sylvia thomas wrote: > Does anyone know anything about Paupers graves when the person being buried was > not a pauper. What I think you are referring to is what is known as a "common grave". It's not a pauper's grave although it is often referred to as such. All it means is that the deceased and/or his/her family couldn't afford their own burial plot which can be quite expensive. What it means is that he hadn't bought a burial plot before his death. If the surviving family couldn't afford a plot then the burial would have taken place in a common grave. > My grandfather died 1954 at Maidsonte. I always knew both he and my grandmother > before him had one. I obtained his death cert. just in case it said anything. It > does not. So I will now send for his will, to see if it says anything. He was > not a pauper, far from it. He was a Master Baker and owned at least 2 houses > when he died. English/Welsh death certificates won't give that kind of information, as you've found. They give very little information. http://home.clara.net/dixons/Certificates/indexbd.htm gives you what is and isn't on English/Welsh certificates. His will, if he left one, might shed some light. > My sister and I are wondering if their bodies were donated to science. Would the > bodies then be buried as paupers? No, they wouldn't have been buried as paupers but they may have been buried in a common grave afterwards, depending on the instructions given. If that was the case then it is possible there would have been a mention in the will, if there was one, of that wish. > There was no funeral, my father one brother > and sister were not informed by other sister until after the deaths in both > cases. There's your answer. The next question is why/how did that situation arise? > Could someone just opt for a paupers grave.? I would have thought if you could > afford it you would not expect someone else to pay, even without frills. Ask your local funeral director what the cost of a funeral and interment costs :)) It's very expensive. It's quite possible that the deceased wasn't quite as well off as he appeared or he may have not wanted to take any more than was necessary out of his estate. However, a great many people don't plan for their own funeral and the costs fall on the his/her family. If the family can't afford the costs involved then they will do the best they can with what they can afford. -- Charani (UK) OPC for Walton, Greinton and Clutton, SOM Asst OPC for Ashcott and Shapwick, SOM http://wsom-opc.org.uk