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St Barnabas Church records

  • Thread starter Thread starter eileen
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eileen

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Hello all,
I have been trying to find my grandfather's burial place for many years. He died in 1944. I have recently been told by a relative that he was buried in the grounds of St. Barnabas Church, Erdington but there was no headstone. Can anyone advise me on how I can check the burial records for this church? Thank you. Eileen.
 
DearmEileen
Birmingham City archives hold the burial registers for this church from 1824-1979; a trip to the sixth floor of the central library should answer your question.
Regards
Andy
 
hi eilleen
if you contact the church in erdinton st barnabus,s church
the lady whom is in charge of the registered burials there comes once a week as far as i know
she comes from sutton andi think if i remember correctly she is stationed down at st marys
toward sutton because a couple of years ago i contacted them regarding my grand parents
whom was burried there 1935 and 1946 they was william jelf and mary ann jelf[ nee hughes ]
there is a phone number in the book to phone if you know there dates roughly
she will do it free of charge she keeps the registar at st marys sutton
merry christmas and a happy new year to you ;
best wishes astonian ;;
 
Thanks Andy and Astonian. I will try contacting St. Barnabas first and if no joy I will try Birmingham City Archives. Many thanks for your prompt replies. All the best, Eileen.
 
I have just found some useful info from this website. I was looking for my husbands ancestors and they do appear in this list of Mi's. I wonder if the stones are still there? They was buried in 1880

Might be of some interest for you eileen. Is your grandfather listed?

List of names taken from the fiche of Monumental Inscriptions for
St., Barnabas Church in Erdington, Birmingham

Fiche number I049

https://www.hunimex.com/warwick/mi/mi_brum_erdington.html
 
Sapphire, sorry for late response. I haven't been online lately. I have looked at the list of names and my grandfather is not listed, as I don't think there was a headstone. It's interesting to look for other family members though. Many thanks. Eileen
 
I think i found 4 of my ancestors on that website (Stanyard's)

But a recent visit to St Barnabas Church i found that one part of the churchyard was over grown and hiding any headstones that are there. alot of headstones are broken and to be honest looked very dangerous to try and search that part. The other half is kept very tidy. But i did look around the rest of the cemetry at the headstones and was unable to find my ancestors.

As part of the church is blocked to public access at the moment for the repairs from the fire in 2007. I did look thru the fence thats around the church and seen that there was gravestones which we was unable to access.

So maybe i have to wait for the work to be completed on the church.

I have also contanted St Baranabus and i got a reply the other day from a lady who said she will look up the records for me. Im awaiting her reply.

So maybe this lady can help you too. I contacted her thru this website https://www.erdington-team-ministry.org.uk/
 
Hi, I've found a lady called Karen Stringer very helpful. She's let me get through the builders fence to tidy up my grandparents' grave. I reached her on 07528332892.
 
Thank you david. If i do find that my ancestors are buried inside the fence line i will surely contact her. My ancestors died in 1861 and 1880. They are GT GT GT Grandparents. I have looked around all the other gravestones especially at the front as they are older stones. But no luck.

Im also trying to get information on the file fiche no. 1049 for the Monumental Inscriptions. for st. Barnabas. Awaiting on a reply for that also.
 
The reason that you may not find headstones there is because in the 80's the then vicar decided that all the stones out front must go if no one claimed them. He posted a notice in the church and gave a date by which you could save your stones. We travelled there every Christmas to place flowers on our stones that were right out front and in immaculate condition. We had 4 in a row and 1 was my Grandfather who died age 21 leaving 3 small children. I passed by one weekday and saw workmen in the churchyard and then couldnt find our stones, they had been taken up and smashed the delighted workman told me. The vicar said it was our fault for not claiming them. He was very far from sorry. My Mum was devastated, my Great Aunt whose parents, 2 brothers, (one who had been a prisoner of war, taken by the Japanese), her sister who died the day before her wedding, and baby cousin were buried there, never got over it. It was wicked. I never felt the same about that church since.I think they have no right to do it.
A S Wood
 
A S Wood that is so awful. Why they didn't just bury them like they did at Key Hill Cemetery at least they would have still been in tact. I find it so upsetting to hear when headstones in churchyards are destroyed some are used as paving stones. What gives one vicar the right to do this!! This is why I have this crusade to help people locate family graves then at least they can be cared for. It is very different for Cemeteries than churchyards. If anyone locates a family grave it's a good idea to register your name and address with the cemetery office so that if any work is carried out at a cemetery they can let you know. So many churches have been demolished and graveyards cleared it's very sad if you find your family was buried there.

I am so sorry to read what happened to your family graves this is church vandalism!!
 
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I have written a letter to the church enclosing a SAE for their reply, and will let you know how I get on. It sounds as though they are quite helpful. Sorry to hear about a.s.wood's experiences regarding the headstones. That is sad. Eileen
 
Hello. I have today received a response from St. Barnabas but unfortunately they found no record of my grandfather being buried there. They suggested I try Witton Cemetery or Aston Parish Church. I have already tried Witton but I will now try Aston. Thanks for all your help and advice. Eileen.
 
Hello from Australia, Very hard to do much hands on searching from here but l did contact St Barnabas Church in regards my grandfather
Richard Henry [or Henry Richard] Goffe found out he was buried 2nd March 1926 his number was 224,and also under his name was 1632,address 90 Minstead Rd
now with all this l was told still could not find the grave and stone,so another dead end in the family tree
 
I have had a look at your info. I would say that 224 is the section in the cemetery and 1632 is the grave number. Minster Road had rather nice houses so the family may well have had a family grave but where? The number 224 is not on the Witton map I have. The fact you have this info is great but we need to find which cemetery. Try contacting Handsworth Cemetery as they have records for Key Hill and Warstone Lane as well as Hansdsworth. Give them all the info you have name dates etc including the section number and grave number as this makes it easier for them to search. If no joy come back to us we love a mystery here. Contact HandsworthCem@birmingham.gov.uk
 
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Hello Goffe in Australia,
As you say it is difficult to do much hands on research from miles away- I hope someone on here may be able to help you - People on this forum are always helping others locate graves etc. so don't give up just yet.
Polly :)
 
This info about Henry Richard was from B`ham Library HA HA you would love the Goffe`s if you love a mystery,secret love ,unwed mother,family rage,disowned, court case accidental death,my grandmother was 4 weeks pregnant with my mom when henry richard died at age 23
They were married before he died but sadly his family blamed my nan for it all,and with the loss of their son no contact was ever made..........sad story all around but my mom never knew of any rellies so at 83 years old what ever l can find out for her l will
Henry Richard died of mercury poisoning while working for the B`ham corp reading gas meters,
His family thought my nan had something to do with it,and with all the other sadness,, my mom lost her dad`s family
 
Goffe these stories of days gone by are always sad but yours seem's especially so. I hope you find more information on here. If it isn't to painful maybe write a piece for Carl Chinn's Brummagem magazine. The reason I suggest this is a lot of people subscribe to this who are not on the internet. You may find more information this way. Good Luck Wendy.
 
Goffe, your family history does sound very sad but also very interesting - mercury poisoning while working for the Birmingham corporation - was this caused by the Gas meters? I think Wendys idea of writing to Carl Chinns magazine is an excellent one - you may get some answers and even if you don't, I am sure people will enjoy reading your family story.
Polly
 
We are in Australia l do not know who Carl Chinn is,has he got a website will have to ask my mom.....see how she feels about that
 
yes inside the meter box,there was court case and my grandmother was awarded 500 pounds ,but the B`ham corp never accepted any responsibility
found out when a great aunt sent the news paper cutting from 1923 she had kept it all this time.. and never said a word to my mom,
times have changed now a days with the internet
 
GOFFE said:
We are in Australia l do not know who Carl Chinn is,has he got a website will have to ask my mom.....see how she feels about that
Click to expand...
hi Goffe
you can find out about Carl Chinn on here
https://lives.bgfl.org/carlchinn/about.cfm?mr
there is a Carl Chinn magazine available every month called Brummagem. It features friendly real life stories of people from Birmingham in the past. it also has a 'Helping out' section where people write in for help with info etc.. You can email him on carl@brummagem.fsnet.co.uk
This forum was featured in the April edition - with pictures from the meet up held at the Stags head pub.
Polly
 
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