burial records

[misslm979]

im trying to find out where my grandfather arthur thomas roberts is buried he was last seen 30 years ago i got his death certifacate ad it said he died 21 oct 1992 in clent stourbridge west midlands,his address where he died was holy cross lodge summerfield road (some sort of care home i think) but ive tried looking for this place on the internet and i got a phone number but just got an answering machine so i asume this holy cross lodge no longer exists but we like to pay our respects but we dont know where his resting place is can you help please

[Rollo]

As the death was in Stourbridge maybe the funeral was there too.

You could contact

http://www.dudley.gov.uk/community-and-living/ deaths-funerals--cremations/cremation/stourbri dge-cemetery-and-crematorium

to see if they have a record that can help you.

[misslm979]

thank you i dont have any look when i go on these sites i get lost ill give it a try though and thanks again

[dot.haukes]

If he attended the Parish Church in Clent you could ring the Vicar:
St Marks C Of E Church (Fairfield)
St. Leonards Sq
Belbroughton, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY9 9PN
01562 730531

The Birmingham and Midlands Family History Society have recorded the Monumental Inscriptions (MIs) for the graveyard
http://www.worcesterbmsgh.co.uk/Clent.html

This is the nursing home:
Holy Cross Lodge
Summerfield Road,
Clent
Stourbridge
Worcestershire
DY9 9RG
Tel [phone]
Manager's name M Claridge

[misslm979]

thank you thats the number i got for the holy cross lodge but its just an answering service i did leave a message 4 days ago and still go no reply so so i dont think its for a care home do you considering staff should be there 24 hours a day the manager though was the women who signed the death certfacte i think it might just be old information on the internet

[dot.haukes]

No I would keep trying, what was the voice recorded message on the answerphone? It is still listed as that business. Though I guess 30 years ago they would not have had computer records and may not be able to help.

[dot.haukes]

You could look at the local newspapers for the death announcement which is a possibility, it depends if there was a close relative that would have paid for the advert, there is the Stourbridge Chronical or this one:
http://www.stourbridgenews.co.uk/

What about his will? Have you checked that out to see who he left his property to and whether it included any instructions about burial? That's an unusual inclusion I would think in the 1970s but you never know. The likely probate office that would have registered his will or issued the letters of administration if he died intestate (without a known will) would have been in Birmingham:
Birmingham District Probate Registry
33 Bull St
Birmingham, B4 6DU
0121 681 3400 /3401.

[dot.haukes]

Or you could even contact the funeral directors in that area, most would be long esrablished family firms who even if they did not have records would be able to hazard an educated guess as to where he would have been buried in the 1970s

H Porter & Sons
Old Church House,
60 South Road
Stourbridge
West Midlands DY8 3UJ
Tel: [phone]

Kinver Funeral Directors
113 High Street
Kinver, Nr.Stourbridge
West Midlands DY7 6HL
Tel: [phone]

J. Vernon Kendrick
Cemetery Rd
Stourbridge
West Midlands DY9 8DB
Tel: [phone]

Co-operative Funeral Services
12, Hagley Rd
Stourbridge
West Midlands DY8 1PS
Tel: [phone]

This last one would have been nearer to
Clent I think.

[misslm979]

thank everyone ive found out he was cremated i tourbridge all thanks to your help thanks again

[Rollo]

Well done.

I am pleased you found the information.

[dot.haukes]

persistence pays misslm, well done. What are you going to do now to remember him? The crematorium will have an area where you can have a plaque added. Though possibly his ashes were scattered somewhere, or buried in another relatives grave, where is your grandma buried?

[misslm979]

his ashes where scattered in the old garden there my grandma is still alive and lives in barnsley where she maried my grandad he had a lonely funeral as he left us 30 years ago and never had any other family we een looking for him for years unfourtunatly its was years to late,he lved a life as a petty thief and spent most of his life in pentonville prison because of this he missed out on family life,but he was still my grandad and im sure there is someway we an honour his life,the funeral dicector said the funeral was paid for by the manager of holy cross logde does that mean it was a goverment funeral

[dot.haukes]

A funeral grant will have been claimed for by the home's manager. He may not have bothered with a will in that case.
In 1979 a funeral grant from the state was �30 and the average cost of a funeral was �200, and so maybe he had some pension savings that the home used for any shortfall.