For a more personal approach to researching your family history, the volunteer Burial Research Team, based at the Gatehouse office, will carry out a burial search for you. The team use a database of the 87,000 burials and memorial inscription records compiled from original archives by many Cemetery volunteers over 20 years. Over many years of research and enquiries from the public, the team have built up what are called “People Files” containing high quality information on some of the Cemetery’s residents. These contain such items as newspaper cuttings, photographs and notes derived from previous research.
Donations welcome
If you wish to engage the search team in research work we accept donations for their efforts and to help cover running costs. The suggested minimum donation for this service is :
- £15 which includes monument inscription (if there is one), burial record, photograph of the monument (if one exists) and map showing the location of the burial.
- Clearing the area of interest of vegetation from £20.00, depending on the amount of work required. Please note, grave access is not always possible.
- No donation is expected if we are unable to find any information regarding your query.
The team offer a high quality service, based on many years of experience in helping enquirers with their family history research. We believe the fees we levy are very modest for the service offered – all income generated goes back into supporting the running of the Trust and the work of the volunteers.
You can make your donation for this service by cheque or with a credit or debit card through PayPal by visiting our donation page.
Index CD
We sell an index CD containing the names, dates of death, dates of burial and ages of all 87,000 burials at the General Cemetery. The data is in Microsoft Excel format and the disc contains Microsoft Excel reader software, if you don’t have Microsoft Office. The data does not include the burial plot locations. Our search team are more than happy to provide individual plot locations on request, free of charge, to customers who purchase a CD.
Original documents relating to the running of the Cemetery
All the original documents relating to the running of the Cemetery from 1836 to its closure in 1978/80 are lodged at the Sheffield Archives, 52 Shoreham Street, Sheffield S1 4SP. Telephone 0114 2039395.
Contact the Burial Research Team
[email protected]
0114 268 3486
Locating a Burial Plot
The Cemetery is divided into Anglican and Nonconformist areas. Much of the Anglican area has been cleared of monuments and is now a green, open space but with very few exceptions the bodies remain in place. Most of the Nonconformist monuments in the original part of the Cemetery remain in place.
The two areas are further divided into sections labelled either by a single or double letter which can be located on the map below. Each section contains more than 100 plots which are identified by the letter(s) of the section followed by a number.
Most families occupy one plot, many of which had a single headstone. More wealthy families often bought a group of plots and erected a large monument over all of them. For example, the Firth monument situated where the paths cross, is in the Anglican area, section W1 and occupies the space of four individual plots W 147, W 148, W 167 and W 168. Poorer families who could not afford to buy a plot were buried in public graves. These contain several unrelated individuals and do not have a headstone.
A number of graves in the Nonconformist area have been fenced off for safety reasons and no attempt should be made to enter these areas.
If you wish to locate the exact position of a plot, please email the Burial Research team on [email protected] and they will be able to help you. If you are not able to visit the Cemetery personally, volunteers will try to locate and photograph a grave for you. A donation is requested for undertaking these services.
