Hi All, 1.  What is the difference between Public Graves and Paupers Graves? 2. Yesterday looking at some burial lists for Burslem Cemetery  1923 buried in a Public Grave on consecrated ground and in 1949 his wife was buried in another part of the cemetery in unconsecrated ground with her daughter and son in law.  So what is the difference between consecrated and unconsecrated ground? Denise

It may be useful to read the FAQ page of the Cemetery Research Group of York University. (No, I didn't realise there was one either...) http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/crg/crgcontext.htm Specifically at http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/crg/crgcontext.htm#cost it says: "In England, people do not 'buy' graves. Two options are available. In the case of an 'unpurchased' or 'public' grave, interment takes place in a grave owned by the local authority. A grave may contain one or coffins of unrelated individuals, since the local authority decides how the plot is to be used. A second option is the purchase of a burial right, for a particular grave. These graves are called 'private' or 'purchased' graves. The owner of the burial right retains the right to decide who is buried in a given plot. " It seems to me therefore that "Pauper's Grave" is a (probably unofficial?) term for a "Public Grave". Re "the difference between consecrated and unconsecrated ground" - at the risk of being thought unhelpful, one lot is consecrated, the other isn't. At http://www.york.ac.uk/chp/crg/crgcontext.htm#same this quote may be useful: "Churchyards are consecrated tracts of land subject to Church or Canon law. ... Cemeteries may contain consecrated sections, which are also subject to Church law. However, for the most part cemeteries are managed under civic legislation. " Perhaps more useful questions are: - Which Church consecrated the ground in a cemetery referred to as "consecrated"? My belief is that "consecrated" in this context means consecrated by the Church of England. - What's the difference in use between "consecrated" and "unconsecrated"? That's where I'm reduced to guessing... I believe that consecrated ground would be used only by the Church of England (CofE) so that the most obvious reason for being buried in unconsecrated is that the person was not CofE. But where CofE cremations would end up, or in what other circumstances a CofE person might end up in non-CofE ground, I don't really know. Adrian B