Church Canon Laws - baptisms, marriages, burials and more

 

The Canon Laws of a Church dictate the way its members should live, salaries of church clerks and pastors, allowable penalties, and also includes the rules of baptisms, marriages and burials. 

Marriage laws were actually dictated by the civil courts, but the church could give penalties if a marriage went against what the church believed.

In some of the earliest church laws if a child was not baptized within 30 days of birth the father was fined, and if the child died before being baptized the father had to give up everything he owned! Baptisms differ only slightly in religions as to who can be baptized, as the church wants as many souls as possible. (Turn page for who may be sponsors). A conditional baptism is often seen in early records.

Canon Law of Catholic Church 1920

Some gave rules about god-parents or sponsors.

Presbyterian Law 1884

One of the canon laws that was discussed since at least 1761 in all the churches at some time or another, is the "marriage with a deceased wife's sister". 

Presbyterian Law 1882

I don't know about you, but I have at least a couple of ancestor relatives who married their sister-in-law when their wife died. Especially when there were young children involved.

 

The laws of the church were also strict about who could be buried on holy ground. 

Church of England - Burials 1850

All religions have canon laws and you can look up what they were for the religion of your ancestors. 

Relevant Links

What is Presbyterian Law as defined by the Church Courts 1884

A Dictionary of Canon Law, Catholic Church 1920

Laws and Canons of the Church of England 1850,  Vol 1

Laws and Canons of the Church of England 1850, Vol 2

Today's Code of Canon Law - Catholic Church

Church Handbook for members of the Anglican Communion 1907

The Parson's Handbook, Church of England 1902

Laws of the Church of Scotland 1830

Supplement to the Laws of Church of Scotland 1836

Laws and Discipline of the Methodist Church in Ireland 1889

Catholics and the Marriage Bill 1866

Marriage with the Sister of the Deceased Wife Presb. 1868

Marriage Act - various years and places

Using Find-A-Grave when there is no burial

What do you do when you want to add a memorial for a family member to Find a Grave but the person was not buried?

My ancestors are all linked on Find a Grave. I have some family members that were cremated, and one whose body was given to the Anatomical Board for medical research, and I was still able to make memorials for them and link them to their ancestors.

When my brother died he was cremated and his ashes scattered. The funeral home that took care of his arrangements plants trees in a local park in the name of their deceased clients and their names are put on a wall. They have a big ceremony once a year when loved ones can choose their tree and plant it.

My great grand aunt Dora Porter died in a home for the indigent and she left her body for medical research. I was able to procure the entry in the Cadaver Receiving Book and I added that as a photo on her memorial. If I had a photo of her I would add it.  

Some ancestors are buried but there is no stone.  If you know the location of the burial you can make your own gravestone in the spot in the cemetery with photoshop or some such program. If not you can just make a gravestone as photo for that person

My baby sister died before her first birthday and my Dad had her buried with no stone. I found the burial information in his effects and a good friend went to the cemetery and found the spot where she was buried, leaving flowers and taking a photo for me.

These are the steps to adding a non-burial memorial on Find-A-Grave....

Choose Add a Memorial

Check "Not buried in a cemetery?" 

Choose what type of non-burial. Choices are...
... Buried or Lost at Sea, Cremated, Donated to Medical Science, Lost at War, Animal/Pet, or Burial Details Unknown.

Then add the information as you normally would and link to your ancestors. You can use whatever you want as a photo, the possibilities are endless. 

 

Never Give Up!

You may remember I posted a couple of years ago about finding out that the grave rights of an ancestor relative in Adelaide, Australia, were let lapse and the grave taken over by another burial. I had written to the Cemeteries Authority and they explained their policy of reusing a plot when the interment rights are not renewed. 

That was the end of that. 
...or so I thought!

A few days ago I mentioned this scenario on a Gould Genealogy Facebook post about Australian burials and another reader told me that, having ancestors in Australia, she and her husband have researched this. Then the kicker... that it's possible the Cemetery Authority took photos before dismantling. Hope springs eternal!

I went to the Cemetery Authority website and emailed, asking if they took photos. I was hoping for a reply in days, at the most weeks. I received a reply within the hour with four beautiful photos attached! A photo of the whole plot and area...

... and a close up of the main stone and the two little ones...

The whole family is listed there! 

After another query about what happens to the headstones, I was told that families are encouraged to claim headstones of unrenewed leases. When they are not claimed "the headstones are reduced to small gravel pieces with the material reused by the cemetery."

So I am eternally grateful to the reader that commented on my comment and gave me another path to follow, and to the Cemetery Authority for having the foresight to take the photos before redevelopment of expired grave sites in 2006. 

Never give up on your quest!

Cathern found Kathyrn

My sister Kathyrn Edith was born 24 May 1952.  She was born with Rh Disease and not expected to live very long. My Mom went against the doctor's advice to put her in an institution and brought Kathyrn home. 

Mom and Kathy 1953

(shortly before she died)

I had a little sister for just over 10 months. Kathyrn died 4 April 1953.  My mother was devastated. She took my brother and I to my grandmother's house and told my father to get rid of everything baby-related before we got home. Dad looked after the burial arrangements and I never heard anything more about Kathyrn, except two times much later in life.  It was a tacit agreement in the house that she was never spoken of. 

I was young so I didn't really understand it all at the time, I just knew Kathyrn was gone and she wasn't coming back. There were many times in my life that I felt the void, especially when I saw sisters together that were close. I was robbed of that. Visiting graves was not something our family did, the relatives that I knew were all cremated, so I never thought about a gravesite for Kathyrn. Until....

My father died in 2013 and I was the executor of his estate. I put all important papers in a big envelope and brought them home to go over. The envelope sat for a long time before I decided to go through it. Among his papers I discovered a burial certificate for Kathyrn. 

She was buried!!  And I had the name of the cemetery.  And I had a friend that lived not too far from that cemetery. And coincidentally, her name is Cathern. 

I got in touch with Cathern and asked her if she lived close to the Lakeview Cemetery and if perhaps she could find the gravesite.  She told me her grandparents were buried there and she would like to go and find their grave also. So on a fine day in August 2014 Cathern went to Lakeview Cemetery, and in a dingy, messy office she met with an employee who found the names in the computer.  But the employee didn't know were the plot for Kathyrn was, although they did eventually find her grandparents. She left her name and number for the manager who would know where to find Plot 2, Lot I,Section D. 

Two months later the manager called Cathern and told her he found where my sister Kathyrn was buried over 61 years ago. He said there was no marker but he could show her where the plot is. She is buried in an area with other children. On one side are two children from the same family, a baby and a 4 year old, and on her other side is an older child. 

On November 11, 2014, Cathern left flowers on her grave and took a photo for me. It was a very emotional day for me when I received this photo, and I am forever grateful to Cathern for finding my sister,  Kathyrn.

Above and Beyond at Find A Grave

I talked about Find A Grave before in my post on Burials.  I  know there have been issues with people who are less kindly-volunteers and more on-a-mission-rack-up-the-numbers types.  But today I have to tell you about a true volunteer who went above and beyond for me.


This volunteer does not live in the town in England where I requested a gravestone photo.  He is retired and likes to roam around the country visiting cemeteries and takes a lot of photos, especially of war graves. He was passing through my ancestors town and claimed my request so he could fulfill it.
This is what he found there.  

It was so overgrown! He said that over the winter this vegetation would all die off and in the spring he would go back, as it would be easier to clear and take photos.

Well, today I got another email from him and he said he is not as patient as I.  He was taking photos at another cemetery and took a route home that would pass this cemetery.  With "vegetation removal tools" in hand, he cleared all around the gravesite.

Now he was able to take close-up photos from every angle, as suggested by the Family Tree Blog that I mentioned in my High Fives post last Friday. He even took a photo of the side that is blank, just to show that it was.  

That is above and beyond and I am ever grateful, as I am for all the volunteers who take the time to help out people like me that live in a different city, a different country, a different continent!!  

It is sad that some cemeteries are left to go to seed, the inhabitants long forgotten. Perhaps now, with more people researching their ancestors and looking for their final resting place, some of these cemeteries will get spruced up for the occasion.

   

May He Rest in Peace

Your beloved ancestor dies. A plot is purchased and the funeral arrangements made. After a mournful service in the church the loved one is interred in the family plot and soon the headstone, chiseled with his name and dates and perhaps a sentiment or verse from the Bible, will be placed to mark the place where he lies.  May he rest in peace.

.... or not!

I found a Find-a-Grave memorial for a cousin, George King, died in 1888 at 19 years of age and buried in Section C of the Cheltenham Cemetery in Port Adelaide, South Australia. This is his obituary...

Like I hopefully do with all my ancestor memorials, I requested a photo of the gravestone. Imagine my surprise when I received this reply:

Problem reported.. specifically:

Unfortunately George's gravesite has now been repurchased by another family. His remains have been moved to a corner of the site, but all that remains on the site is the headstone for the new interment, Anthony Ciantor. I have taken a photo and added it to Anthony's memorial # 100220191

Anthony Ciantor died in 2008.
I am now checking George's other family members to see if they have been put in a corner also, and have written a message to the Cemetery Authority to ask about this practice.
No reply as yet.

Update: From the Adelaide Cemeteries Authority

The tenure of an Interment Right, formally known as a Lease, Grant or Licence varies from cemetery to cemetery. The Adelaide Cemeteries Authority offers an initial tenure period of 50 or 99 years. Interment Rights can be renewed at any time during the tenure period. The minimum renewal period is 5 years.

If the Interment Right Holder or other interested party chooses not to renew, or a minimum period of 2 years has elapsed since notice was given and the interment right has not been renewed, ownership of the sites reverts to the Adelaide Cemeteries Authority. At this point in time, the site may be re-used in accordance with the Burial and Cremation Act 2013.

Check with your ancestor's cemetery to see if the rules say you buy the plot in perpetuity, or lease the plot for a set time with options to renew.


Another strange occurrence was with my 2x great uncle Horace Porter. That's the poor guy who was hit on the head with a brick during a tramway strike and spent the next 45 years in an insane asylum. When he died this notice was placed in the Montreal Gazette:

I contacted the Mount Royal Cemetery requesting a burial location, and I received this reply:

Name: Horace Melvin Porter
He was removed from the cemetery on May 20^th, 1948 and his final disposition is unknown. 

When I later got a photo of his parents' gravestone, I see Horace was (possibly) buried with them in the family plot in Kirkdale, Quebec. His sister, my great grandmother, who visited him every week for 45 years would have seen to that. 

Porters, Kirkdale Cemetery, Quebec

My 2x great grandfather John Seale's first wife, Sarah died in 1834 and was buried in the Milton Family Burial Ground (Pittsburgh, Ontario) located by the river on the Milton property, right next door to the Seale's lot. John's son Henry David, who died in 1859 at 3 years 8 months was also buried there, as were his in-laws the Hunters. Cataraqui Cemetery opened in 1850 and in 1874 the remains of Sarah, Henry and the Hunters were moved there to a newly purchased family plot. Later, in 1958, John's son Charles was also moved to Cataraqui from Milton. 

Seale and Hunter Memorial, Cataraqui Cemetery

Some of my Lancashire ancestors are buried in the c1236 cemetery of St James Church in Stalmine.  You will not find the gravestones walking around the cemetery, because in 1973 they were removed, cleaned and embedded in a new wall to make it easier to keep the cemetery neat. There was estimated that over 3000 people were buried in this small cemetery just between 1583 and 1724, and even more until closing to burials around 1899. In the year 2000 the Church of England offered parishes a yew tree, cuttings from a 2000 year old yew at St Mary's on Hampshire's Hayling Island. St James accepted.

Info and photo sent to me by the clerk of St James, Stalmine.

Then comes Dora. Dora Porter was my 2x great aunt and the sister of Horace.  Dora died in 1943 in Philadelphia, in a home for the indigent. She had beloved parents that had died more than 20 years before. Dora had a loving husband that died in 1936 and was buried in Mt Peace Cemetery.  None of this was noted on her death certificate.
Father... unknown. Mother... unknown.  Husband... unknown.
The informants signature is that of a city desk clerk. Dora was aged 72 and they wrote her cause of death as hemiplegia, generalized arteriosclerosis due to senility.
Place of burial: Anatomical Board??

¹From Pennsylvania Cadaver Receiving Books for 1943

Her body was given to medical research. I would think that if she was senile and didn't know her parents or husband's name, she was surely not able to sign for this? Was there even a burial afterwards?  Was there anything left to bury? Those were my first questions.

Researching further I discovered that according to the Pennsylvania Anatomy Act of 1883 (to deter grave robbing) the state was given the right to use unclaimed bodies for medical research. When Dora died she did have 7 siblings still living, but perhaps due to her senility was unable to tell anyone.

Anatomical Board Cadaver Receiving Books may be found in city archives with Department of Health records.

If you have insights into any of these situations, or if you have an ancestor who was not left buried - we would love to hear about it.


May they all rest in peace!


Relevant Links

History of the Anatomy Act of Pennsylvania, pdf

The anatomy act, 1832 ; the pharmacy act,1852 ; the pharmacy act, 1869 ; the anatomy act, 1871 – Great Britain

The South Australia Anatomy Act of 1884, pdf

The Anatomy Act of 1832 of Ireland

The Anatomy Act of British Columbia, current to 2017

The Anatomy Act of Nova Scotia

¹Source:

Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission

Record Group 11, Records of the Department of Health

Series 11.45, Cadaver Receiving Books, 1901-1965. 

Serendipity Sunday - Mail Order Tombstones

I was researching the sport of Fencing, using keyword "fencing" and because of "iron grave fencing" being keywords in the topic, this catalogue popped up!

Monuments, Tombstones and Markers - Montgomery Ward & Co, 1915

Who knew you could check out fridges, sofas and tombstones from the same department store??  Even Tiffany's got in the act!

Relevant Links

Monuments, Tombstones and Markers - Montgomery Ward & Co, 1915

Monuments, Tombstones and Markers - Montgomery Ward & Co, 1934

Catalogue of tombstones, monuments, tablets and markers: Sears, Roebuck 1902

Tiffany Studios, 1913

Tributes to honor : Tiffany Studios, 1918

Montreal's Old English Burying Ground

The Old English Burying Ground of Montreal was once situated at the corner of Dorchester and St Urban Streets. 

Member of Parliament Walter Shanly had written down inscriptions on some of the tombstones there, and when the cemetery was destroyed in 1875 to make a park he thought it best to publish them and his letter was written up in the Sessional Papers of the Dominion of Canada of 1890.

There are 29 inscriptions. Looking  up their burial records on Ancestry most seem to have had their funeral service at the old Christ Church, with a few at St Gabriel. In some few cases surviving descendants, when notified of the impending destruction, removed their loved ones to the Mount Royal Cemetery. James McGill and his two brothers were buried here, and James' remains were removed to the McGill University Campus (does not mention his brothers).  The rest were plowed over. The site became a park named Dufferin Square.

Relevant Links

Inscriptions of tombstones in the Old English Burying Ground Page xv

Same as above, but at Internet Archive



Burials

Company of Undertakers

My Porter ancestors came from Ireland and settled in Ulverton, in the South Durham area of Quebec. My 2x great grandfather John Porter was born there in 1840. He was a farmer/ wheel wright/ carpenter/ contractor/ coffin maker. John lived in Ulverton most of his life, married and had children there. Sometime after the 1901 census, John and his wife Susanna moved to New Hampshire. When they died in New Hampshire in the early 1900's their sons had their remains brought home for burial. To do this they had to get a "New Hampshire Death and Disinterment Certificate". This record is packed with information, including occupation, birth date, death date, cause of death, parents names and their country of birth, where the burial will take place, and more.

My husband's mother's family immigrate from Muzylowice, Galicia, which at that time was part of the Austrian Empire. I was fortunate enough to have someone put me in touch with a group that had done research in that area, and who were carrying out a Cemetery Project at Münchenthal, aka Muzylowice. They cleaned up the cemetery and erected a memorial. I got a lot of helpful information from Ed Rozylowicz.

The Church

The Cemetery

Many Cemeteries have an index on their website which you can search for your ancestor. Some give more information, others you have to ask for it and they may or may not charge a small fee.  I have had good response with some cemeteries, they gladly emailed me information on my ancestors including cause of death, death and burial dates, and location of the grave. Some have even offered to go out and take photos of the grave.  You don't know until you ask.

The older graves may be much harder to find or to read.  My daughter went to the Mount Royal Cemetery where some of our ancestors were buried and knowing where one grave was she still could not find it. But leaning up against their son's monument in the family plot was a piece of gravestone she could neither read nor move. You can see it at bottom right. Their son had this monument made for his beloved wife, and when he died and was buried there (according to cemetery records), neither of his daughters added his name to the stone.  

I am adding all my ancestors as I find them to Find a Grave and I link them to their family members, so that the records will be on Ancestry and others may find them in the future.

Related Links:

New Hampshire Death and Disinterment Records

Burial Location request at Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal

Les Cimetières de Quebec

The Company of Undertakers (jpeg)

Scottish Genealogy Society - Black Book (deaths by county)

Register of interments in the Greyfriars burying ground, Edinburgh 1658-1700

Gleanings from Blue Church Burial Ground - Augusta Township, ON

Wills, registers and monumental inscriptions of the parish of Barwick-in-Elmet, Co York (also in genealogies and wills)

Tabernacle United Methodist Church, NC 1994;  Cemetery listings and historical information, 1837-1994

Journal - Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead in Ireland

UK Burials in Indian Cemeteries

The Annual Monitor - Obituary; members of the Society of Friends in Britain and Ireland.

Victoria Genealogy Society (BC) - Burials Index

Old Cemeteries of Victoria database

Obituary records of graduates of Amherst College (Mass)

Registre d'inhumation de Mount Hermon Cemetery, Quebec (Protestant) 1848-1904

Some Mount Hermon Cemetery transcriptions - Quebec City

The first Catholic cemeteries of Montreal: Lot owners at Cote des Neiges Cemetery 1897

Burials of the Algonquian, Siouan and Caddoan tribes west of the Mississippi

Mortuary records with genealogical notes of the own of Spafford, Onondaga Co, NY 1917

The Obituary book of Queen's College, Oxford; and ancient Sarum Kalendar, with obituaries of the founders and benefactors of the College - 1910

Memorials of St. Michael's: The Old Parish Churchyard of Dumfries 1876

Gravestone inscriptions and records of tomb burials in the Central and South burying ground, Boston 1917

Gravestone inscriptions ad records of tomb burials in the Granary burying ground , Boston

Burial inscriptions and data in Berwick, York County, Maine to 1922

Register of deaths and burials - Bellevue Cemetery Co, NC 1876-1988

Burials and inscriptions in the Walnut Street Cemetery of Brookline, Mass with historical sketches of some of the persons buried there 1920

History of the Old Tennent Church and a complete list of burials - NJ 1904

Epitaphia : a collection of 1300 British epitaphs, grave and gay, historical and curious, annotated with biographical notes, anecdotes, etc., with an introduction upon modes of burial and a general survey of interments in the British Iles from medieval times, together with an account of peculiar interments, church folk-lore, and a short chapter on American epitaphs – 1909

Inscriptions on the tablets and gravestones in St Michael's Church and churchyard, Charleston, SC and list of interments of persons to whom there are no stones - 1906

A Mohawk form of ritual of condolence - 1782 - Caughnawaga

Record Inscriptions at the Catholic Church at Patna Bihar and Orissa - India 1917

Canadian Deaths: The Dominion Annual Register and Review - 1878-1886

List of inscriptions on tombstones and monuments in Ceylon 1913

Tombstone inscriptions from the churchyard of the First Reformed Dutch Church of Fishkill Village, Dutchess Co, NY 1882

Tombstone inscriptions of the Old St Paul's Church cemetery, Newton, NC 1702-1967

Gravestone Markers (several volumes) - USA

Inscriptions on the Tombstones of Americans buried in Père La Chaise Cemetery, Paris France 1919

Register of Confederate dead, interred in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond VA 1869

Register of Confederate soldiers who died in Camp Douglas, 1862-65 and lie buried in Oakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, Ill 1892

List showing inscriptions of headstones for the Confederate soldiers and sailors while prisoners of war, died at Columbus and Camp Denison, OH and were buried in Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery, those dying at Camp Denison  having been thence removed 1907

A list of the Union Soldiers buried at Andersonville, 1866

Burial Hill in the 1990's, Plymouth, Mass: a six-year cemetery mapping project with descriptions, conditions and some photographs.

Zion Cemetery, Scarborough, York, Ontario

The act of incorporation of the Cataraqui Cemetery Co; its rules etc, and list of lotholders 1854 - Kingston, ON

Death records fro the ancient burial ground at Kingston, Mass , 1905

Index to Death Roll of the St John Globe, NB

Funeral homes, directors and cars history images on Flickr

Kentish monumental inscriptions - at Tenterden 1919

Andersonville Diary, Escape, and list of the Dead:  with name, regiment, date of death and number of grave in cemetery.

History of the Antietam National Cemetery, including a descriptive list of all the soldiers buried therein; together with ceremonies of Ancient, free and accepted Masons in laying the corner-stone of the soldier monument - 1890

The Oriental Obituary 1809 (British Raj Tombstones)

A calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem for Cornwall and Devon 1906

List of Licensed Embalmers - Illinois 1913

Official list of licensed embalmers - Iowa 1921

Account books, check and funeral registers for James L Comisky, North Adams, Mass 1882+

Vest Funeral Home mortuary records, Indiana 1947-1958

Cheshire and Lancashire Funeral Certificates; AD 160-1678

The burial of the dead; a pastor's complete hand-book for funeral services, and for the consolation and comfort of the afflicted - 1882

Collection of epitaphs and monumental inscriptions, chiefly in Scotland 1834

Historical sketch of Graceland Cemetery, Chicago

The Jewish Cemetery at Orangeburg, SC 1910

Indicateur du cimetière catholique de Montréal / par Siméon Mondou 1889

Monuments de Mont-Royal; cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges 1901

Documents sur les Juifs à Paris au XVIIIe siècle; actes d'inhumation et scellés 1913

British Settlers in Brazil and Uruguay - deaths

Lindenwood Cemetery Interment Records 1918

Inscriptions on the gravestones in the grave yards of Northampton, and of other towns in the valley of Connecticut, as Springfield, Amherst, Hadley, Hatfield, Deerfield, etc – 1850

Inscriptions Oyster Bay, NY 1911

The monumental inscriptions in the cemetery at Belleside, Fergus (Ont) 1833

Bedlam Burial Register - Liverpool St, City of London

Military re-interment of soldiers, Lundy's Lane, Niagara Falls, Canada - 1891


Links to Australian Cemeteries

The danger of premature interment : proved from many remarkable instances of people who have recovered after being laid out for dead, and of others entombed alive, for want of being properly examined prior to interment. Also a description of the manner the ancient Egyptians, and other nations preserved and venerated their dead, and a curious account of their sepulchral ever burning lamps and mausoleums. Likewise the pernicious effects of burying in the body of churches, and confined church yards pointed out, whereby many valuable lives have been lost to the public, and their friends.