Genealogy Chat

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Can anyone tell me what a public grave is? I recently wrote to the cemeterys dept of my local council, to get a map and plot number for my great great grandad's grave (from 1918). They very kindly send back details of the location along with a map but said that they couldn't give details of anyone else interred in the same grave as it was a public grave. Does this mean there will probably be no headstone? I always assumed that this type of grave was for paupers who couldn't afford a proper burial, however my reative had at least 6 children still alive when he died and they all worked for the family firm of plasterers that employed about 50 men so I can't believe that there would be no money available for a proper burial. Can anyone shed any light on this? Thanks Sam x

Public grave is used for more than one person and not all the same family. My grandmother was one of 6 in a public grave. There would be no headstone because it is a shared grave. Good luck with your research. Irene

Thanks Irene, I thought that may be the answer - I still don't understand WHY he was in a public grave!! I guess a bit more digging is called for! Sam x

Hi Sam, That seems a bit odd to me as well. Why a public grave when he obviously had money? Maybe there was a family dispute? Let us know if you find anything out as that's an interesting one. Helen (also from Stoke, well sort of!)

Hello Sam, Well it does seem a bit strange if there was plenty of cash about (I feel a bit worried about you doing ''more digging'' - not in the cemetery, I hope?) Maybe he had personal feelings about the issue? ''Don't waste money on me when I'm gone''. Some of hubby's ancestors are in a public grave, though of the six people buried there amazingly they are all family!! Mind you, the local cemetery office were not concerned about telling us who else was interred there - they wouldn't have known they were family, as there were three different surnames, so it must be a case of different local authorities having different rules? Merry

Hi When my husbands aunt died, they checked the records of the family grave to see if there was room. The answer came back that there was due to it being a family plot for four and her mother and brother being there left space for his aunt and his mum. Though when they opened up the grave it was actually full with another two bodies, their names were not in the records, headstone or on the coffins themselves. Regards LL

1918 was a bad time. You'd had millions of people slaughtered in the war, mostly buried abroad, and then you'd got millions of people dying at home in the flu epidemic. There may have been a feeling that it wasn't the best time to make a big deal of your bereavements. There was also a big labour shortage. Monumental stone would have been in short supply, and the cemetery might have been having trouble getting the graves dug. At my local cemetery the price of a burial went up from 6s to 24s between 1917 and 1919

Just to add that my grandmother went into a public grave because she wanted to be buried at Tower Hamlets Cemetery and it was full, no more spaces to purchase. It closed down soon after and is no longer there as a cemetery. Perhaps your ancestors were not great believers in spending money on plots ect. My mother's family ancestors all beleved in buying private plots. I used to go to the cemetery with my grandmother very often to put flowers on the graves and clean the headstones. Some of my ancestors came from the village of Wootton in Oxford and one was a stonemason, I visited the churchyard and expected to see nice headstones of family members and there were none to be seen.Good luck with your research. Irene

Hi Sam, My grandad died in 1945 and I have always known that he was buried in a public grave. I assumed that it was because my granny couldn't afford the price of a solo one! I haven't tried to research his plot, although I know where it is, but I do know that his family knew the identity of at least some of the other occupants, one of them being a baby. Whether this information would be divulged these days is questionable. I think that this was probably a far more common practice especially in London where they were living at the time. I don't think cremations were as popular in those days, so a shared plot was probably the only option. Jak

I have sent for his death certificate so that may shed a bit more light on it - I have already looked him up in the burial registers and found that he died at a 'Gentleman's Institution' in Stoke on Trent - I don't know what that is either but again, it suggests he had some money. The rest of the family since have all fallen out over the years and don't speak to each other so if they were like that back in 1918, it's quite possible that there was a family feud! Thanks Sam x