• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Warstone Lane Cemetery

W

Wendy

Guest
John Baskerville Famous Printer

John Baskerville was an athiest and originally buried in his garden. Later his body was moved to Christchurch when this was demolished his remains were placed in the catacombs at Wartone Lane.
The following was taken from microfiche records of Christchurch.

Christ church catacombs

In these catacombs rest the remains of John Baskerville the famous printer. He died in 1775 but the place of his burial was unknown until April 12th 1893, when the opening of the unregistered catacomb no 521 disclosed a coffin which on further examination was found to contain his body. The remains were left intact and the coffin was replaced in the catacomb and the proper entry made in the burial register by the vicar.

There were present:

Alderman Lawley Parker Mayor

Oliver Pemberton M.D. coroner F.R.C.S.

A. Hill M.D. medical officer

W.S.Till Esq city surveyer

Sam Timmins Esq

T.H.Ryland Esq

Represetatives of the local press and others

Charles Byron Wilcox vicar

Albert Taylor

William Gay – Churchwardens


 
Warstone Lane Cemetery Map edit.jpgHere's a map of Warstone Lane Cemetery also sometimes known as the Mint cemetery. This is the one in the middle of the Jewellery Quarter.
 
Came across this stereo view of Warstone Lane Cemetery? on ebay...to get a better view you might need to copy it and them magnify it....
 
Thank you John, I have one like this of Key Hill that I bought off Ebay.
 
My gt grandmother is buried in Warstone Lane, there was no stone memorial for her when I went to look. She lived in St Andrews Street Aston, almost on Birmingham City's pitch.:) I have no idea why she was taken to Warstone Lane to be buried, it would have been a fair way to travel by a horse drawn vehicle as she died in 1887. Any ideas anyone.

Thank you for the pc's Moma P and JK:)
 
Di, I am never sure when answering these questions although often there are several reasons. Firstley most of the burial grounds in the city connected to churches by this time were closed. The improvement scheme of 1875 meant these grounds were taken over by the council. The first council owned cemetery was Witton opened in 1863 and others followed soon after. The two main cemeteries were Warstone Lane which was C of E and Key Hill non conformist. Do you know if your gt gran was buried in a public grave or a purchased one. If it was purchased were there other family members buried there. Personally my family lived in Lozells and were buried in Key Hill. They were baptist's. To my amazement I found two graves one contained nine family members the other four. These were purchased graves and both originally would have had headstones. If you have exact dates Handsworth cemetery should be able to tell you if others were in the plot. There may be a charge for this info. I hope this helps Di.
 
I did the research on my gt gran in 1981 Wendy, and in those days there was a wonderful place you wrote to and they gave you the grave plot number and position, It was called the City of Birmingham Cemetery and Cremetoria.:)

She was in a private grave, but no one else buried there. Her husband married again, she was mid 30's when she died. He was buried in Yardley Cemetery in 1916 and was living in Ashley Street, also Lozells I think. I didn't realise that the church burial grounds were closed as early as that.

Thanks for the info:)
 
Di it now comes under bereavement sevices. The problem is the upsurge in Family History has created a lot of pressure for these offices. I have spent an afternoon at Handsworth cemetery office. I was amazed at the ammount of phone calls they receive from people searching for family. They have to fit this in with the normal workload, I can tell you they were extreamly busy. They said to me they would have to charge because they were going to employ someone to do the searches. The registers are enormous and very heavy. I paid for my family information and I have to say for what I received it was worth it. If you have a grave and plot number there is a map on this thread and you should be able to work out where it is. I have done this and taken photo's for people of the general area when there is no headstone. If I can help Di let me know.
 
Hi Moma P,
I see there is an Eliza Fellows listed on the first gravestone picture you posted. I will have to see if there is a connection in my tree. Due to my distance away, I have only been able, so far, to find two relevant Fellows graves. Thanks! :)
 
I hope it is Kev. That's the main reason I post these, its amazing how many people have found a connection. Let me know if I can help. Good Luck. Wendy.
 
Baskerville

This is after the church in christ church was demolished also believe an aerial view of baskerville house has his initials or is it B H can anyone tell me and as anyone got a photo of this

However, in 1890 the church was demolished to make way for shops and administrative buildings. A few years ago these too were demolished and a grassy area* with a walk, and a flight of steps called Christ Church Passage is all that now remains. The bodies in the vaults were removed and Baskerville’s body was reinterred in the Church of England cemetery in Warstone Lane in a vault under the chapel. For an atheist, poor Baskerville seemed to be coming acquainted with a variety of holy places. The tablet was placed at the entrance to the vault but eventually this chapel too was demolished and the entrance blocked up to deter vandals. The tablet is now hidden behind the wall.

Mossy
 
Hello Mossy, I can't help with the photo sorry. I did post a piece about John Baskerville on the first thread on this post, if its any help.
 
Fellows Grave

I found this in my Key Hill photo files not sure if its connected.
 
Hi Wendy,

I recently posted on the Key Hill Cemetry site, about my stint as a young Bobbie in the fog in the 1950s. Well here's an amusing tale, or not, depending on your sense of humour, about Warstone Lane Cemetry, around the same time.

Again it was foggy/smoggy, and again at night. At that time there was a tramps lodging house in Western Road, by Dudley Road Hospital. It filled up most nights and the tramps used to sleep out in the cemetry. We had the job of getting them out, if we found any.

Anyway, one foggy night it was my duty on Warstone Lane, and I went into the cemetry, and was patrolling along by Pitsford Street. As you know, Pitsford Street slopes down hill to Icknield Street, and there is a wall along the side. the wall being in steps down the hill.

I was walking along the path inside the cemetry, when I heard footsteps coming down the hill. I realised this was the young Bobbie on the next beat. I waited for him to get alongside me, leaned over and took his helmet off. He just turned and ran. Apparently all the way back to the station.

When I got in at 2am for my break, I found it had scared him so much, he had handed his notice in. Normally you had to give a months notice, but the Inspector had let him go immediately.

It's been on my conscience ever since, but he must have been easily scared, and probably not suitable for the job.
 
Trev as you say a bit naughty but perhaps he wasn't suitable, the inspector may have thought this so was happy to let him go.

I went on a "ghost walk" round Warstone Lane a few years ago. It was done by a couple who dressed as people from the cemetery, the man was the last town crier. It was brilliant although not really scary, they were like actors it was grat fun!
 
I've recently discovered my Gt Grandparents are buried in section H at Warstone Lane. I've been given a number by Handsworth cemetery who were very helpful by the way. There seems to be quite a few graves dating from the 1920's and 30's in this section but not enough to give an idea as to how the numbers run, anyone have any ideas on this?,

thank's,

Brumgum.
 
Newbie
not sure this is the right thread or not, but i'm doing some research and need copies of the cems/crems, you know those taken from a birds eye view that show the block locations (not graves) and slip roads etc
can anyone help me please
i know there must be a lot but nowhere else to turn
thanks for reading
failsafe:confused:
 
Back
Top