Genealogy Chat

Does anyone know if burials in unconsecrated ground are included in parish registers? Also for what reasons would you be buried there. Sue

People who were hanged possibly, and maybe people who committed suicide. Just a thought, maybe right, maybe not.

Hi there, Anyone buried in unconsecrated ground would not be in parish records. Parish records are records of people buried in the Church grounds which are of course consecrated. A death certificate would have been issued for them to be buried in an ordinary cemetery and they would be listed in the GRO so you should be able to find them. They would of course be in cemetery records Mary

Ther were loads of reasons why....Nonconformists in england and scotland and unbaptised children in ireland to name but a few. Try Unconsecrated burial ground in google and have a look at some of the sites Bob

Hi, Don't know if it is the same in the rest of the UK,but in Wales each cemetery has areas for unconsecrated burials.This basically means that the land is not consecrated by Church in Wales or Catholic Church.My grandad's family are buried in unconsecrated plots in the cemetery but appear in the parish registers of their church.They attended a Zion Chapel but being from England originally and Their area being mostly Church in Wales or Catholic probably explains their unconsecrated burial plots. Hope this is of some help, Sinead

When we looked at the burial registers in the East London Cemetary for aroung 1890 - 1900 most of the burials were in unconsecrated ground. They were certainly not all suicides, criminals or non-conformists, so there may have been an issue of price maybe?? Maz. XX

I've also heard that they cannot be carried across unconsecrated ground, so to get around it they dig the hole next to the churhyard wall, carry the coffin around the outside and toss them over the wall and into the grave! As far as I know they still appear in the parish records. Ros

Thanks to Carol,Mary,Bob,Sinead,Marion and Ros for the info hopefully I may find something from it. regards Sue

The East London burials could easily have been jewish burials. These would of course not be consecrated. Nowadays it is usual for most local authority cemetaries not to be consecrated. This being performed at the time of burial. Bob

Hi Bob - no Jewish history for me - even though I support Spurs LOL - but I would say 99% of the burials in around 1900 were down as 'unconsecrated ground'. Don't mean to be pedantic - just wanted to make the sheer volume quite clear. (Hubby is I think one eighth Jewish, but not me as far as I know!!) Maz. XX

I agree with Sinead, the majority of my family moved from England to Wales and so far those whose burial records I have were buried in unconsecrated burial plots. None of them died from suicide, hanging, etc..

THanks to Robert,Marion and Morffyd, for your tips about this subject Sue