i was wondering if some kind soul could find me the burial plot of my 2nd Great Gran Sarah Ann Smith nee Pryor. She is in the St Phillips burial register as buried on the 12th March 1931. Abode 72 Woolen Lane. Any help much appreciated.
One might expect her to be in Wardsend Cemetery but it could be that the funeral service
was held at St Philips but she could have been buried anywhere. Have you tried City Road or Sheffield Archives for help? I am not sure who hold the records for Wardsend.
Sarah Ann Smiths husband and a couple of her infant children are buried in Wardsend so the presumption would be that so is she, but you know how burials are not that straight forward. Sarahs husband James had died over 30 years before and most of her surviving children were later buried in |Burngreave, but she does not seem to be there or City Road.
In the St. Philip's burial register, over the address of the deceased is
a letter and under the date of burial is a number.
On both the burials of James and Sarah Ann is the letter L and the number 326.
If you go to the bural records in the left hand column to the left, and then
click on Maps, Photos at the top, go down to Wardsend and click on number one.
This shows a map of the cemetery. Section L is close to Club Mill Road.
There does not appear to be any Monumental Inscriptions for James and Sarah,
so it could be that there is no stone and you will have to find the nearest
numbered grave to 326.
Thanks, that,s brilliant Moira. So she is buried with husband James. I didnt notice the letters before. Hugh Waterhouse sent me a photo of the gravestone a few years ago for James. It is very sunk but it does say sarah Ann Smith, but dont know if this referred to James and Sarah Ann,s daughter of the same name who is buried there.
Sarah Ann Smith d/o James, age 8, buried 28 May 1895
Frank Smith s/o James, age 5 1/4, buried 1 Aug 1896
James Smith, age 47, buried 13 Oct 1896
Sarah Ann Smith, age 77, buried 12 Mar 1931.
All of 72 Woollen Lane.
There are 2 burials between James and Sarah, so possibly more children buried, and room in the grave for a further 3 burials after Sarah. Have to go out now, but will look later tonight.
buried 19 May 1900 Frank son of William Henry SMITH 13m 88 Carnarvan Street
The burial register also labels the following burial as in L326, but I think this is a mistake:
buried 17 Nov 1884 Joseph Dawson LITTLEWOOD 65y Wood St
This person is the first named on the gravestone 'next door' on plot L327 so I think the clerk has got confused.
Having looked at thousands of these pages I have come to the conclusion that the numbers under the names are a measure of depth. So they are a measure of capacity but not a straight 'count' of burial spaces. The last burial in this grave, Sarah Ann in 1931, has '4' in that place which means the grave is more or less full. A number less than that is very rare.
Thank you guys for all this help. Its fantastic of you all to give up your time and knowledge. Quite a few of my early relatives are buried in Wardsend so its also great that the Friends of Wardsend are doing such a great job too.