western Europe would lead, eventually, to Allied victory in May 1945. 1...