Thanks Bill I will follow up all your suggestions, many thanks My reason for wanting to pursue the possibility of pauper burials at Balmain Catholic cemetery is that there is a persistant local legends that burial begun soon after the property was supposedly acquired about 1857 however Catherine Leahy who died in September 1868 (and who seems to have been buried in a paupers grave) is the earliest burial that I have been able to discover, but does prompt the question where there any paupers buried there before Sept. 1868 and I am now going down that track to see if I can turn any thing up Another interesting fact is that the property did not officially pass into the hands of the Catholic church until January 1869 I have attached a couple of excerpts of Catherine Leahy's inquest, it makes for interesting reading and another avenue for research All the best Patrick Sydney Morning Herald Wednesday 16 September 1868 ACCIDENT AT SOUTH HEAD The city Coroner held an inquiry yesterday at the Observer tavern, George St. North respecting the death of Catherine Leahy, who, on Monday afternoon fell over the cliffs, near the Lighthouse at South Head. Constable white stated that he was stationed at Watson's Bay: about 3 o'clock on Monday afternoon he heard that a woman had fallen over the cliffs near the Lighthouse, and a few minutes later he received the body, which had been taken to the pier at Watson's Bay; the body was perfectly naked, except for boots and stockings on the feet and a piece of blue ribbon around the neck; he had the body conveyed to the dead house at Circular Quay; from inquiries that he subsequently made he ascertained that her name was Catherine Leahy. The jury after a short deliberation returned a verdict to the effect that deceased died from injuries accidentally received by falling over the South Head whilst in a state of intoxication. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill" <oldboybill@westnet.com.au> To: <australia@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 9:55 AM Subject: Re: [AUS] Records of pauper burials > Dear Patrick, > All the paperwork for a Pauper Burial was done by Police. > The burial was authorised by the City Coroner, I think so you may get some > information from the Coroner at Glebe. > An enquiry at State Records may yield some results. > Being government funded the funerals were as cheap as could be, and > information from someone on a list was that they were buried > in mult layered graves. The cemetery at Emu Plains I believe has a common > monument with as many names on it as they could find > being associated with Pauper Burials. > Regards, Bill > > > >> Greetings listers >> I now suspect that the Balmain Catholic cemetery may have been used for >> pauper burials from around 1857 to 1868 >> does any lister have any knowledge of searching for pauper burials, where >> the State paid for the burial, has anyone >> done this kind of search >> any help most gratefully received >> Patrick Callaghan > > Please remember to snip most of the earlier message before you post any > reply...... Thank you! > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > AUSTRALIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >