Alan I have the actual certificate my grandfather was given for "Grant of exclusive right of burial" in Flaybrick - this is what is meant by a "private grave". It states "To hold the same to the said Alfred MATTHEWS his heirs and assigns for ever. This was in 1928. The top part reads "By virtue of the powers conferred on Burial Boards, constituted under the Act of Parliament 20 and 21 Victoria, Chapter 81, and the other acts incorporated therewith, to grant exclusive rights of burial. At the bottom of the cert it says "NOTE. In the event of a transfer of this grant to a "Non - parishioner" the transferee will be required to pay the Burial Board further charges by the regulations affecting the cemetery"....this cert is of course much later than the dates of your ancestors burials There were fifteen specific Burial Acts being passed by Parliament between 1852 and 1906, also there were other acts concerning local government, churches, coroners and so on which impinged upon burial law. After the 1853 Burial Act, local authorities were able to establish their own cemeteries, and Burial Boards were set up to administer them. The Local Government Act of 1894 transferred these duties to the District and Parish Councils. It might be worth writing again to Wirral archives to check which of these acts were in place and how the local Burial Board in Birkenhead were interpreting them at the time of your ancestors (and the people interred with them) burials to see if they allowed other non related burials into "private graves". I seem to recall that there was some sort of "hundred year rule" where private graves were undisturbed Caryl In a message dated 12/4/2004 2:05:27 AM GMT Standard Time, [email protected] writes: John Thanks for this, as it was a "private" grave on the record I couldn't work it out!! Alan Alan Sutton www.ownersinportugal.org -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 04 December 2004 01:20 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [BKHD-Wirral] Flaybrick Burials- Help Alan Probably they were not related. On a trip round Bebington cemetery last year I found people who I'd never heard of in my ancestors graves. I assumed them to be paupers or people with no living relatives to pay for a burial. Other people found the same thing. John ==== BIRKENHEAD Mailing List ==== Our list Web site with links useful for Wirral genealogy http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~liverpool/BIRKENHEAD-WIRRAL.htm l