Hi to Heather and Listers, I've come a long way in the last year with Death Notices, which are an excellent source of information, but have hit that proverbial brick wall. It appears some of my ancestors did not have a death notice, probably due to not having a will or estate perhaps. Can't find these people in SA Genealogies. I haven't had much success in obtaining church records of baptism, marriage or burials (even for those who were very religious), nor have I had much luck with gravestone inscriptions. With the deceased who did not have a gravestone, perhaps due to the family not being able to afford one or perhaps they had good intentions and never really got around to having a gravestone erected, would the record of burial or cremation be held at the various offices of Cemeteries or held at some central archives? Would these cemeteries allow lookups from the public or professional family history researchers? If yes, then what sort of information would these records hold, besides the name of deceased and plot number? Would they charge a fee? Would there be a limit on the number of lookups etc? I look forward to some enlightenment. Thanking you, Elva

Hello Elva Yes their certainly are ways and means of finding who was buried where depending on the cemetery and what records they have. For instance the Cape Metropolitan council has records for the following cemeteries: Name Address date opened size in hectares telephone Atlantis Old Darling Road, Atlantis.1980 021-5721518 Bellville Strand Road, Bellville 1947 021-9484541 Constantia Parish Road, Constantia 1886 021-7031796 Hout Bay Hout Bay Main Road, Hout Bay 1945 021-7901510 Plumstead Ext Klip Road, Grassy Park 1938 021-7051928 Maitland - Gate 1-4 Voortrekker Road, Maitland 1886 021-5939592 Maitland - Gate 5-10 Voortrekker Road, Maitland 1886 021-5931350 Modderdam Modderdam Raod, Belhar 1975 021-9346458 Muizenberg Prince George Drive, Muizenberg 1913 021-7884758 Ocean View Jupiter Road, Ocean View 19752 021-7831358 Ottery Ottery Road, Ottery1929 021-7035827 Pinelands No1 Forest Drive. Pinelands 1941 021-5315062 Pinelands No2 Forest Drive. Pinelands 1974 021-5315062 Plumstead Victoria Road, Plumstead 1915 021-7621081 Maitland Crematorium off Voortrekker Road, Maitland 1934 021-5938316 They have plot cards for each and every grave - although there might be no headstone there might be 10 people in one grave or there might be a headstone for one person and you could find two relatives and a stranger. Sometimes they had friends perhaps who had a child that died and they could not afford a plot so the maybe the neigbour offered space in the family grave - this is what happened in my family. The Cape Metropolitan Council welcomes genealogists to come and research in their Library but do not undertake research on anyone's behalf. They hold burial records for the larger cemeteries such as Maitland, Plumstead, Pinelands, Ottery, Hout Bay, Constantia, Bellville and Muizenberg. Street Ad dress: 44 Wale Street, Cape Town. Tel: 021-4872041/2 Fax: 021-4872037. Hours of business: 8.30 - 4.00. http://www.cmc.gov.za/pht/cemeteries.htm Resources for Genealogists The obtaining of information regarding burials in cemeteries and cremations undertaken at Maitland Crematorium is controlled by the CMC. Council's burial records date back to 1886. All records are geared to the date of death and the applicable cemetery. This information is not stored on computer. Should Council receive a request for information and the above details are not included it means that a staff member has to page through the records kept over the past 113 years in respect of the various cemeteries. As the staff do not have the time to conduct research such as this members of the public are welcome to visit Council's Head Office in Cape Town to peruse the records. Should you know the date of death and the cemetery wherein the human remains were buried (only those controlled by the CMC) it is a simple matter to obtain the burial record card or obtain further details from the Burial Register, and can be done telephonically. It is also a simple matter to locate further details in respect of human remains cremated at Maitland Crematorium if you are sure of the date of death. Alternatly if a cemetery is in an outlying district you would need to contact that local municipality with regards to where the records are. hope this helps kind regards Heather Heather's South African Genealogy Help List www.genealogy.co.za Cape Town Family History Society www.genealogy.co.za/society/socweb.htm ----- Original Message ----- From: "Elva Hanly" <theaviary@bigpond.com> To: <SOUTH-AFRICA-CAPE-TOWN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 4:48 AM Subject: [South-Africa-Cape-Town] Cemetery Registers > Hi to Heather and Listers, > > I've come a long way in the last year with Death Notices, which are an > excellent source of information, but have hit that proverbial brick > wall. It appears some of my ancestors did not have a death notice, > probably due to not having a will or estate perhaps. > > Can't find these people in SA Genealogies. I haven't had much success > in obtaining church records of baptism, marriage or burials (even for > those who were very religious), nor have I had much luck with gravestone > inscriptions. > > With the deceased who did not have a gravestone, perhaps due to the > family not being able to afford one or perhaps they had good intentions > and never really got around to having a gravestone erected, would the > record of burial or cremation be held at the various offices of > Cemeteries or held at some central archives? > > Would these cemeteries allow lookups from the public or professional > family history researchers? If yes, then what sort of information would > these records hold, besides the name of deceased and plot number? Would > they charge a fee? Would there be a limit on the number of lookups etc? > > I look forward to some enlightenment. > Thanking you, > > Elva > > > ==== SOUTH-AFRICA-CAPE-TOWN Mailing List ==== > Heather's South African Genealogy Help List > www.genealogy.co.za > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 > > > >