burial Archives - Geneageek

Maunder Thursday

Some time ago, I wrote about my ancestor William Wreford’s second wife, Ann Maunder (see post: Good Tithings). I had long thought that Maunder was her maiden name but discovered she was likely born Ann Anstey, and married a man named George Maunder. Today I stumbled on more evidence to support this theory.

William and Ann had a daughter named Elizabeth Ann Wreford born in Tiverton, Devon. While ’rounding out’ her story, I found her in the 1851 census in London. Elizabeth was in the home of ‘Aeneas B. Reid’ and his wife ‘Anne Maunder Reid’, recorded as a sister-in-law. Obviously the name Maunder jumped out at me. Mrs Reid’s age also tied in with the details for Ann and George Maunder’s daughter Ann (her baptism record can be seen in the earlier post).

1851 census image showing Elizabeth Ann Wreford in the home of her half-sibling Ann Maunder

Luckily, I could access the image of the marriage Ann Maunder (jr) to Aeneas Barkley Reid a couple years earlier in 1849. It confirmed her father’s name was George Maunder and also held the signatures of two witnesses: William Wreford and Mary Wreford.

1849 marriage of Ann Maunder to Aeneas Barkley Reid with Wreford witnesses

(I believe these witnesses are likely to be Ann’s step sibling (son of William Wreford to his first wife) and his wife, who also lived in London at the time.)

After this discovery, everything has started tumbling into place. Another half sibling, Mary Anna, who I was previously unable to pin down, shows up in the census record with the Reids in 1861.

1861 census showing Mary Anna Wreford with her half-sibling Ann Maunder

She also appears to have been buried in the family plot of Elizabeth Ann, who had married Alexander Small in 1853.

1863 Tower Hamlets Cemetery burial record of Mary Anna Wreford, showing she was buried in the ‘Smalls’s Grave’

Mary Anna and Aeneas Barkley Reid also show up as witnesses to that marriage,

1853 marriage of Elizabeth Ann Wreford to Alexander Small (note witnesses)

and the Small’s son is recorded with Elizabeth Ann’s brother Willliam in the 1861 census.

1861 census showing Elizabeth Ann’s son Alexander with her half-brother William

What tops it off for me, is seeing that my direct ancestor William Wreford was also buried in the Small family plot (4029).

1866 Tower Hamlets Cemetery burial record of William Wreford, showing he was also buried in the ‘Smalls’ Grave’

All of this ‘coming together’ is very satisfying, and gives me an insight into how much the siblings lives were entwined with each other.

And of course, I’m now pretty confident William Wreford’s wife Ann Maunder was born Ann Anstey.

A tree to help make sense of all this (click to enlarge)

A Grave Mistake

man in deerstalker hat laying on the ground One of my favourite things about genealogy is feeling like a detective, and today gave me another opportunity to don my deerstalker and grab my pipe.

I noticed that Find A Grave had an ‘extra’ child linked on the page of my great grandparents, George Wright Wreford Palmer and Margaret Palmer (nee Glaister). The ‘memorial’ was for an infant, William Tracey Palmer, born and died in 1911, which included the note: ‘Accidentally killed after his sleeping mother rolled over on him in bed.’ A tragic event, but I was a bit befuddled.

The problem was, George and Margaret were married in 1913, and although I’m no stranger to discovering ‘early’ children, I had never come across this one before. So of course, I needed to either prove or disprove the connection.

a dilapidated grave — Block 3 Plot 105 via Dunedin City Council

The gravesite is pretty dilapidated and only the faint outline of the name ‘Palmer’ can be seen on a marker – so no help there.

Grave marker with faint outline of the name PALMER — Block 3 Plot 105 via Dunedin City Council

I could find no birth or death record for an infant named William Tracey Palmer. There was a death record but this was for a 77-year-old man. The name Wreford Henry Palmer jumped out at me, due to my family connections with the name Wreford, but this was the child of Thomas Henry Palmer (George’s brother) and his wife Kate Palmer (nee Gilchrist).

I turned to the Dunedin City Council site which has a very helpful grave location search but there was no William Tracey Palmer buried at Anderson’s Bay cemetery between the years 1910 and 1919. So where the heck was this grave info coming from?

Considering possible spelling variants may have been at play, I searched only for the surname ‘Palmer’ in that time period and got three results – none being William Tracey Palmer. The first I knew to be my great great grandfather (George’s father), the other two being children of the above mentioned couple Thomas and Kate. The only 1911 burial was for ‘W Henry Palmer’ but aged 16 years. I thought it was another dead end but lo and behold, the record page gave me the information I needed.

Block 3, Plot 105; died 22 Nov 1911 – the same burial plot and death date given on the Find A Grave site. This was the burial record of the aforementioned Wreford Henry Palmer. Despite giving an age of ’16 years’, the notes section stated the ‘occupation’ of INFANT, so likely meant ’16 days’ – the burial register entry showed this to be the case.

Screenshot of burial entry record — Burial entry of Wreford Henry Palmer in Andersons Bay Cemetery records

So poor little Wreford Henry must have been linked accidentally as a child of his uncle when added to Find A Grave (his parents are also on the site) but I have no idea where the name ‘William Tracey’ came from. Unfortunately, at least 5 other people have since added ‘William Tracey’ as a child of my great grandparents (on Ancestry), so let this tale serve as a reminder to always CHECK YOUR SOURCES.

Bloxwich Cemetery

photograph of disused chapel on sunny day — Disused chapel at Bloxwich Cemetery

Bloxwich Cemetery, located on Field Road, was opened in 1875.

Until 1875, burials had taken place in the churchyard of All Saints – the parish church of Bloxwich (built 1793). By the 1870s, the churchyard had become extremely crowded and another burial site was needed.

image of old map featuring Bloxwich Cemetery — Bloxwich Cemetery as shown on map c1901

The cemetery expanded over the years – from 6 acres to about 13 acres today (2023).

photograph of Bloxwich Cemetery map sign displayed at site — Map of Bloxwich Cemetery c2021

There were originally two mortuary chapels – one designated for Church of England and one for Nonconformists – but the Nonconformist chapel was demolished sometime before 2009. There was talk of demolishing the remaining building but as of 2023, the disused chapel is still standing.

Side view of disused chapel at Bloxwich Cemetery

Family Connections

1986 – Carnation Richards (died 27 Jan 1986) – buried [HH section]
1987 – Charles Richards (died 29 Apr 1987) – buried [HH section]
1900 – Eli Fletcher (infant) – buried 10 Aug 1900 [E section 2 grave 55]
1909 – Elizabeth Fletcher (died 3 May 1909) – buried 8 May 1909 [C section 2 grave 251]

Other Connections

1875 – The first burials were those of William Boncer (age 28) and Henry Edward Hough (aged 2 days) on 7 June 1875.
(Mary Ann Pritchard (aged 3) was buried 8 June)

Grave Matters

In Port Chalmers Cemetery, there is a headstone for married couple, Alexander Ritchie Buchan & Agnes Buchan (nee Findlay) – but only one of them was actually buried in that grave (Block UO. Plot 126B).

There are also three other memorial plaques naming another four members of the family, but again, only one of those people were buried there. In fact, of the six people memorialised on this grave, only two were actually buried in Plot 126B; Agnes and her son (also named Alexander Ritchie). So where is Alexander?

Headstone1 — Plot 126B of Port Chalmers New Cemetery with Buchan family memorials

It turns out, Alexander is not far away at all – he’s actually buried in the grave opposite.

When Alexander died suddenly of a heart attack in 1896, only a few years after emigrating to New Zealand from Scotland, his young family were left in ‘very poor circumstances’. [See the post Inquests and Articles for more information.] The burial register indicates that the Congregational Church and/or their minister, Reverend William M Grant, took pity on the family and allowed Alexander to be buried ‘in the ground belonging to the church’ (Block UO. Plot 2):

433.
BUCHAN Alexander Ritchie – Blk UO Plot 2 Class 1
Died 2 Dec 1896, aged 34 years, of failure of the heart, a fisherman. Resident of Mansford Town. Born Peterhead. Last came from Peterhead Scotland. Lived 3 years in province.
Buried with written consent of the Rev Wm M Grant Congregational Church, in the ground belonging to the Church.

(Transcript of Burial Register, Port Chalmers New Cemetery, Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand (1881-1929), p34)

A year later, another man, Robert Jones, who presumably also died in poor circumstances, was buried in the same plot. This time the order was signed by Mr Robert Bauchop – who according to his own obituary, was a senior deacon of the church:

467.
JONES Robert – Blk UO Plot 2 Class 1
Died 17 Dec 1897, aged 77 years, of general decay, a bricklayer. Resident of George Street Port Chalmers. Born Holywell Flintshire Wales England. Last came from Melbourne Victoria. Lived 7 years in province.
Applicant: Robert Bauchop.
Buried in the Congregational Church ground – order signed by Mr Robt Bauchop.

(Transcript of Burial Register, Port Chalmers New Cemetery, Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand (1881-1929), p37)

Grant family headstone — Plot 2 of Port Chalmers New Cemetery with the Grant family monument

In 1935, the Reverend Grant who buried Alexander all those years ago, was also interred in Plot 2. Over the years that followed, other members of the Grant family were also buried there before the plot was finally sealed. Interestingly, it seems Rev. Grant’s infant child was actually the first to be buried in the plot – 15 years before Alexander. Reverend Grant’s obituary mentions that he and his family had gone to Australia for a time (the time when Robert Jones was buried) before returning to his congregation in Port Chalmers.

3. Plan: U.O. plot 2 – W.M. Grant. William.
Stone: William Mugford Grant for 27 years Minister of Port Chalmers Congregational Church, born 5 October 1851 died 12 February
Emily wife of Rev. W.M.Grant born 8 March 1849 died 30 November 1924. Also William their son born Orange, N.S.W. died Port Chalmers 1882. Also their son Reginald James born 1881 died 1941. And their daughter Elsie Mary Grant born 1883 died 1961.
Site: Plot sealed.

(Headstone Transcripts, Port Chalmers New Cemetery, p17)

By the time, Agnes died in 1939, the family had the means to buy the plot in which she is buried – directly across from the one in which her husband Alexander had lain for 45 years.

The other Buchan names recorded at plot 162B:

(son) Alexander Ritchie Buchan (junior), 1890-1944, plot 126B
(his wife) Elizabeth P. Buchan (nee Hendra), 1893-1968, Block NL. Plot 9
(son) James Buchan, 1892-1948, cremated
(his wife) Doris Agnes Buchan (nee Lewis), 1894-1984, cremated

Details and other images can be found on the Dunedin City Council website – Cemeteries search

For Eva

Poor little Eva Rogers.

Not only did she die at just 3 years of age, but she was buried under the wrong name!

To be fair, this error is likely confined to the burial register – a slip up by the rector confusing the names of two sisters – but I can’t help but feel a little indignation for the wee lass.

Eva’s older sister, Ada Rogers was born in 1859 and was only 18 years old when she died in 1877.

Eva Rogers was born two years after her sister in 1861 and baptised in November at Newport, Shropshire, England.

As she was born and died between censuses, I only know of Eva’s existence due to trawling the Newport, Shropshire parish records on FindMyPast. But still, her burial did not appear in the burial records. However, there was a burial of ‘another’ Ada Rogers in 1865. I already knew Eva’s sister, Ada (who did appear on censuses) died in 1877 so who was this other Ada? At first I thought there was a transcription error but the record clearly showed ‘Ada Rogers’.

Burial of Eva Rogers (mistranscribed as Ada) 1865

Fortunately, Eva was registered under the correct name as can be seen in the GRO index.

The surname, death place and age at death match so I can surmise the rector simply had ‘a bit of a slip-up’ at the time of recording in the burial register. I feel glad that I was able to uncover the mistake and reestablish her place in the family tree.