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London Metropolitan Archives

CITY OF LONDON AND TOWER HAMLETS CEMETERY


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): CTHC

Held at: London Metropolitan Archives

Title: CITY OF LONDON AND TOWER HAMLETS CEMETERY

Date(s): 1841-1966

Level of description: Collection

Extent: 7.36 linear metres

Name of creator(s): City of London and Tower Hamlets Company

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

By the mid 19th century churchyards within London were becoming overcrowded, unsanitary and unfit to be used for further burials. Local government therefore looked for suitable unused land outside the spread of the city. The Corporation of London, for example, bought land at Ilford, Essex, for a large cemetery and crematorium. The City of London and Tower Hamlets Company opened its ground to the south of Mile End Road, Stepney, in 1841; the last burial took place in 1966.

The cemetery ground was acquired by the Greater London Council in 1966 and was thereafter managed by the Greater London Council Parks Department; in 1967 and early 1968 the records kept in the cemetery office were transferred to the Greater London Record Office (now the London Metropolian Archives).

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Registers and day books of burials in consecrated or church ground and unconsecrated or chapel ground, 1841-1952, showing name, abode, when buried, age, place of burial, when and by whom buried, private vault or grave, purchased monuments and where placed (registers are not available for consultation, please use microfilms X64/1-41); fee books, 1902-1966, including remarks, registrar, sub-district, date of certificate, digger, stone, bill number, name of deceased, age, time, depth, received by, minister, undertaker, secretary's signature, price, description of graves, square position (not always), size of coffin, undertaker's commission, amount; registers of private graves, 1841-1941, showing number of graves, description of place of burial, date and consideration of grant, names and addresses of purchasers, name and description of person interred, year and number (registers are not available for consultation, please use microfilms X64/42-46); registers of public graves, 1900-1965, showing number, date, name, age and time of burial (registers are not available for consultation, please use microfilm X64/47); register of private grave transfers, 1938-1966, showing transfer number, date, grave number, transfer from/to, address and remarks; correspondence relating to private graves; incumbents' account book, divided parish by parish, 1922-1966, and plans of the graves.

Also deeds and legal papers, 1841-1898; report to Directors by Committee of Proprietors appointed by an Extraordinary Court, to investigate expenditure and general state of the Company's affairs, 1843; report to Directors by Henry George Haywood on proposals for draining the cemetery, 1857; correspondence relating to staffing, sewers and the East London Eastern Extension Railway, 1849-1871; bills, 1841-1897; specification for sewers and roads, with sections, 1884; plans of cemetery including proposed southern extension, 1800s; impression in red wax of seal of Company, 1841; legal records, 1844-1942.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

CTHC/1/1-42: Registers; CTHC/1/43-62: Daybooks; CTHC/1/63-110: Fee books; CTHC/1/111-122: Registers of private graves and public graves; CTHC/1/123: Register of private grave transfers; CTHC/1/124: Correspondence; CTHC/1/125: Financial accounts; CTHC/1/126-130: Plans; CTHC/2/1-10: Deeds; CTHC/2/11-12: Reports; CTHC/2/13-16: Correspondence; CTHC/2/17-29: Bills; CTHC/2/30: Specification and CTHC/2/31-34; Plans; CTHC/3/1-6: Legal Records.

Conditions governing access:

These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright: City of London

Physical characteristics:

Generally fit, some records unsuitable for consultation (see microfilm).

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

AC/67/085

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

For the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium at Ilford see CLA/052.

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: April to June 2009


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Burial | Death | Life cycle
Burial registers | Parish records | Documents | Information sources
Cemetery register | Burial records | Documents | Information sources
Graves | Land use
Graveyards | Burial grounds | Public utilities | Public enterprises | Enterprises
Sewerage | Water resources
Primary documents

Personal names

Corporate names
City of London and Tower Hamlets Cemetery
City of London and Tower Hamlets Company

Places
Stepney | London | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Tower Hamlets