Would somebody please be able to advise me as to the proper procedure to discover who is buried in an unmarked grave? The grave is in a churchyard as opposed to a municipal cemetery. Thank you. Sue

Most churches, where burials are still carried out, maintain a grave register. This is in addition to the burial register. As far as I am aware this wasn't a mandatory practice in the past. (Not sure that it is mandatory even these days). In my own parish for example, the grave register was only started in the 20th century. The purpose of the grave register is mainly to ensure that existing graves are not inadvertently used by mistake and to identify graves where a family member is to be buried with a family member. Additionally, only a certain number of people can be buried in a grave, depending on the depth of the original grave. I also understand from our parish administrator, that they dont always know if ashes have been placed in a grave, as the family have been known to dig a small hole for the urn without informing the church. Regards Sandra ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sue Waller" <coriander_1@hotmail.com> To: <eng-hertfordshire@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 9:03 AM Subject: [HRT] Unmarked grave > Would somebody please be able to advise me as to the proper procedure to > discover who is > buried in an unmarked grave? > > The grave is in a churchyard as opposed to a municipal cemetery. > > Thank you. > > Sue > > > Hertfordshire Surnames List > > http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hughw/hertford.html > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ENG-HERTFORDSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > _______________________________________ > No viruses found in this incoming message > Scanned by iolo AntiVirus 1.5.8.3 > http://www.iolo.com > _______________________________________ No viruses found in this outgoing message Scanned by iolo AntiVirus 1.5.8.3 http://www.iolo.com