Genealogy Chat

i have just paid (£23) for some in information regarding a relative who died in 1953, she is buried in Arnos Vale Cemetery Bristol, the information shows that the 1st burial was in 1882 and then four(4) more until the last one in 1953 making a total of 6 persons buried in that plot, it says that all were burials and it is a plot size of 6 1/2 x 2 1/2 I don't know if that means feet yards or metres, anyone have any idea what the normal size of a grave is and would it be big enough for 6 people to be buried in it .

Thanks for any help on this grave problem ( excuse the pun)

Pam

Well they buried them deep - at least 6 foot down - so there would be room for several coffins over the years.

I expect old measurements would have been in feet - 6.5 ft long by 2.5 ft wide? And as deep as it needs to be? (At least 6 feet)

Jill

The plot would be 6½ long by 2 ½ wide, and possibly 6 to 10' feet deep

The bottom coffins (ie the earliest ones) would have been disintegrating by the time the last one was put in there.


It is also possible that some of the bodies were not in coffins, but were buried in shrouds.


Coffins were (and still are!) expensive, and I have heard that people would rent one for the church or graveyard service, then somehow the bottom was released so that the body wrapped in a shroud slipped into the grave. The coffin could then be reused.



sylvia

I would have thought is was not uncommon. We have family graves with up to six persons buried there at Kirkdale Cemetery in Liverpool.

As suggested, the dimensions are in feet and represent the ground area, not the depth of the grave.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply, and strangely interesting never heard of the bottom opening coffin but should never be amazed at the knowledge of the guys and girls on here,

Now on to the next stage of sorting out this family.

Pam Xxx

Is this where the expression "6 feet under" originates !!

That's because the minimum depth has to be 6 foot.

A few years back I found the death cert of grt gran who died in 1907,just 3 weeks before my dad was born .I was able to get her burial info from Greenwich Council and a contact for the cemetery supervisor so he could take us to the plot. It is a public grave and he had all the info in a big book in the Cemetery Lodge, she is in a grave with 7 others .so 8 in all,and he did ask if i wanted to know all the names. I declined because they are all unrelated.

Just another snippet on the grave topic. I have just gone to have a look at the details of my grandparents family grave for six people. This was purchased in 1913, for my uncle aged 4. The first funeral they were charged for digging to a depth of 13 feet . The second funeral in 1937 they were charged for digging 11feet. In 1947 my great grandmother was placed 8 1/2 feet down. In 1958 my grandfather went 7 feet down and my grandmother was the last to be buried and she is down at 5 1/2 feet in 1964. There is one space left presumably about 4 ft to go...or just over a good metre in ' new money' - JLe

I recently came across a relative buried in a public grave in Toxteth Park Cemetery in 1887 with ten people buried in the same plot, four adults and six children and all buried within the space of a fortnight.
Sorcha

We knew that my husbands gr grandmother, grandmother and uncle were buried in a family plot at a cemetery in Hemel Hempstead. as we had visited it many times, usually every 3-4 months. The last one being buried in 1963.

When my mother in law knew that she was seriously ill we discussed various options as to where she would be buried and spoke to the relevant authorities. We were told that there was room for one more coffin in with her family and this is where she wished to be.

When they opened the grave prior to the funeral they were surprised to find that another body had been buried there approx 15 years ago. There are no records of who it is or when it occured. They very carefully removed all the bodies and dug it deeper but some poor family are either mourning at the wrong grave or are not aware that they have lost someone.

or it was someone who died unidentified and/or unclaimed.

Someone in the cemetery office noticed that there was one space left in "your" plot, no-one had been buried in there since 1963 or so ....... and decided that was the place to put unclaimed body.



Other bodies are relatively frequently found in graves, but I must admit usually buried longer ago than that one.


Still born babies for example would be popped into the grave or even the same coffin as someone whose burial was taking place that day.

I have also been told that paupers could once have been buried either in a mass grave, or popped into a conveniently open grave.




sylvia

My grandad's first wife, Violet, died in 1924.
She was buried in a plot bought for the purpose, had a headstone etc. grandad had even saved up to put green glass 'grave' on it.
I had the number, row etc. When we found the plot, we found a totally different grave and headstone - with someone elses name on it.
Apparently, since Violet was buried, the cemetery had instigated a '30 year ownership' policy, and her plot had been sold to someone else!!!

Undertakers use what is called a 'probe' to assess how much depth is left before opening up a grave!. Basically they just stick it through a certain spot to see how far down it goes! Cx.

dont forget, especially in the latter years when cremation became more normal an event, that the remains of a person could be a cremation urn.

I have just found a grave in Danygraig Cemetary in Swansea where there are at least 9 buried in the plot. I only know 1 was a baby, but what surprises me is that all 9 were buried with a 2week span in October 1895. And all had different surnames and addresses. I can only assume a Paupers grave. Very sad.

Here's a lookup from
http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/stuff/cemetery.php?opt=cemetery

There were 24 burials between 13/1/1874 and 8/2/1874 (7 adults, an 11yo, a 4yo, a 3yo, and 14 kids < 3yo), plus 4 adult burials in 1945-1993 (one of which was cremated remains).


Wigan Cemetery (at Lower Ince) Records Index

Plot: D 325 Religion: C of E (* usually indicates public grave).
Surname Forename Age Place of Death Date Year Notes Grave Cremation Religion
Ascroft John 53 yrs Wigan Union Workhouse 11-Jan 1874 D 325 * C of E
Ascroft Elizabeth 7 mo 41 Stanley Row, Scholes 08-Feb 1874 D 325 * C of E
Atherton Samuel 3 yrs 15 Market Court, Market Place 01-Feb 1874 D 325 * C of E
Barnes Margaret 61 yrs 27 Bailey's Court, Hallgate 08-Jan 1874 D 325 * C of E
Brooks Mary 23 mo 70 Frog Lane 08-Feb 1874 D 325 * C of E
Calderbank William 10 mo Whelley 08-Feb 1874 D 325 * C of E
Calland William 56 yrs Water St. Standishgate 21-Jan 1874 D 325 * C of E
Corless Ann 52 yrs 15 Scholfield Lane, Scholes 28-Jan 1874 D 325 * C of E
Cottom Elizabeth 1 mo Wigan Union Workhouse 29-Jan 1874 D 325 * C of E
Dutton Ellen 2 days Wigan Union Workhouse 25-Jan 1874 D 325 * C of E
Hall Henry Ogle 89 yrs 3 Manchester Place, Hardybutts 21-Jan 1874 D 325 * C of E
Lord John 13 mo 5 Baker St. Poolstock 01-Feb 1874 D 325 * C of E
Lyon John 5 hours 30 Down I'th Gates, Scholes 28-Jan 1874 D 325 * C of E
Nuttall John 5 mo 29 Longshoot, Scholes 26-Jan 1874 D 325 * C of E
Ormshaw James 15 mo Stanley St. Scholes 01-Feb 1874 D 325 * C of E
Ratcliffe Thomas 63 yrs Wigan Union Workhouse 19-Jan 1874 D 325 * C of E
Roscoe John 13 mo 11 Folly, Wigan Lane 01-Feb 1874 D 325 * C of E
Sayers John 19 mo 43 Top Croft, Hallgate 04-Feb 1874 D 325 * C of E
Schofield Ralph 2 ½ yrs 14 Morris Row, Scholes 02-Feb 1874 D 325 * C of E
Schofield William James 11 mo Morris Row, Scholes 08-Feb 1874 D 325 * C of E
Taylor Margaret 4 yrs 54 Whelley 08-Feb 1874 D 325 * C of E
Turner Thomas 57 yrs Wigan Union Workhouse 13-Jan 1874 D 325 * C of E
Vose Eliza 21 mo 22 Darlington Street 29-Jan 1874 D 325 * C of E
Wood Elizabeth 11 yrs Coop St. Scholes 01-Feb 1874 D 325 * C of E
-------------
Hindley Cissie 74 yrs 208 Springfield Rd. 11-Nov 1957 D 325 C of E
Kindley John 38 Yrs Springfield Rd 02-Jun 1945 Infirmary D 325 C of E
Marsh Frederick 63 Yrs Alder Ave 16-Jun 1951 D 325 C of E
O'Loughlin John 80 yrs Billinge Hospital 09-Nov 1993 84 Beech Hill Ave. Wigan D 325 Crem C of E