59 Burials in same Grave ??

[Guest]

just been looking at deceasedonline for a burial thought I'd found the one I was looking for and it says there are 58 other burials in this plot ? surely not ?

[Olde Crone Holden]

Could be, but when and where? Mass graves have sometimes been used when there were an unusually high number of deaths from disease or disaster - plague victims were buried in mass graves and cholera victims - anything infectious in an epidemic.

OC

[clematised]

Yes sometimes mass graves for Cholera and the like as OC says but many in a grave for pauper graves too, never seen that many for those type though
Where was it
Edna

[Guest]

Hi its in St Pancras in 1862 and now you mention it there was a Cholera outbreak about then wasn't there ?

[Olde Crone Holden]

I think there was a cholera outbreak in most places in most years in the 1800s. Could also have been typhoid. Or anything really.

I know that such things were reported in the local papers, often as a grisly sort of head count of deaths. Might be worth a look.

OC

[Olde Crone Holden]

I wonder if it was a workhouse grave? I've had a quick google but cannot find anything significant about 1868 in St Pancras. Are you sure all the burials took place in the same year? If not, it could just be a pauper's grave used over several decades.

OC

[Guest]

There are
8 on 12 Dec 1862
9 on 16 Dec 1862
6 on 19 Dec 1862
6 on 23 Dec 1862
6 on 26 Dec 1862
8 on 26 Feb 1864
12 on 1 Mar 1864
1 on 5 Feb 1884
1 on 13 Nov 1886
1 on 10 May 1927?? seems odd ?

although the one in 1886 and 1927 had the same surnames

What would they have done dug a huge hole and just keep adding bodies ??

[Elaine ..Spain]

Val, I am guessing here (in view of one of your recent posts!) but is one of the burials in 1862 for Henry Meeks - looking on Deceased online it appears that there are another 58 in the same grave!
If so, might be worth comparing your findings with the burial register for St. Pancras Workhouse
- http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/15...0_195045-00275

The dates seem to match your post above - are these the names you have found?

[Olde Crone Holden]

Seems like it's a workhouse grave then, rather than a mass burial grave.

I think they dug them wide rather than deep and added bodies side by side, probably putting another layer on at a later date.

OC

[Caroline]

I had some credits to use up by next week and the ones I was able to look at were workhouse burials. Unfortunately, Henry wasn't one I looked at as I hit the wrong link!! There was also a John Meeks listed as buried 3 days later: 19 Dec 1862.

[Guest]

Thanks for that link Elaine yes it is further to my other post ,will have a look in a minute.
OC I can understand that it is probably a workhouse grave , but what about the most recent two burials ? or would that just be a case of re-using it ?
And thanks Caroline for looking,when you say you had credits for Workhouse Burials can you tell me what site that is thanks ? as I am looking for a burial or death for a James Cullum round about 1830 age about 28.

[Caroline]

The credits were for Deceased Online.

I expect they reused the grave ... I've got one in the same cemetery. The second couple were buried 60 years after the first.

[Guest]

thats a huge gap ? but then suppose they bought the plot ?

[Vonny North West]

If you are looking to link mass burials with disease you might find this website useful:

http://www.kdfhs.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=30

Vonny

[Caroline]

thats a huge gap ? but then suppose they bought the plot ?

The first couple owned the plot. As far as I know the second couple is not related to the first couple.
Husband 1 bought plot and was buried in 1891. His wife joined him in 1913. They are my GG grandparents.
The next burial was 1973, followed by the spouse in 1983 - they didn't appear to have paid for the plot and are not relatted to us.

[Olde Crone Holden]

My late father's grave only belongs to us for 25 years. We then have the oiption to purchase another 25 years, otherwise his plot can be reused/resold.

I think you would have to follow the ownership of the grave to find out why someone was buried there in 1927 - perhaps the final burial was of someone related to someone already buried there. The workhouse was obviously using other pauper's graves by then, somewher else - maybe even in the same burial ground.

Is the grave definitely in a church burial ground? Many larger workhouses had their own burial grounds within the confines of the workhouse.

OC

[Guest]

OC Its St Pancras Cemetary Camden, thanks Vonny looks interesting. Caroline I dont like the idea of sharing a Grave with somebody I dont know so glad I'm not being buried.