General Question Regarding How to Search Large Cemeteries

[Nostromo]

Hi all. I was just wondering whether anyone would happen to know what the easiest and most inexpensive way is of searching for relatives in Birmingham's large cemeteries, such as Witton and Yardley. I know for a fact that many of my ancestors are buried in both of these cemeteries but I have absolutely no idea where and I hear that, because none of the information regarding burials is digitised, it costs around £20 to have individual searches done. Is there a cheaper way short of shanks' pony?

 

[John Young]

Hi Nostromo All B,ham cemeteries have small printed Maps (copies) & all have Enquiry offices in the Grounds,
Witton & Yardley (+others) have very helpful staff who give "general advice freely"
If you request them to "Search" they may/have to )Council rules) make a small charge for each search.
However,,if you can give details,,date of Death/Internment etc you may be lucky (no charges)
Best to gather as much info as you can then attend sites as aforementioned,
Cheers JohnY

ps You have put B,ham as address so i am presuming you,re local?

 

[Nostromo]

Cheers, John. I'll give it a try. Do they have indexes in those enquiry offices or something then? Yes, I am local: Kings Heath and Birmingham born-and-bred.

 

[Wendy]

All the cemetery indexes are in Central Library on microfilm. But be warned some are very difficult to read.

 

[Nostromo]

Thanks, Wendy. Whereabouts on the sixth floor are they located and how are they indexed: by surname, date of burial, area of burial in cemetery, etc?

 

[Wendy]

I am sorry I have not been to the library since the change round so I am mot sure where they are located. They are indexed in years and the alphabetically.The location of graves are by sections and then numbered. There are some maps in the library I think there are some on the cemeteries thread as well. If you ask at the desk I am sure they will point you in the right direction.

 

[Alf]

Nostro, these are good they say for Witton Cemetery

https://www.wittonfriends.org.uk/

 

[Nostromo]

Thank you all. Much appreciated.

 

[Lloyd]

Although slightly out of the area, would anyone know how to get a map of Smethwick's Uplands cemetery? I have a few relatives interred there and it takes ages to walk round and try to figure out the grave numbering system. It's even more guesswork if there's no headstone.

 

[Nostromo]

Hi everyone. I just wanted to say thanks to you all. I've just spent the most amazing day in Witton Cemetery finding each and every one of my great grandparents and it's all thanks to you. I took Wendy's advice and went to Birmingham Central Library first as I already had a rough idea of when my great grandparents died. The Witton Cemetery microfiches are located on the sixth floor in a metal cabinet to the right of the advice desk and next to the spiral iron staircase that used to take you up to the seventh floor. You just take whichever fiche you need for the year your relative died, view it on any available viewer and take a note of the date of burial and the number in the register (the page number may also be helpful). If you want to take a photocopy of anything on fiche, you can also do this on special viewers. For the next step I took John and Alf's advice and went to the enquiry office at Witton Cemetery itself with this information. The staff there are very helpful and they found the burial plot of one of my great grandparents on the spot (supplied me with a detailed map too, along with details regarding the history of the cemetery). For a fee of £18 they found the details for all of my other great grandparents too. If I could see you all I would give you all a geat big kiss. Cheers!

 

[Wendy]

I am so pleased you got a good result Nostromo. I also paid for some research by Handsworth after doing exactly what you have done. Visiting the library and taking down as much info as possible. Your account is great for anyone doing this research thanks for keeping us informed of your success!