Good Morning

I have two burials in City Road which are taken from the burial section here. They are both in Section DD. When I search the internet I cannot find a further breakdown of the section into plot numbers.

The two entries in question are here...
Hunter, Eliza (Widow, age 73).
Died at Ecclesall Union Hospital; Buried on May 30, 1918 in Consecrated ground;
Grave Number 16216, Section DD of City Road Cemetery, Sheffield.
Parent or Next of Kin if Available: ~. Remarks: .
Plot Owner: ~ ~ of ~. Page No 2706

HUNTER, George (Forger, age 62).
Died at 13ct 1 Pearl St; Buried on December 10, 1910 in Consecrated ground;
Grave Number 16816, Section DD of City Road Cemetery, Sheffield.
Parent or Next of Kin if Available: ~. Remarks: .
Plot Owner: ~ ~ of ~. Page No 2146

These people were married but lived apart for a very long time. I am trying to ascertain if they are buried near to each other and why that might be. They married in 1865 and were permanently separated by 1885.I come up empty on divorce or annulment documentation.
The same cemetery, same section and similar grave numbers jumped out at me and I thought it worth a try to see if they were re-united after departing.

Thanks for any insight you might provide.

Jim

James, at first sight the suggestion would be to check for a mistranscription of the number. However I suspect that is not the case.
If you look at each of the two burials and look at find in same grave you will see that Eliza is in a grave with 3 other people and all were buried inside a month. So that implies a mass grave perhaps owned by the Union.
George is in a grave with a few others spread over a number of years. I suspect those others are not related to him but perhaps you could confirm that.
Dave

The plot numbers as you indicate are in the same section, but at the same time i wonder if Vicki would be willing to look at the originals in case there has been a transcripton problem and they are in fact in the same grave. Not sure if there will be headstones for the two plots in question but when I get time I will be willing to go and have a look for you. However due to my work commitments I have a busy month ahead of me so when I will be able to get I am not yet sure. When I do manage to get I will post a message on here with what I have found.

John

Thank you John,

After checking the inhabitants of both graves I am sure there are no relations buried with either of them. I have a picture of George's gravesite and hold it in my files. I am a direct descendant of his.

As for Eliza she is just a foot note in my records and only because she was married to my ggf. The fact that they were split up and appeared to be re-united in death was too much the curiosity for me to just let it lay. So curiosity satisfied. Thank you for your kind assistance.Please do not trouble yourself at the cemetery.

Regards
Jim

Hello Dave,

Thank you for your response. Your suggestion to search the grave for other occupants was a simple solution and it worked. No one related to either one is buried with them. Eliza is indeed buried with other Union inmates (correct term?).With George are 2 Spears one from fir Vale and one from the Mental Hospital. Could be father and son but of no consequence except that if the graves were union owned then perhaps that explains why they are so close,

Best Regards
Jim

Hi Jim

I have checked the grave numbers and they have been transcribed correctly

Vicki

By 1918 Union infirmaries were well on their way to autonomy and a less institutional ethos. Many people would have gone into hospital for treatment as they do today. There is nothing in these burial entries to show that these were 'inmates' of the Workhouse itself.

In fact Eliza HUNTER died in Ecclesall while the other references to 'Union Hospital' probably refer to Fir Vale. In that case this could not be a plot owned by one institution. Is there any evidence that either Union owned plots at City Road (or Burngreave)?

A distinction also needs to be made between public and pauper burial. Many people were buried in 'unpurchased', ie public, graves but not with ceremonies paid for by the parish or Union.

Hugh

Hi Hugh

Public Grave seems the more likely. I made the incorrect assumption that any unsupported burial would be a union issue. Based on that assumption I in turn brought forward the possibility of Union ownership due to the information about the occupants. Thank you for that clarification.

George Hunter is my only paternal great grandparent that remained in England. The rest I have found in the same cemetery within 20 yards of each other in Niagara Falls Canada. There are some differences between England and Canada when it comes to non-family burials. Once again I incorrectly assumed similar methods.

Thanks again Hugh. Your valued notes and comments have been quite helpful.

Jim