1826 burial - what does this mean? - Genealogists' Forum

Merry · #1 12-10-09, 12:11

BK6 updated from this thread

I didn't tell you it was a Mccrery question!!

This is a bit strange.....

William Dennis McCrery married Sarah Okey at St George Bloomsbury in 1823, the same church he was baptised at in 1802.

William Dennis died and was buried at the same church on 26th Feb 1826 aged 23.

I am waiting to get his probate inventory from TNA, but the index entry says he was a widower.

As far as I know, William Dennis and Sarah only had one child and she was born 25th August 1825 (I'll have to come back to her in a minute), so I have been trying to find a burial for Sarah McCrery between August 1825 and Feb 1826. I decided she would have been buried at St George Bloomsbury (William Dennis had Orange Street Bloomsbury as his address on his burial record, which was where his family had lived for the past 30 years or so), but despite looking through all the entries in case of a bad transcription, I couldn't find a thing.

HOWEVER!!...... I remembered an entry I had seen ages ago on FMP.....here it is:

First name: Sarah
Last name: MCCRERY
Burial: 11 February 1826
Place of burial: Bunhill Fields
Age at death: 25
Address at death: Well's Row, Islington (Vault Opened)

I was just about to think this is a red herring (wrong place for the burial etc) when I noticed the address given - Well's Row, Islington.

Well's Row is the address given when William and Sarah's daughter was baptised, in 1828 at St Mary's Islington. So, I guess this is William's wife's burial.

Now, why would she be buried away from her husband (or him away from her as she died first) and why at Bunhill Fields? If her family had a vault at Bunhill Fields does this signify anything? When did it stop being a non-conformist-only burial ground?

Questions, Questions!!

Phoenix · #2 12-10-09, 12:23

If it said that the vault was opened, might it be her family vault, not his? A vault would only have a certain number of spaces in it. My naughty xgreat uncle - Jacob Bickford Hele was described as the last of his line AND there was just room for a single coffin in the family vault, which was then full.

I wouldn't mind betting in the 1820s that you would prefer to be buried in a reputable cemetery, rather than a churchyard, if you could get the protection of a vault. When were Burke & Hare abroad?

Merry · #3 12-10-09, 12:41

Yes, I would think it was her family vault. His parents and five brothers were all buried at St Geo Bloomsbury.

Maybe if they were both ill, she was taken back to her parents and died there, so it seemed natural for them to bury her in their vault? I just wondered if it made them likely to be something other than C of E?

Georgette · #4 12-10-09, 12:43

I think it probably does mean a family vault was opened for her too and, as Phoenix says, she may have taken up the last place.

Body snatching was still going on at that time and continued until the Anatomy Act of 1832 provided more bodies for the medical schools. Burke and Hare never actually robbed a grave themselves, although lots of others did. They snatched their first body from a coffin before burial and then decided that it would be far easier just to kill people instead

Merry · #5 12-10-09, 12:45

Hmmmm.....but William and Sarah's dau was baptised at St Mary Islington, possibly by Sarah's family, so maybe they were C of E?

Very confusing!

Phoenix · #6 12-10-09, 12:46

That I can't answer, but London graveyards were getting to be pretty unsanitary places by that stage, so I would mind betting that you might choose a nonconformist burial, even if you weren't. Whereas, in the country, plenty of nonconformists would be in the churchyard.

Merry · #7 12-10-09, 12:47

So maybe the Okey family wanted a vault to keep their family bodies safe, but they couldn't have one at their local church because of lack of space, so decided to use the Bunhill facilities. When their son-in-law died he had to make do with St Geo Bloomsbury because there was 'no room at the inn'

Georgette · #8 12-10-09, 12:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merry

Maybe if they were both ill, she was taken back to her parents and died there, so it seemed natural for them to bury her in their vault? I just wondered if it made them likely to be something other than C of E?

My 2xgrt grandmother died in childbirth when she was forty, in Surrey, where her husband was a vicar, but was buried in Hampshire at her parents' parish church. Her husband lived for another 30 years and married again ten years later. Not sure if this helps

Merry · #9 12-10-09, 12:52

lol Georgette!

I've just found an Ann Okey aged 70 living at Well's Row Islington in 1841. Could be sarah's mum.....don't know if that helps much either?!! lol

Merry · #10 12-10-09, 12:55

Looks like they found a bit more room!

First name: Ann
Last name: OKEY
Date: 22 August 1842
Place of burial: Bunhill Fields
Age at death: 79
Address at death: Wells Row, Islington (Vault Opened)

I can just see them saying, 'we are not having that McCrery in our vault' about William Dennis!! It's the McCrery curse doing it's stuff again