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Witton Cemetery

  • Thread starter Thread starter KarenM
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Please can anyone tell me if the Reg Entry No for Witton Cemetry is the same as the plot number? ??? As you can see I have been given burial information for three of my relatives.  Also, am I right in thinking that a map of the cemetry was posted on-line a while back  :o

Martha HOLLAND    Buried      11 December 1926  Reg Entry No   327495

Rose HOLLAND       Buried      27 May 1937           Reg Entry No   357691

William HOLLAND      Buried    28 June 1940           Reg Entry No  366716

Thank you O0
Gillian  :crazy2:
 
Thank you very much John,  O0  I have downloaded and saved a copy of the map.

I took your advice and called the cemetry to enquire, only to be informed that it will cost £18.00 for the information :-\ Whilst I realise that most things cost a bob or two these days, I think £18.00 for this kind of information is absolute daylight robbery.  I bet it wouldn't take more than a few minutes for them to look up the registrations.  I'm really cross over this but I suppose if I want the information badly enough I will have to pay.  Luckily I'm in the position to be able to pay, I'm sure that there must be people out there who haven't!

Gillian  :crazy2:
 
they usually do one for free can't you get some else to enquire about one each O0 it's only been a few weeks since they did one for me and as I said it was free give it a try you have nothing to lose
 
My daughter called for me at around 4.00pm this afternoon but the office was closed.  Have asked her to try again for me on Monday.  Fingers crossed  :)

Gillian  :crazy2:
 
On your grave photo John you can just see the name of the memorial stone makers...Roddis & Nourse. They were on Brookvale Road across from the cemetery for many years. There were no houses there then. They had all kinds of marble and stones outside the workshop.
I went to school with Margaret Nourse and a Fentham Road girl in Australia is in touch with her regularly. Not sure what year Roddis & Nourse went out of business but I remember them in the late l940's.

My brother and I managed to find two unmarked graves in Witton Cemetery with the help from the office. There was no charge for them to look them up.
 
Result O0  I'm off sick from work today with a bad throat, :( so I thought I would call Witton Cemetry myself.  I have left details for the burial of Martha Holland and they are going to call me back with the information within the next couple of days or so :)

Gillian  :crazy2:

PS I hasten to add that I do not have to pay :)
 
I'm on the case  ;D  Thought it best to leave a gap between calls  :basketball: as the three burials all have the same surname and I think that they might get suspicious ?  ???

Gillian  :cat:
 
Gillian, when my brother and I went for three lookups at Witton Cemetery, the assistant walked around to the back room and came out with a huge old record book, looked up the info all in about five minutes or even less. If they are now charging eighteen pounds for this service that indeed is daylight robbery.

They obviously have a mixed policy if they are giving one free lookup away over the phone to people and charging other who turn up at their office in the Cemetery an extortionate fee.s
 
To be honest, I did think that there might be a fee to pay which is ok, I don't mind paying for things; it was just the amount that shocked me  :o


Gillian :cat:
 
Handsworth cemetery charge £25 per half hour for family research but I must say they found me three graves free gratis and have been helpful in the past I think it's how you approach them (being polite helps) get them interested and have as many facts as you can
 
I think the problem is staffing if they have time they will help. It depends on how much information you give them. The burial registers are enormous and picking one up is a task. If you give them as much information as possible and then the search won't take long. The advantage of paying for a search is the detailed information, not only the burial plot but you may get cause of death date of internment and the address where they were living at the time of death. I hope this helps
 
Witton Cemetery - Plot Number at last!

True to their word Witton Cemetery did get back to me, so I now have a plot number for Martha HOLLAND, :redface: and they couldn't have been more helpful.:) What's really strange is that I have been searching for months now for information on Peggy HOLLAND and have posted enquiries here on this site. When I spoke to the person from Witton she asked how far I'd got with my research on the HOLLAND family. It turns out that she is a HOLLAND from Perry Barr and that she has an Aunt Peggy HOLLAND. It turns out that her Peggy is not my Peggy but what a strange coincidence!!

Anyway, I would be really grateful if anyone going to the cemetery would have a look at the plot for me :redface: and if there is anything there to see take a photograph for me if its not too much trouble :)

The plot is:

Martha Holland
Section 151
Number 0379978
Common Grave

Thank you!
 
Although Witton has no public grave memorials there are some with a memorial at Warstone Lane and Key Hill I have posted an example at Key Hill on the thread for Key Hill.
 
I lived at the top end of the Ridgeway opposite the cemetery and in the winter when the snow was thick we would go over the wall and play by the church, the slopes made wonderful slides.
Once a large tree came down on the College road side and we nipped over the wall to play on it, there was a soldier walking passed and i said have you got any gum chum and he gave me sixpence, i was, as you can imagine thrilled to pieces, and the first thing that came into my head was SWEETIES, but alas it was Sunday, no shops open.
Other times we would go to my g/grandmothers grave and take flowers from other graves and put them on hers, wrong i know but we where children, still no excuse i suppose, can any-one remember the house just inside the cemetery at the top of the Ridgeway, nice family but i cannot remember their names. Happy days
 
hi gillian,i was in witton today,plot 151 is the area where the communal graves is BUT when i spoke to the lady to be a bit more precise about your query she said that all that area had been dug up and all the remains had been re buried but a lot deeper and all that area was private headstones and that photographs of other peoples headstones was not allowed in case people could read them,so when you look at my photos i am only photographing the trees ,arnt i,they gave me an a4 size map of the cemetary but have no idea how to print it,but no doubt that map is available on line
SO ONLY LOOK AT THE TREES ,THERES A GOOD GIRL OTHERWISE THEY WILL BE AFTER ME(GET IN THE QUEUE)
 
Hi Dollyferret

First of all a BIG thank you for taking the time to look and photograph the trees for me!:) :) I'm really shocked that these graves have been dug up :| and I'm surprised that Martha Holland does not have a headstone as she died when she was only 26. I like to think that her family were so poor that they couldn't afford one, not that they couldn't be bothered:( I've decided that when I go I want to be cremated and my ashes scattered somewhere, it seems that with a burial you just don't know who you might end up next to!!

:heart: Once again, thanks....:)
 
Gillian, I am sorry to hear of your dissapointment in not finding a grave for Martha. It was very expencive to have a private grave mostly only buisness people and the wealthy could afford them. I am sure your ralitive would have had a dignified burial with many mourners as many would have to have buried their family in the same way. The public graves where mainly lage areas where people were buried. Because of the problem of burial space some areas were cleared for private burials which would have given some revenue for the upkeep of the cemetery. In other areas hundreds of tons of earth were brought in and put on top of some graves that were no longer tended although these graves can be traced. It is sometimes a great shock to find another grave where you thought your relative was. It is a great shame but its all down to money and I am afraid families move away and then no one can care for the grave. Cemeteries can only look after the grounds, they are not allowed to tend graves. I always thought cremation was best untill four years ago when I found a grave and headstone for my great grandparents. I am sure your Martha's funeral was filled with many family and friends as sadly she was so young.
 
My Grandad is buried somewhere in Witton Cemetery. His name was William Kenward Roberts.
 
Hi BlueGwen: Welcome to the site.

If you enter Witton Cemetery in the Search at the top right hand side of the forum page you will find at least three pages with references to Witton Cemetery. Some of the
posts refer to how to go about finding where your relative is buried in Witton Cemetery.
 
I emailed Witton Cemetery about a grave my gt grandmother was buried in and they told me about my gt grandfathers burial. They were helpful, quick and didnt charge but it may have been because they didnt have to search.

Good luck bluegwen.
 
gwen they are always like that, even on the telephone, well thats how I found them.:)
 
My son and I were there today and found the grave we were looking for in less than 2 minutes thanks to the very helpful lady on duty. We had the burial reference from B'ham Library and she came back in less than a minute with the plot number and marked it on a map telling us where to drive to. There was even a large tin of Quality Street on the desk; she told us to help ourselves. Back in the car, my son drove about 150 yds to where she had indicated and there was the grave right next to the kerb ...I saw it even before we parked the car. Brilliant service - no charge and free toffees.
 
Hi Ziksby:
Great to hear that you had a good experience at Witton Cemetery. I have
found the office staff to be more than helpful. As you say good service and free toffees as well.
 
Second few pics. I'm surprised just how much "free" ground there seems to be considering its age. Also how many graves are seriously listing to one side or another, not just those near trees.
Bugger, the last 5 pics won't load, it says that a "security token is missing" and to inform the administrator. I waited several minutes before trying to post and all the pics are the same size as those posted above.:redface:
 
Just followed the link on the "error" page, typed the message to Admin and got this
"Invalid Post specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator"
What????????:redface:
 
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