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Cemeteries information for Berkshire and places above it in the hierarchy

Berkshire

  • General information about cemeteries. The cemetery records often provide more than just the name of the deceased and the date of burial. They can refer to who paid for the grave, if other family members are in the same plot, and in some cases even the date of death.
  • This list of Berkshire cemeteries from Berkshire FHS lists what records are available and from where.
  • Monumental Inscriptions (MIs):
    • Berkshire FHS shop sells transcriptions of MIs for Berkshire (on CD and digital download) and a number of which also contain photographs).  
    • Some are also available for reference at Reading Central Library.  
    • The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies (IHGS) publishes free online transcriptions of a limited number MIs, including Faringdon, Hurst, Remenham, Stratfield Mortimer, Tilehurst, and Wantage from Berkshire.
    • For Berkshire parishes now located in modern Oxfordshire, some MIs have been transcribed by OFHS. 
    • See also burials under Church Records and War Memorials below. 
  • The RBA hold the records of the three Reading cemeteries: Reading Cemetery (London Road/Cemetery Junction), 1843-2007 (R/UC1), Hemdean Road Cemetery, 1885-2007 (R/UC2); and Henley Road and Reading Crematorium (R/UC3 and DC/R/UC3).  The records often provide more than just the name of the deceased and the date of burial. They can refer to who paid for the grave, if other family members are in the same plot, and in some cases even the date of death.
  • Berkshire FHS have some information on churches and cemetaries (members only).
  • Reading Cemetery opened in 1843 as one of the earliest ‘garden cemeteries’ in England. After the churchyards in Reading were closed for public health reasons in 1856, it was the main burial place for the town, and it also buried some people from further afield. (For more detail, see the Berkshire Echo Vol 90, Jan 2020). The records 1843 ‑ 1959 have recently been published on FamilySearch (text only database and no plot locations), Berkshire Burials CD and CD of transcriptions of the existing Monumental Inscriptions from Berks FHS shop.  Details of how to find records and the history of the cemetery are given by the RBA and Historic England. The Reading Old Cemetery undertaking Project (ROCuP) provides information about the cemetery and those intered there.
  • Hemdean Road Cemetery opened as Caversham Cemetery in 1885 following the closure of St Peter’s Churchyard to new burials, and was originally run by Caversham Burial Board, and later by Caversham Urban District Council. It was intended to serve the whole of Caversham apart from the area forming the Ecclesiastical District of Kidmore. (For more detail, see the Berkshire Echo Vol 90, Jan 2020 and RBA.).
  • Henley Road Cemetery, Caversham, opened in 1927, and was run by Reading Borough Council, more details from the RBA.
  • Reading Crematorium was built at Henley Road Cemetery in 1932, and served people from Berkshire, north Hampshire and south Oxfordshire, more details from the RBA.
  • For the location of cemeteries, see  Church Database under Church History. 
  • The Monumental Brasses of Berkshire, William Lack, H Martin Stuchfield & Philip Whittemore, (Monumental Brass Society, 1993. ISBN 0 9501298 8 7). 194 pages; over 200 illustrations.
  • Trade directories can provide some information about the cemeteries themselves through the years, see sample pages from a 1915 directory.

England

  • For details of the graves of the rich and famous, together with biographical information, look at the Find-a-Grave (England) page.

UK and Ireland

  • The National Burial Index is hosted by findmypast (subscription site).
  • List of Registered Cemeteries from Historic England.
  • Gravestone photograph resource: an "index of the names that appear on photos taken by the Gravestone Photographic Resource Project team". This valuable project provides email copies of any of its collection of grave monument images free of charge on request.
  • The Deceased Online website -"the first central database of statutory burial and cremation registers for the UK and Republic of Ireland" (subscription site).
  • The Church Monuments Society provides photographs of the more interesting monuments (NOT monumental inscriptions) in a limited number of church yards.
  • Index for Burials at Sea - from Ancestry and FindaGrave.