I have downloaded some records from Deceased Online, which include those of my 2x Great Grandfather and his second wife. He was buried in 1915, she was interred in the same grave at Charlton Cemetery, Greenwich in 1929. For his burial, in the column headed "If Purchased Grave" is written P.G., which I presume stands for "Purchased Grave" but when his wife was buried the entry in that column was "R.P.G." What does the R stand for? There is a column headed "Class of Ground" and the entries seem to be 1st, 2nd or 3rd. (1st in my Grandfather's case.) Does this indicate that some areas were considered more desirable (in what way?) than others, or what? Something which seems odd to me is that a third person, an elderly man, was buried in the same grave in 1937. I didn't recognize his name and a few searches have not revealed that he had any relationship to my GGGrandfather or his second wife. Can someone explain the circumstances under which a "stranger" (if, indeed he was) could be interred in a plot bought by someone else? -- Jenny M Benson

On Friday, 30 October 2015 15:00:55 UTC, Jenny M Benson wrote: > I have downloaded some records from Deceased Online, which include those > of my 2x Great Grandfather and his second wife. > Something which seems odd to me is that a third person, an elderly man, > was buried in the same grave in 1937. I didn't recognize his name and a > few searches have not revealed that he had any relationship to my > GGGrandfather or his second wife. Can someone explain the circumstances > under which a "stranger" (if, indeed he was) could be interred in a plot > bought by someone else? I had a similar puzzle. It turned out to be caused by a mis-transcription of the grave reference (so the strangers were not actually buried in the same grave after all). Have you checked the register image?

"Re-opened"? Barbara On Fri, 30 Oct 2015 15:00:53 +0000, Jenny M Benson <nemonews@hotmail.co.uk> wrote: >I have downloaded some records from Deceased Online, which include those >of my 2x Great Grandfather and his second wife. He was buried in 1915, >she was interred in the same grave at Charlton Cemetery, Greenwich in >1929. For his burial, in the column headed "If Purchased Grave" is >written P.G., which I presume stands for "Purchased Grave" but when his >wife was buried the entry in that column was "R.P.G." What does the R >stand for? > >There is a column headed "Class of Ground" and the entries seem to be >1st, 2nd or 3rd. (1st in my Grandfather's case.) Does this indicate >that some areas were considered more desirable (in what way?) than >others, or what? > >Something which seems odd to me is that a third person, an elderly man, >was buried in the same grave in 1937. I didn't recognize his name and a >few searches have not revealed that he had any relationship to my >GGGrandfather or his second wife. Can someone explain the circumstances >under which a "stranger" (if, indeed he was) could be interred in a plot >bought by someone else?

Another thought. I think the grave plots next to the paths were more expensive than the ones in the centres of large expanses of graves. That was the case at Ford RC cemetery near Liverpool. Perhaps the purchasers would pay extra for plots which were easier to find, and which passers-by would often notice, if the headstones were particularly ornate. Barbara On Fri, 30 Oct 2015 15:00:53 +0000, Jenny M Benson <nemonews@hotmail.co.uk> wrote: >I have downloaded some records from Deceased Online, which include those >of my 2x Great Grandfather and his second wife. He was buried in 1915, >she was interred in the same grave at Charlton Cemetery, Greenwich in >1929. For his burial, in the column headed "If Purchased Grave" is >written P.G., which I presume stands for "Purchased Grave" but when his >wife was buried the entry in that column was "R.P.G." What does the R >stand for? > >There is a column headed "Class of Ground" and the entries seem to be >1st, 2nd or 3rd. (1st in my Grandfather's case.) Does this indicate >that some areas were considered more desirable (in what way?) than >others, or what? > >Something which seems odd to me is that a third person, an elderly man, >was buried in the same grave in 1937. I didn't recognize his name and a >few searches have not revealed that he had any relationship to my >GGGrandfather or his second wife. Can someone explain the circumstances >under which a "stranger" (if, indeed he was) could be interred in a plot >bought by someone else?

Another thought. > > I think the grave plots next to the paths were more expensive than the > ones in the centres of large expanses of graves. That was the case at > Ford RC cemetery near Liverpool. Perhaps the purchasers would pay > extra for plots which were easier to find, and which passers-by would > often notice, if the headstones were particularly ornate. Which runs contrary to the old rhyme about parish churchyard burials. Here I lie far from the door Here I lie because I'm poor. The further in, the more you pay, And yet I lie as snug as they. A though about the 'stranger'. If it was not a simple error, then the person may be a second husdand of a widow or auntie or daughter; or he may just be an old chap the family took in out of kindness, and gave him his last 'house' when he died.. EVE Author of The McLaughlin Guides for Family Historians Secretary, Bucks Genealogical Society

On 2015-10-30 15:00:53 +0000, Jenny M Benson said: > I have downloaded some records from Deceased Online, which include > those of my 2x Great Grandfather and his second wife. He was buried in > 1915, she was interred in the same grave at Charlton Cemetery, > Greenwich in 1929. For his burial, in the column headed "If Purchased > Grave" is written P.G., which I presume stands for "Purchased Grave" > but when his wife was buried the entry in that column was "R.P.G." > What does the R stand for? > > There is a column headed "Class of Ground" and the entries seem to be > 1st, 2nd or 3rd. (1st in my Grandfather's case.) Does this indicate > that some areas were considered more desirable (in what way?) than > others, or what? > > Something which seems odd to me is that a third person, an elderly man, > was buried in the same grave in 1937. I didn't recognize his name and > a few searches have not revealed that he had any relationship to my > GGGrandfather or his second wife. Can someone explain the > circumstances under which a "stranger" (if, indeed he was) could be > interred in a plot bought by someone else? Possibly "re-opened" , If its the same grave then I'd guess that re-opened is the right explanation. Try asking Deceased Online or do a web search for the local authority who hold the grave records and email them to ask? Ditto for the possibly un-related person - ask how long the deed of right to burial in that plot was valid (25 years seems a short space of time to me) and they may also be able to shed some light on the class of ground question. To be honest they are the only people who 'may' be able to give a definitive answer, things varied from place to place and the rest of us are just guessing based on experience elsewhere. Do let us know if you get a definitive answer. -- Tickettyboo

On Friday, October 30, 2015 at 3:00:55 PM UTC, Jenny M Benson wrote: > I have downloaded some records from Deceased Online, which include those > of my 2x Great Grandfather and his second wife. He was buried in 1915, > she was interred in the same grave at Charlton Cemetery, Greenwich in > 1929. For his burial, in the column headed "If Purchased Grave" is > written P.G., which I presume stands for "Purchased Grave" but when his > wife was buried the entry in that column was "R.P.G." What does the R > stand for? > > There is a column headed "Class of Ground" and the entries seem to be > 1st, 2nd or 3rd. (1st in my Grandfather's case.) Does this indicate > that some areas were considered more desirable (in what way?) than > others, or what? > > Something which seems odd to me is that a third person, an elderly man, > was buried in the same grave in 1937. I didn't recognize his name and a > few searches have not revealed that he had any relationship to my > GGGrandfather or his second wife. Can someone explain the circumstances > under which a "stranger" (if, indeed he was) could be interred in a plot > bought by someone else? > -- > Jenny M Benson If, as is likely for a 1915 burial, the section is one of A to H, do you have a "Con" or "Gen" suffix? These are different areas with the same grave numbers, e.g. E Con 123 and E Gen 123 are different graves. >From this you may guess that I know Charlton Cemetery fairly well. I'll be going there some time in the not too distant future. If you can't yourself and would like me to look, please post the names and plot number here, or e-mail me (see below). The local authority is Greenwich, but as they've outsourced lookups to DoL, they'll probably just refer you back there. Chris (The funny e-mail address is effectively a black hole; reply to postmaster {at} chrisjdoran {dot} plus {dot} com)

Current status: Jenny has e-mailed me the plot number and I will look for the grave in the hopefully not-too-distant future. It's not in one of the ambiguous Con/Gen sections, but I've had that trouble before at Charlton and elsewhere, so it was something to check. Chris