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Aston Thomas Samuel Ebenezer Chartered Accountant

ericthepenguin

Brummie babby
Hi

I have always wanted to see if there was a grave for my Great Grandfather. He died in the Erdington district, September 1938. I have checked all the monument inscription books for Birmingham Churches. I have also checked the Birmingham CC's list detailing people buried in the municipal cemeteries. There was one entry for a Thomas Aston, September 1938 in Key Hill Cemetery, but it's a childs grave..

I know the family were quite well off so i would have thought there would have been a gravestone. Has anybody got any idea's? For reference if anyone knows of any graveyards that were badly damaged in WW2 could they tell me which churches, (and could that be the reason that i cannot find anything for him).

Many thanks

Eric Aston
 
hello eric have you tried witton cemetery yet as you cant be certain that there is a headstone...if you phone them up they will check their burial records for you...i have always found them very helpful

lyn
 
hello eric have you tried witton cemetery yet as you cant be certain that there is a headstone...if you phone them up they will check their burial records for you...i have always found them very helpful

lyn
Thanks Lyn

Birmingham Cemeteries are covered in this link, (having said that I don't see any burials at Robin Hood Cemetery, maybe those will be added in due course.

 
Robin Hood is not a Birmingham Cemetery - it is in Solihull.
Do you know if Thomas belonged to a particular denomination? Have you considered he might have been cremated? Perry Barr opened in 1903.
 
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are you absolutely sure your gt grandfather was buried...could he have been cremated..just a thought

lyn
 
Eric, some cremations are included the link you already have. The phone numbers are on that link too I think. I have always found Crematoria in Birmingham to be very helpful with basic information but there is a charge for more details.

I looked to see where he was married in case that was a clue, It was St. Barnabus, but he's not on the burial register there. I couldn't find a will either, for a clue to an address.
rosie.
 
Eric,

He was born in 1861, but I can't see a death certificate entry - have you got the death certificate?

Maurice
 
Thanks for the help guys.

Yes Maurice I have and thanks for asking. He actually passed away 14th July 1938 at 14 Mason Road, Erdington. I rechecked the Birmingham Burials website but no luck with the search.

Eric
 
Try asking Perry Barr Crem - they are helpful and did a basic search for me for free. There are lots of memorials as well there but you might have to pay for that info.
 
i would also phone up yardley as well as they have both burials and cremations there...i found my nan...grandad and gt grandad all in the same family grave but no headstone..also phone up witton as well...twice i have trusted to online info which said the rellie i was looking for was not buried there but after double checking by phoning them up they were there after all

lyn
 
Eric,

Do you know if he married and, if so, when did his wife die? This sounds like a church burial, but nailing down the church may not be so easy.

Maurice
 
Eric,

It seems Thomas had a wife, Mary Ellen Aston, who passed away in June 1950 and was at that time living in Livingstone Road. She left a Will, but again, she was not buried or cremated at Birmingham Cemeteries. Three children on the 1911 Census and I presumed that they were christened or baptised somewhere and perhaps that church holds the clue. But that doesn't solve the problem.

Maurice
 
Didnt someone on here say how you could find out where someone was buried through Familysearch.org - or have I imagined it?
 
Carol,

Familysearch hold the Find-a-Grave records, which are fine if a monument was erected. But with the lack of publicity in the newspapers, did they do so I wonder?

Maurice
 
Maurice, I thought I had read on here that you clicked on something on the person's page you were viewing and it showed where they were buried?
 
Carol,

I just did a check for this man. What they actually hold is the index to Find-a-Grave and if they find the person, they insert Find-a-Grave's reference number and clicking on it will take you to the appropriate page on the Find-a-Grave site. It didn't find anything on Find-a-Grave, which I've always found is better on US deaths anyway. Billion Gaves is a bit better with UK stuff, but you either have to be a member or turn your ad-blocker off. It spotted my ad-blocker as soon as I started to fill in their search form, so I left it at that point as I had other things to do.

Maurice :)
 
It is similar on Ancestry - you get a link if a burial entry has been made on their linked sites. As far as I know there is no link for cremations.
 
Janice,

I think cremations are unlikely in this event as they would be done by the Council and they would surely be on record and both husband & wife are missing.

Maurice
 
Maurice.
I didn't think cremations were listed especially Perry Barr which is not council run - or at least isn't now.
 
Did a newspaper search for an entry of death, but nothing came up except this clipping of his granddaughter's marriage.
 

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Janice,

Yes, I have quite a few cremations from that Birmingham Bereavement site on my tree, including my brother-in-law's at Sutton Coldfield which I attended in 2006. But with Perry Barr you may have hit the nail on the head as it opened as early as 1903 and is not included on the Birmingham list. I see that on their website they even offer unattended direct cremation with no mourners present. That might account for the lack of publicity.

Maurice

Maurice
 
I only knew about Perry Barr because that is where several of my husband's family were cremated. The staff are very helpful.
If Thomas was important enough to be referred to in the paper at his granddaughter's wedding I find it surprising there is nothing about his death unless those issues are not online.
 
Both the Mail & Gazette appear to be online for 1938, Janice. All Eric can do is to contact Perry Barr Crem & hope for the best.

Maurice
 
Both the Mail & Gazette appear to be online for 1938, Janice. All Eric can do is to contact Perry Barr Crem & hope for the best.

Maurice
Thank you all for your help.I will do what has been suggested and give Perry Barr a call, (I think that crem is now run by the Dignity Group). Thanks Bewdley for the picture, I remember my Aunt Peggy, (what database was that clip taken from?). Anyway I will report back.

I do have another brick wall i cannot break down, after 5 years of looking, (regarding my Great x 3 grandfather John Aston). I will have to place another post with an attachment as there is quite a bit of research. I sometimes think in this game there seems to be more questions than answers!!. Regards Eric
 
Thank you all for your help.I will do what has been suggested and give Perry Barr a call, (I think that crem is now run by the Dignity Group). Thanks Bewdley for the picture, I remember my Aunt Peggy, (what database was that clip taken from?). Anyway I will report back.

I do have another brick wall i cannot break down, after 5 years of looking, (regarding my Great x 3 grandfather John Aston). I will have to place another post with an attachment as there is quite a bit of research. I sometimes think in this game there seems to be more questions than answers!!. Regards Eric


Hi Eric, I found it on Find My past in their British Newspapers section 1938.
 
Hi All

Well I did phone Perry Barr crem up and they have no records for Thomas Samuel Ebenezer being cremated. Possibly, as mentioned in my first post the graveyard may have been badly damaged in WW2 (I believe Saltley Juxta suffered this). On saying that surely there must be some documentation somewhere that the church would have? If so are these still held at the Church itself?

I have just posted about John Aston on this site. I cannot attach my findings as the site won't accept odt file endings, (and I am a complete Luddite as far as tech goes!!). I could cut and paste but the post would have over 100 lines so I don't think that's the right thing to do.

Regards

Eric
 
Some records are online eg at Ancestry. Some are held at Birmingham Library - last time I went it was still microfilm. Some are held at the relevant church. A Google search should tell you where particular records might be found. He did not come up on an Ancestry search. I suppose he could have been buried outside of Birmingham. Are there any family links elsewhere eg. Warwickshire villages?
 
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