the word court on a burial entry?

[garstonite]

A question regarding entries into a cemetery...
about 1 in every 100 of the burial index records have the word court in front of the address....ie
Smith Thomas 27 1888 February 16th court 22 Byles St Toxtetth......
the other 99 will just say 22 Byles St Toxteth....
it obviously has something to do with a court ruling anyone any ideas ?
thanks ....allan

[colin taylor]

Not sure if it is the same but where I grew up in Oldham area you could walk down a street and there would be a gap between the houses which led to a small yard containing a few more houses... these were usually given a name such as No.1 Court

[BrianT]

Courts were quite a common feature of towns in the 19th C.

As Colin says, “Courts” were courtyards off the main street, normally two rows of smaller terraced houses facing each other across a central open space, usually with shared washhouse and toilets.

[garstonite]

Thank you both...that makes a lot of sense because these people are buried 12-16 in graves where no-one is related...there might be a 56yr old Mr Smith with a 5 week old Mary Brown....presumably these are paupers graves...and all buried within 10 days of each other...from hospital /workhouse / etc....thanks again....allan

[Penelope]

Thank you both...that makes a lot of sense because these people are buried 12-16 in graves where no-one is related...there might be a 56yr old Mr Smith with a 5 week old Mary Brown....presumably these are paupers graves...and all buried within 10 days of each other...from hospital /workhouse / etc....thanks again....allan

Allan, public graves are not always the same thing as a pauper's grave. Or so the kind genealogical gents at Fulford Cemetery in York, told me! Families had to pay a few shillings for a burial in a public grave, so not everyone could even afford that. I traced the people buried in one public grave (as a bit of an experiment in how much I could find out about 12 random strangers buried with my great great great uncle!) For example, not all workhouse deaths would end up in a public grave in municipal cemeteries as the family had to find the money for it, and there was a rudimentary burial service conducted by an ordained minister. Apparently, it was popular to bag a grave site right next to the public burial, as they wouldn't have headstones so you'd have more room for a vast, impressive monument!

A pauper's grave is a different thing (sometimes) to a public grave. Burial in a public grave implies someone somewhere thought of them as a loved one and scraped the money together to pay for burial.

[Ozzie Gert]

Alan, i lived in such a court until i was 16, Colin was right about the gap between the front houses, we called it the "entry". There were 4 courts in our street and 4 houses in each court. We had a 3 story house with one room on each level, gas lighting and toilet at the end of the garden (not shared). They pulled them down just after we moved out.

Sylvia

[garstonite]

thankyou girls...I have to admit I was reall upset at the thought of a young couple burying a 5 week old baby with complete strangers.....so sad when times were hard...allan

[Guy]

thankyou girls...I have to admit I was reall upset at the thought of a young couple burying a 5 week old baby with complete strangers.....so sad when times were hard...allan

Babies were often buried with strangers (even comparatively recently). It was thought that this would keep them safe and stop them from being lonely.
It also saved the costs of opening a fresh grave.
Cheers
Guy