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Original poster

Mass grave - how do I find location?

7 replies

GonnaGetGoingReturns · 14/08/2023 14:50

Don’t know where to put this so…

Many years ago in prob 1920s my great grandmother died of I think cancer and was buried in a mass grave. No idea why this happened great grandfather was wealthy. This would’ve been Ladbroke Grove area as was where they lived. My nana (their daughter) tried to find out where it was (more for exhumation and reburial) and I think found out where it was but obviously this got lost in mists of time.

I’d like to know where it is just so I know. She apparently was a lovely woman died late 30s of age, didn’t know her father but helped all the poor who all walked behind her funeral procession.

OP posts:
Minglemangle007 · 14/08/2023 15:02

Are you sure it was a mass grave and not just a "public " grave, one with several internments?

Ladbroke Grove area could mean Kensal Green cemetery, so if you know her full name and dates of birth and death, you could try their website and look up the record. If not, try cemeteries further away.

SausageRoll2020 · 14/08/2023 15:28

Start by getting a copy of her death certificate, then you'll have the right date.
If she was buried in a CoE graveyard there will also be a register of burials.
If you are unfamiliar with genealogy there is a board for it on here where you might be better off posting for more tips and then get yourself to Ancestry.com

Also, if there was a large procession for the funeral it probably made the local press at the time and a report could have lots of interesting details.

Original poster
GonnaGetGoingReturns · 14/08/2023 15:32

Thanks both for the info, will be on that!

I have no idea why my great grandfather did this as as far as I know they had a happy marriage. He’d built himself up from a fairly poor but educated background (from Somerset near Taunton).

My nana was 14 when her mum died so she’d have had no say in the funeral/burial.

OP posts:
Original poster
GonnaGetGoingReturns · 14/08/2023 15:33

Minglemangle007 · 14/08/2023 15:02

Are you sure it was a mass grave and not just a "public " grave, one with several internments?

Ladbroke Grove area could mean Kensal Green cemetery, so if you know her full name and dates of birth and death, you could try their website and look up the record. If not, try cemeteries further away.

It could be a public and not a mass one? Unsure. These are the sorts of questions you wish you’d asked relatives when they were alive.

OP posts:
Original poster
GonnaGetGoingReturns · 14/08/2023 15:38

SausageRoll2020 · 14/08/2023 15:28

Start by getting a copy of her death certificate, then you'll have the right date.
If she was buried in a CoE graveyard there will also be a register of burials.
If you are unfamiliar with genealogy there is a board for it on here where you might be better off posting for more tips and then get yourself to Ancestry.com

Also, if there was a large procession for the funeral it probably made the local press at the time and a report could have lots of interesting details.

She was CofE yes.

It’s one of those where my great Grandfather remarried and had other children, we’re in touch with his grandson from the second marriage (he now lives overseas) but his mother (who’s not a blood relative) has the family bible (with lots of family documents and papers) and when the great grandfather died he left his daughters the vast majority of the estate (he remarried when my nana was 15/16 to a woman only 2 years older than her and she wasn’t very nice so nana left home at 16). The relative with the family bible was very friendly up til his death and now won’t speak to us!

OP posts:
trulyunruly01 · 14/08/2023 16:25

We had a similar issue some years ago. Once we had the date and place we approached the local cemetery and they had records of in which of their plots she had been buried. After a very long muddy trek to the very back of the cemetery we were able to find the plot. I think there were six bodies in each 'public' plot.

Original poster
GonnaGetGoingReturns · 14/08/2023 19:43

trulyunruly01 · 14/08/2023 16:25

We had a similar issue some years ago. Once we had the date and place we approached the local cemetery and they had records of in which of their plots she had been buried. After a very long muddy trek to the very back of the cemetery we were able to find the plot. I think there were six bodies in each 'public' plot.

Ooh thank you so much. I think this is what happened. My nana did try to find out about it but it was years ago before internet.

Not sure what I can do but would love to give my great grandmother a proper burial. I don’t even have a photo of her so no idea what she looked like.

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