Genealogy Chat

My gr.grandfather was buried in Milton Cemetery in Portsmouth and it states in the cemeteries book that he is buried in unconsecrated ground. I have asked at the cemeteries office what this means but the young girl could not explain it to me. It is a municipal cemetery and apparently part is consecrated and part is not. Can anyone explain to me why this is and why my gr.grandfather is in the unconsecrated bit?

There could be several reasons why someone is buried in unconsecrated ground, depending on when the burial took place. The first and most common, was suicide. The second, if the person was non-conformist, or had otherwise expressed a wish not to be buried in consecrated ground. He could have been a stranger to the Parish,( but I think pauper's burials usually took place in consecrated ground.) Does the Death Registration Certificate give you any clues? What did he die of? When?

There are several reasons for it The first is that due to the speed the grave site was filled the church might not have got round to consecrating it. (IE its unblessed) another reason is his religion (He might be Jewish and the grave site Cof E) There are also criminal resons (IE murderers who have been hung. this is normaly in the prison grounds though) Also when epedemics hit an area then it was a case of get them in the ground quick.

I think the reasons for burial have been covered. As a matter of interest. A local authority or private cemetary, as against a church one, must have equal areas consecrated and non consecrated. The current practice is to consecrate each plot at the time of interment. The records may not say if this happened or not. Only in a divided cemetary will it state the condition of the site. Bob

Eileen Durh! Have just read your message PROPERLY and note that you say its a MUNICIPAL cemetery. In which case its simple. Municipal Cemeteries were provided by the Borough for the burial of everyone and anyone in that district( whereas Church Burial Grounds are for the members of that church only.) Consecrated ground in the Municipal Cemetery was that ground reserved for members of the Christian church unconsecrated ground was for those who were NOT members of the established church. (I misread originally as a Church Burial ground which would of course had the reasons I put in my first answer)