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Cemetery search

nzjrc

knowlegable brummie
Hi, Newbie here, just found this site yesterday. Bit of a long shot but was wondering if anyone recognises this cemetery my great grandad is buried in, in 1937, pictured here in 1967. He lived in Washwood Heath Road, if that's any help, but I have never been able to find any record of his burial on any cemetery site so far. Obviously, there must be a record somewhere, the grave is big enough! Thanks for any help, Jane
 

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hi and welcome...could you give us the name of your grandad as we maybe able to find some burial records online for you is that his grave in the foreground of your photo

lyn
 
Yes, sorry, whoever took the photo missed a bit! His name is William James Whately Haddrell, 1870-1937 b Wiltshire. As far as I know, I have all the records of him off Ancestry but this one eludes me. Thank you!
 
great thanks leave it with us ..no promises but some of our members maybe able to find out where he is buried...fingers crossed...oh do you have his death cert to confirm exactly where he died...
 
great maurice so your grandad is at yardley which makes sense if he lived in washwood heath

lyn
 
In the background of the photo it looks as if there are allotments - with corrugated metal sheds? There used to be allotments on the one side of the cemetery but they now have houses on them.
 
great thanks leave it with us ..no promises but some of our members maybe able to find out where he is buried...fingers crossed...oh do you have his death cert to confirm exactly where he died...
I don't think so, typical, I have everyone elses, I'll double check. It is definitely in Birmingham in the death index though, and he always lived in Washwood Heath Road from mid 1910's.
 
Info from Familysearch.org:

View attachment 155228

Re burial records - if he/she died in Birmingham, https://birminghamburialrecords.co.uk/ Costs £20 to download image however!

If you get stuck with the more complicated one let us know - we like a challenge here!
Hi, Thanks for looking that up, I have that record on Ancestry or something similar. I'm glad I got most of my certificates and downloads before the prices went up! I'll put the other query up after I've looked on the website.
 
Ok that was easier than I thought, thanks everyone. The next one I don't think is going to be 'findable' and its not on the council burial website. I don't expect to find any more information than I already have, it is merely out of interest. My Grandmother gave birth to twins in April 1920 (also at her fathers in Washwood Heath Rd) Unfortunately one of them died two days later. Grandma always said he was buried in a cardboard box on top of someone else at St Martins in the Bullring. However after watching the HS2 programme, I found there were no burials there after 1915 (?), nor the Park Street burial ground after 1873. Perhaps someone made it up to keep her happy, or she misunderstood, she didn't like to talk about it. His name was William Stockdale. As I say its just out of interest, obviously not going to be a grave anywhere, but I love a mystery!
 
Hi nxjrc,

You're welcome, and I have a cousin living in Otorohanga, so happy to help out.

Maurice :cool:
 
Unlikely to have been cremated at that age. Perry Barr, possibly, but it's private and not online.

EDIT: Otherwise a local churchyard, but the records are not online that recent & Birmingham Archives are still closed as far as I am aware. My cousin's grandparents were born in Aston and went out in the 1920s, so he's never been to the UK.

Maurice :cool:
 
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Ok that was easier than I thought, thanks everyone. The next one I don't think is going to be 'findable' and its not on the council burial website. I don't expect to find any more information than I already have, it is merely out of interest. My Grandmother gave birth to twins in April 1920 (also at her fathers in Washwood Heath Rd) Unfortunately one of them died two days later. Grandma always said he was buried in a cardboard box on top of someone else at St Martins in the Bullring. However after watching the HS2 programme, I found there were no burials there after 1915 (?), nor the Park Street burial ground after 1873. Perhaps someone made it up to keep her happy, or she misunderstood, she didn't like to talk about it. His name was William Stockdale. As I say its just out of interest, obviously not going to be a grave anywhere, but I love a mystery!
you have probably already found his death record but if not here it is including the cert ref if you wish to order it for further info
NAME:William Stockdale
DEATH AGE:0
BIRTH DATE:1920
REGISTRATION DATE:Apr 1920
REGISTRATION QUARTER:Apr-May-Jun
REGISTRATION DISTRICT:Aston
INFERRED COUNTY:Warwickshire
VOLUME:6d
PAGE:484
 
you have probably already found his death record but if not here it is including the cert ref if you wish to order it for further info
NAME:William Stockdale
DEATH AGE:0
BIRTH DATE:1920
REGISTRATION DATE:Apr 1920
REGISTRATION QUARTER:Apr-May-Jun
REGISTRATION DISTRICT:Aston
INFERRED COUNTY:Warwickshire
VOLUME:6d
PAGE:484
Yes, I have that one and his birth certificate, thank you. Sat in the council offices in 2000 for ages waiting for them!
 
ok thats good...i did read that sometimes very young infants were buried in other peoples graves but that no record was made of the grave they were in so yes im afraid trying to find william could prove very difficult if at all

lyn
 
ok thats good...i did read that sometimes very young infants were buried in other peoples graves but that no record was made of the grave they were in so yes im afraid trying to find william could prove very difficult if at all

lyn
I did wonder if that sort of burial was recorded anywhere. The family didn't have much money so it would all have been over and done with pretty quickly. I think I remember on the HS2 programme that they found a babies bones in with someone else in Park St, so there are probably quite a lot more similar cases.
 
ok thats good...i did read that sometimes very young infants were buried in other peoples graves but that no record was made of the grave they were in so yes im afraid trying to find william could prove very difficult if at all

lyn
I have met up with this statement also when I was at the old family records centre in London, researching my untraceable gggrandfather and his family, but not only that statement, but also that the only coffin they had was a cardboard box. This was because infant deaths were so prevalent, very little importance was attached to the death, but more importance placed on the living and no mourning for the dead infant. In addition to coming from one of the staff, it also came from a lady who was doing a degree in infant mortality in the 19th and early 20th Century and one reason was that because there was very little attempt at Birth control, the dead child would soon be replaced and my wifes ggrandparents proved this with 13 children in 20years
 
I have met up with this statement also when I was at the old family records centre in London, researching my untraceable gggrandfather and his family, but not only that statement, but also that the only coffin they had was a cardboard box. This was because infant deaths were so prevalent, very little importance was attached to the death, but more importance placed on the living and no mourning for the dead infant. In addition to coming from one of the staff, it also came from a lady who was doing a degree in infant mortality in the 19th and early 20th Century and one reason was that because there was very little attempt at Birth control, the dead child would soon be replaced and my wifes ggrandparents proved this with 13 children in 20years
Yes times have certainly changed. My Grandmothers brothers both died young. Such a lot of loss for one person as her mother died when she was five too. (Grandma and her sister lived till 96 and 97!) Most of the families on Dads side had at least 14 children.
 
Unlikely to have been cremated at that age. Perry Barr, possibly, but it's private and not online.

EDIT: Otherwise a local churchyard, but the records are not online that recent & Birmingham Archives are still closed as far as I am aware. My cousin's grandparents were born in Aston and went out in the 1920s, so he's never been to the UK.

Maurice :cool:
It doesn't seem like there will be any records, I just wondered if someone might have a theory, but it would all be guesswork. I can just imagine the baby being whisked away and 'taken care of' very quickly.
 
I did wonder if that sort of burial was recorded anywhere. The family didn't have much money so it would all have been over and done with pretty quickly. I think I remember on the HS2 programme that they found a babies bones in with someone else in Park St, so there are probably quite a lot more similar cases.
yes i would think you are right there...for years i have been searching for a friends brother who was born at loveday st maternity hospital in 1935 he was a full term still born..my friends mom told her he was buried at key hill or warstone lane..the baby was just taken off her and there was no funeral as such... to date i cant find any records of the exact spot so i am now assuming he was buried along with someone else..very sad really as she will never be able to pay her respects

lyn
 
yes i would think you are right there...for years i have been searching for a friends brother who was born at loveday st maternity hospital in 1935 he was a full term still born..my friends mom told her he was buried at key hill or warstone lane..the baby was just taken off her and there was no funeral as such... to date i cant find any records of the exact spot so i am now assuming he was buried along with someone else..very sad really as she will never be able to pay her respects

lyn
They faced such sadness in those times and grieving just didn't seem to be an option. Grandma lost her mother and 2 brothers before she was 10, then her son later. I have located all the the burial places, apart from this baby and her older brother in Scotland, when they were all in an orphanage. It doesn't seem right that great grandad had such an elaborate grave but his first wife, 2 children and grandchild have nothing to even mark their lives.
 
In the case of the dead two day old we are talking about a bare 18 months after the end of WW1. What was the financial situation of the parents at that time? My own father came out of the Army at the age of 36 to find that his job had been given to a young father with two young children. He was single and was told that he could force the issue, but he would probably put a young family in very great difficulty. In order words he was shamed into losing his job. He eventually got a very poorly paid job making packing cases at Perry Pens in Lancaster Street, known for paying very low wages.

Financial considerations may very well come into the disposal of the child's body. It was a cruel world out there at that time. So many families with no breadwinner father and girls whose husband to be was no longer alive or suffering the effects of the war.

Maurice :cool:
 
In the case of the dead two day old we are talking about a bare 18 months after the end of WW1. What was the financial situation of the parents at that time? My own father came out of the Army at the age of 36 to find that his job had been given to a young father with two young children. He was single and was told that he could force the issue, but he would probably put a young family in very great difficulty. In order words he was shamed into losing his job. He eventually got a very poorly paid job making packing cases at Perry Pens in Lancaster Street, known for paying very low wages.

Financial considerations may very well come into the disposal of the child's body. It was a cruel world out there at that time. So many families with no breadwinner father and girls whose husband to be was no longer alive or suffering the effects of the war.

Maurice :cool:
I've never found any military records for grandad but he was a railway porter when they got married in 1919 and grandma had been in service since she was 14. There was no money to spare and they were staying with her father, who had gone on to marry for the third time and have another five kids. I cant imagine how they all fitted into the house, the twins were put in drawers as there was no cots available. At some point grandma got a prefab house and they were there for quite some time. I have no illusions on what life was like for grandma and I doubt very much she had any say in what happened to the dead baby.
 
nzjrc,

Ironical as my own father was carter for the railway at Curzon Street delivering parcels with his horse & cart. He said that he loved that job and he knew the streets of Birmingham like the back of his hand. Only around 40% of the servicemen's records for WW1 have survived due to a WW2 incendiary bomb on the building in which they were stored. This did not affect officer's records, which were stored elsewhere. Happy to check, but I will need full name & date of birth. If you don't want to post this on the open forum, you can send me a private message (envelope icon top right).

Maurice :cool:
 
nzjrc,

Ironical as my own father was carter for the railway at Curzon Street delivering parcels with his horse & cart. He said that he loved that job and he knew the streets of Birmingham like the back of his hand. Only around 40% of the servicemen's records for WW1 have survived due to a WW2 incendiary bomb on the building in which they were stored. This did not affect officer's records, which were stored elsewhere. Happy to check, but I will need full name & date of birth. If you don't want to post this on the open forum, you can send me a private message (envelope icon top right).

Maurice :cool:
I have mainly done research on my mothers maternal line, but did a bit on grandads line. I never met him but grandma lived with us in NZ for 33 years, she never spoke about him. He was George Stockdale, b Birmingham, 30 May1888. As I say I have never found any war records for him, I don't know where he was then or when he started work on the railways. I doubt very much if he was anything like an officer. I don't think jobs on the railway were war work, I guess he could have had an ailment, but again I am not aware of this. Would be interesting if there were any records. Jane
 
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