Cemetery, Burial Ground & Crematoria Records

Nature of Source

Introduction

Cemetery burial records are an invaluable resource for family historians providing a wealth of information about our departed ancestors. The records relate to the new purpose-built cemeteries which commenced operations from the mid-19th century. The establishment of new, purpose-built cemeteries during this period was a response to the growing demand for burial space. The rapid population growth in urban areas meant that churchyards could no longer cope with the chronic shortage of space.

The Development of Cemeteries

Prior to the mid-19th century, cemeteries were often privately managed or operated by local authorities. However, the Burial Act of 1852 marked a significant shift, creating Burial Boards responsible for establishing new publicly run cemeteries. These new burial grounds were designed to meet the needs of expanding populations in the rapidly growing towns and cities.

Notable Early Cemeteries
Dates shown are the year the cemetery was opened.

London’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ Cemeteries:

• Kensal Green (1833)
• West Norwood (1837)
• Highgate (1839)
• Nunhead (1840)
• Abney Park (1840)
• Brompton (1840)
• Tower Hamlets (1841)

Other Notable Early Cemeteries:

• St. James, Liverpool (1825-1829)
• Liverpool Necropolis (1825)
• Sheffield General Cemetery (1836)
• St Woolos Newport, Wales (1854)
• Glasgow Necropolis (1832)

Many new cemeteries included sections specifically for dissenters and nonconformists. For example, Bunhill Fields Burial Ground served primarily as a cemetery for nonconformists from 1665 to 1836.

The Rise of Cremations

Cremations only became popular well into the 20th century, especially after the passing of the Cremation Act of 1902 for the Regulation of Burning of Human Remains, and to Enable Burial Authorities to Established Crematoria. Cremations had been illegal in the UK up to 1885. The Act granted public burial authorities the right to establish crematoria and provided a set of regulations for those involved in cremations. The first London crematorium was opened by the Cremation Society in 1902 as the Golders Green Crematorium. The first municipal crematorium was opened in 1901 as the Hull Crematorium situated on Hedon Road.

Additional Sources of Death Information

• Funeral and Death Notices: Often published in local newspapers, these notices can provide detailed information about the deceased.
• Obituaries: Again often published in local newspapers they provide a brief account or biography of the deceased’s life.
• Memorial cards: Also known as ‘funeral cards,’ ‘mortuary cards,’ or ‘remembrance cards,’ these became popular in the 19th century. They were typically sent out to announce a death and provide details about funeral arrangements.

The following GenGuide sources could assist in researching cemetery and burial ground  records:

• Civil Registration, Death
• Monumental Inscriptions
• Old Parish Registers-Burials (OPRs)
• Parish Registers-Burials
• Statutory Registration-Death

Where Found

County Record Offices

Local archives hold a variety of cemetery and burial grounds records including:

• Burial Registers maintained by cemetery authorities or churches.
• Cemetery plot maps showing the layout of burial plots.
• Sexton’s Records which may include information about burials, plot ownership and sometimes the cause of death or funeral arrangements.
• Cemetery records relating to the purchase or ownership of burial plots and also. burial permits and orders.
• Monumental Inscriptions which include transcriptions of headstone and memorial inscriptions.
• Crematoria Registers usually including the name, date of cremation, and sometimes the final resting place of ashes.

The National Archives

• Series RG 37, General Register Office: Removal of Graves and Tombstones.
• Series HO 15, Home Office: Criminal and Miscellaneous Warrant Books including pre 1887 warrants for exhumation licences.
• Series HO 85, Home Office: Burials Entry Books including licences for exhumations and reinternments.
• Series HLG 21, Local Government Board and Ministry of Health: Opening of New Burial Grounds, Instruments and Consents.

The London Archives
Records of the Tower Hamlets Cemetery, known locally as Bow Cemetery. For a guide to researching and finding a grave, see the guide by the  Friends of Tower Hamlet Cemetery.

Local Cemetery Authority-England and Wales
Local authorities or the crematorium itself may hold the original Crematoria Registers if not deposited with the local archives.

Local Cemetery Authority-Scotland
Local authorities or the crematorium itself may hold the original Crematoria Registers if not deposited with the local archives.

Period Covered

1820 – Onwards

Genealogical Value

• Name, age, address, religion and sometimes the occupation of the deceased.
• Grave location and type, either pauper or private.
• Date and hour of burial.
• Name of undertaker and minister.
• Cemetery maps.

Further References

• Bard, Robert. Graveyard London: Lost and Forgotten Burial Grounds: Historical Publications, 2008
• Bard, Robert and Miles, Adrian. London’s Hidden Burial Grounds: Amberley Publishing, 2017
• Beach, Darren. London’s Cemeteries: Metro Publications, 2011
• Emery, Philip and Wooldridge, Kevin. St Pancras Burial Ground: Gifford, 2011
• Heritage, Celia. Cemeteries and Graveyards: A Guide For Family And Local Historians in England and Wales: Pen and Sword Books, 2022
• Hartley, Tom. Belfast City Cemetery: The History of Belfast, Written in Stone: Blackstaff Press, 2014
• Holmes, Isabella. The London Burial Grounds. Notes on Their History from the Earliest Times to the Present Day: London, 1896
• Leedham, Amanda. Using Gravestones to Trace Your Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians: Pen and Sword Books, 2025
• Meller, Hugh & Parsons, Brian. London Cemeteries: An Illustrated Guide & Gazetteer: The History Press, 2011
• Philpot, Terry. 31 London Cemeteries: To Visit Before You Die: Step Beach Press, 2013
• Raymond, Stuart. Death & Burial Records for Family Historians: Family History Partnership, 2011
• Ruston, Alan. Hertfordshire Obituaries 1801-1837: As extracted from the Gentleman’s Magazine: Hertfordshire Family History Society, 2009
• Rutherford, Sarah. The Victorian Cemetery: Shire Publications, 2008
• Treneman, Ann. Finding the Plot: 100 Graves To Visit Before You Die: The Robson Press, 2013
• Turpin, John & Knight, Derrick. The Magnificent Seven: London’s First Landscaped Cemeteries: Amberley Publishing, 2011
• Webb, Cliff. Greater London Cemeteries & Crematoria. 7th Ed: Society of Genealogists, 2005

Websites

London Burial Grounds
Index to Burial Grounds. List of London burial grounds and cemeteries listed under the parish in which they are located.
flickr Photo Group
London Cemeteries
The London Archives Research Guide
Cemetery Records. This guide explains how to find the burial place of an individual in London’s cemeteries.
FFHS
Genealogy from a graveyard, by Ian Waller
Dark Destiny Photography
London’s Magnificent Seven Cemeteries. A Photographic Study of London’s Magnificent Seven Victorian Cemeteries and other London cemeteries and burial grounds.
Derelict London
Cemeteries, Churches, Chapels & Halls
GenDocs
Victorian London Cemeteries. The site listing the principal Victorian London cemeteries with the date of its first register covering Non-Denominational Cemeteries, Roman Catholic Cemeteries, Jewish Cemeteries. Army Cemetery, Navy Cemetery, Moravian Burial Ground.
Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine
How to Find Cemetery Records Online
The Cremation Society of Great Britain
History of Modern Cremation in Great Britain from 1874
The Cremation Society of Great Britain
List of crematoria by year of opening. This list of crematoria is arranged by year of opening and gives details of public/private ownership for each crematorium.
Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management
Directory of UK Crematoria. Contact directory of over 1000 burial authorities and private company operators, 250 crematoria, and nearly 200 natural burial ground operators
Look Up London
Exploring Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park
London Historic Parks & Gardens Trust
Inventory. Online access to information on cemeteries and burial grounds as well as churchyards across the whole of London covering Church of England, Jewish, Roman Catholic, Quaker and other denominations.
London Museum
London’s Magnificent Seven cemeteries.
BillionGraves
Understanding Cemetery Symbols. Learning to Read a Cemetery, by Cathy Wallace.
Family Tree
How to find a grave: Discover your ancestors’ final resting places. Discover how to find a grave, and what to do to ensure you make the most of a churchyard visit, by David Annal.
CABE
Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. Cemeteries, churchyards and burial grounds. The publication looks at current concerns about cemeteries and whether they are facing a crisis. It considers their legal status, heritage value and their contemporary benefits.
Billion Graves
Gravestone Symbols From A To Z
Scottish Association of Family History Societies
Burial Grounds. A list of more than 3,500 known burial grounds in Scotland organised by county and parish.
Edinburgh World Heritage
Edinburgh Graveyards Project. The Project aimed to increase community involvement with five historic Graveyards of Greyfriars, Canongate, St Cuthbert’s Kirkyards and Calton Old and Calton New Burial Grounds.
John Grenham
Dublin City Library and Archive Dublin Records: Dublin Graveyards Directory. The directory provides a searchable listing of all graveyards in the Dublin area and gives information on the location, contact details, titles of published gravestone transcripts, links to on-line gravestone transcripts, location of surviving burial records and other information.

Online Databases

UK Wide Collections

Deceased Online
The site offers online access to burial, cemetery and cremation registers from participating local authorities across England and Scotland including London’s Brompton Cemetery, Kensal Green Cemetery, Highgate Cemetery and Nunhead Cemetery, four of the so called ‘Magnificent Seven’ early Victorian London cemeteries. The records contain transcriptions, scans of the registers, scans of books of remembrance, photos of graves and cemetery maps. See web site for full coverage. Searchable transcripts are available from partner site Ancestry.
BillionGraves
Billion Graves is the world’s largest resource for searchable cemetery data providing transcribed records and images from the world’s cemeteries. Members of the public can collect photos of headstones in a local cemetery and then upload the photo and headstone transcription. The records are available at Findmypast covering England and Wales and other partner sites MyHeritage and FamilySearch.
Find a Grave
The database contains an index to cemetery and burial details posted on Find A Grave by volunteers who upload images of grave markers from around the world as well as photos, biographies and other details. The records are available at partner sites FamilySearch and Ancestry.
Everafter
The site offers transcribed cemetery and burial records and monumental inscriptions with photographs of graves or headstones available for many entries. Country coverage includes England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, Ireland as well as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. The site has interactive cemetery maps to locate and view exact burial sites.
Online Genealogical Index
The site locates and lists available free and paid for family history records covering a particular county, town or village covering England, Wales and the Isle of Man. The site is particularly useful for locating birth, baptism, marriage, death, burial and cemetery records as well as monumental inscriptions, school records, war memorials and family pedigrees.
Ancestry
England & Scotland Select Cemetery Registers, 1800-2016. The collection contains burial registers from select cemeteries in England and Scotland. Highlights include cemetery records for Liverpool, London, Manchester, Kent, Kincardineshire, Dumfries-shire.
Ancestry
Records of the Removal of Graves and Tombstones, 1601-1980. This collection contains records from local authorities and Church Commissioners concerning the removal of burial sites. The burial sites include those from church, private, and public cemeteries. Expect to find the date grave was removed, name on tombstone, name of original location, name of new location.
Findmypast
Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records. Findmypast offer an extensive collection of cemetery and cremation records across England and Wales. Major cemetery collections include:

• Manchester
• Birmingham including Handsworth
• Cambridgeshire
• Northumberland and Durham
• Lancashire
• Coventry London Road Cemetery, 1847-1896
• Warwick, Burial Slips from Warwick Cemetery, 1859-1968

To restrict and filter your search to a county or place or dataset, click on ‘Browse Record Set’ on the ‘Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records in United Kingdom’ search page.
Findmypast
National Burial Index For England & Wales. Explore more than 12 million burial records from across England and Wales. Discover your ancestor’s burial place, year of death and religious denomination. This collection is published in partnership with the Family History Federation.
Findmypast
England & Wales, Closed Cemeteries Burials & Re-Interments. Explore hundreds of burial records for disinterment’s and re-interments following burial ground closure. Findmypast’s browse search allows you to search each register from beginning to end.
Interment.net
Cemetery Records Online: The website contains 25 plus million cemetery records, transcripts and burial registers from tens of thousands of cemeteries across the world including England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland.

London

Findmypast
Greater London Burial Index, 1399-1992. Search burial records across 300 parishes in the Greater London area including Anglican parishes and nonconformist registers. The record set includes the Middlesex Memorial Inscriptions, South London Burials Index 1545-1905, City of London Burials 1754-1855, originally compiled by Cliff Webb and Middlesex Burials 1538-1992. Also included are records from the Bunhill Fields and Spa Fields Burial Grounds which catered mostly for nonconformists.
City of London Cemetery
Burial registers from the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium, Ilford, east London. Explore 495,000 historic records dated from 24 June 1856 to 19 October 1998. The records have been digitally imaged and are available for free. Records are searchable by specific dates or burial numbers.
The Genealogist
The City of London Cemetery. Search almost half a million individuals from burial registers held at The City of London Cemetery in Manor Park, east London. The indexed registers cover from the opening of the cemetery in 1856 to 1998.
Ancestry
Brompton, London, England, Cemetery Registers, 1840-2012. Search transcriptions with original register images extracted from TNA Series WORK 97.
Findmypast
Middlesex, Brompton Cemetery Records. Search more than 645,000 records from one of Britain’s oldest and most distinguished garden cemeteries. The records consists of transcripts and images of original documents held at The National Archives in series WORK 97.
Ancestry
Westminster, London, England, Cemetery Registers, 1855-1990. This collection includes registers from four cemeteries managed by the City of Westminster. These cemeteries include Hanwell Cemetery, Mill Hill Cemetery, St Marylebone Cemetery, and Willesden Lane Cemetery.
Ancestry
London, City of London and Tower Hamlets Cemetery Registers, 1841-1966. This collection comprises records from daybooks and burial registers. The registers are held by The London Archives.
FamilySearch
Cemeteries Search. FamilySearch has an ever-growing database of international cemeteries linked to the world’s largest online family tree. Search by location, cemetery name, or name of a relative to find the final resting place of departed family members or another person of interest.
Society of Genealogists Data Online
Boyds London Burials. Search London ancestors from 243,000 burial entries.
Highgate Cemetery
The cemetery offers a paid search of the 170,000 people buried in 53,000 graves which includes a digital photograph of the grave and a map showing the location. Free searches of registers up to 1975 can be made at the Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre and online at Deceased Online from 1839 to August 2010.
Burial Ground Management System
Highgate Cemetery. The site offers an online search and mapping system for Highgate Cemetery enabling users to search and view burial records and memorials within the cemetery. The site includes detailed maps linked to the burial data.
Abney Park Trust
Abney Park Cemetery Index. Search the records the historic cemetery located in Stoke Newington, London, one of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ cemeteries.
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
The search facility will find anyone buried within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Cemeteries from 1868 to the present day.
North West Kent Family History Society
Ladywell & Brockley Cemetery Memorial Inscriptions. Search transcripts of some 13,700 gravestones with the names of nearly 37,000 individuals.

Regions

Midlands Historical Data
Warwick Burial Slips, 1859-1968. Search burial slips and some accompanying documents recording death and interment details from Warwick Cemetery in England.
Online Genealogical Index
The site locates and lists available free and paid for family history records covering a particular county, town or village covering England, Wales and the Isle of Man. The site is particularly useful for locating birth, baptism, marriage, death, burial and cemetery records as well as monumental inscriptions, school records, war memorials and family pedigrees.
Ancestry
Leeds, Beckett Street Cemetery, 1845-1987. This collection contains burial registers and inscription grave registers from the Beckett Street Cemetery in West Yorkshire, England. Also known as Burmantofts Cemetery, or Leeds Burial Ground.
Ancestry
Oldham, England Burials and Cremations, 1857-2023. This collection contains burial records from Oldham, England between the years 1857 and 2023.
Birmingham City Council Bereavement Services
The site offers searchable burial and cremation registers consisting of approximately 1.5 million historical records. The records up to 2014 have been digitised and are being made available for genealogical research purposes.
Jewellery Quarter Research Trust
Search transcribed memorials from the Key Hill and Warstone Lane Cemeteries, Birmingham.
Findmypast
Lancashire, Oldham Cemetery Registers 1797-2004.
Yesterdays Journey
Search cemetery transcriptions from Derbyshire.
Exeter City Council
Burial Index Cards. Search over 100,000 people buried in the three cemeteries managed by Exeter City Council.
Ryde Social Heritage Group
Search over 23,000 transcription records on individuals buried in Ryde Cemeteries.
Durham Records Online
Search cemetery transcriptions covering County Durham and Northumberland.
Isle of Wight Bereavement Services
Search almost 100,000 cemetery and crematorium records across the Island dating from 1856 to the present day.
Herefordshire History
Browse digitised registers of burial and cemetery records covering August 1910 to February 1930 and September 1894 to March 1921.
Cornish Cemetery Index
Search 18,155 transcribed entries from Cornish cemeteries.
Eastleigh B.C. Cemetery Database
Search for relatives buried in one of the four council run cemeteries.

Scotland

Find a Grave in Scotland
Search hundreds of cemeteries and cremation for burial records online with photographs where available.
Findmypast
Scotland Billion Graves Cemetery Index. Search this extensive record set to find the exact location of a burial as well as birth and death dates.
Ancestry
Edinburgh, Scotland, Cemetery Registers, 1771-1935. This collection consists of registers from Edinburgh cemeteries including Old and New Calton, St. Cuthberts, Canongate, Warriston, Liberton, Dalry and Greyfriars.
Ancestry
England & Scotland Select Cemetery Registers, 1800-2016. The collection contains burial registers from select cemeteries in England and Scotland. Highlights include cemetery records for Liverpool, London, Manchester, Kent, Kincardineshire, Dumfriesshire and Wigtownshire.
Ancestry
West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, Burial Register and Monumental Inscriptions, 1855-2024. This collection is an assemblage of burial registers and monument inscriptions from cemeteries in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The collection also includes purchase books for “lairs,” or burial plots.
Ancestry
Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Burial Registers, 1769-1983. This collection contains over two hundred years of records for cemeteries and churchyards across Aberdeenshire. In addition to the registers, this collection also has the sales papers for “lairs” (or burial plots) which include the owner’s name, the date of purchase, and the amount paid.
Dumfries and Galloway FHS
Graveyard Locations. The site lists every graveyard and its location by Parish within the three historical counties of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire.
National Records of Scotland
Useful Websites: Monumental Inscriptions. Explore links for information about local burial grounds in Scotland.

Ireland

Findmypast

• Ireland Billion Graves Cemetery Index. Search thousands cemetery transcriptions across Ireland. Each entry includes a link to an image of the headstone with GPS details.
• Galway County Burials.
• Waterford County Burial Records. Search burial records from the three different cemeteries of St. Carthage’s Cemetery, St. Declan’s Cemetery and St. Otteran’s Cemetery.
• Ireland, Londonderry (Derry) City Cemetery Burials 1853-1961.
• Ireland, Dublin City Cemetery Burials 1805-2006. The collection covers three Dublin cemeteries: St John The Baptist, Clontarf; Drimnagh (Bluebell); St Canice’s, Finglas.
• Fermanagh Cemetery Records, 1669-2011. Search records from 21 cemeteries in seven parishes in County Fermanagh. Church of Ireland, Roman Catholic, and Methodist are included in the records.
• Donegal Cemetery Records, 1681-2015. Search records from Finner Graveyard, Inishmacsaint and St Anne’s Church of Ireland in Ballyshannon.
• Leitrim Cemetery Records, 1709-2015. Search cemetery transcripts from Rossinver parish.

Limerick City Archives
Search more than 70,000 records of people buried at Mount St. Lawrence Cemetery between 1855 and 2008.
Belfast City Council Burial Records
Search burial records from cemeteries including: Belfast City Cemetery, from 1869 (including the Jewish, public and Glenalina extension sections; the Roselawn Cemetery records from 1954; the Dundonald Cemetery from 1905.
Dublin Cemeteries Trust
Search fully transcribed and digitised burial registers covering Dublin’s Glasnevin cemetery, the largest nondenominational cemetery in Ireland, opened in 1832. Also covered the cemeteries Goldenbridge, Palmerstown, Dardistown, or Newlands Cross from 1828 to the present day.
Interment.net
Search transcribed entries from the Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, containing graves of over 1.2 million people. It opened in 1832 and is the largest nondenominational cemetery in Ireland, originally named Prospect Cemetery. More transcripts with headstone photos can be found at the Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives.
Fingal County Council
Buried in Fingal. Free online access to 65,000 burial records from 36 graveyards in North County Dublin dating back to at least the 1930 with the earliest record from 1877 and the last one from July 2013.
Ancestry
Irish Records Extraction Database. This collection is the result of research in Irish records compiled by Dr. Lyman Platt from over 120 unique sources including deaths, burials, and cemeteries from as early as 1600 and as late as 1874.
Historic Graves
Irish graveyard transcriptions and surveys compiled by local volunteers. The database is searchable by individual names and by individual graveyards. A map shows which graveyards have been surveyed.
Kerry Local Authorities
Graveyard Records. Burial registers from 140 cemeteries controlled or owned by Kerry Local Authorities.
Antrim and Newtownabbey B.C.
Burial Records Search: Search burial records for the following cemeteries: Antrim; Ballyclare; Belmont; Carnmoney; Crumlin; Mallusk; Sixmile; Rashee Cemetery; Umgall.

Ulster Historical Foundation
The Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 1956, dedicated to those researching the history and genealogy of Ulster and its families. The site offers access to over 2 million searchable records including:

• The North Ulster Gravestone Collection. This collection are from graveyards in counties Antrim and Londonderry belonging to different religious denominations, including Church of Ireland, Catholic and Presbyterian, with others maintained by local authorities.
• Burials in Belfast City Cemetery from 1869 onwards.

CD Roms

Lancashire Family History and Heraldry Society
Burial registers, cemetery records and monumental inscriptions.
Gloucestershire Family History Society
Register of Burials in the Tredworth Burial Ground The City of Gloucester Vol 1 1857-1901; Register of Burials in the Tredworth Burial Ground The City of Gloucester Vol 2 1901-1961; Coney Hill Burial Ground Register May 1939 to Jan 2015. The city corporation of Gloucester constituted the burial board for the city in 1856 and laid out a cemetery on a 13 acre site at Tredworth, which was opened in 1857 when burials in the old city churchyards ceased. The cemetery was originally divided between nonconformist and Church of England burials. A second city cemetery at Coney Hill was laid out in 1934 but not opened for burials until 1939 and is still in use; Register of Cremations Gloucester Crematorium Vol 1. Index of Cremations in Gloucester Crematorium from 7 January 1953 to 20 February 1975. A Crematorium was built in the grounds of the Coney Hill cemetery and the first cremation took place there on the 7 January 1953. All items are avaialble as downloads.
Berkshire Family History Society
Transcripts and indexes of Berkshire parish registers including the Berkshire Burials cd which has over 900,000transcriptions from over 270 churchyards, cemeteries, burial grounds and workhouses.
Scottish Monumental Inscriptions
Scottish Monumental Inscriptions. Photograph and transcribed records of burial grounds around Scotland.