Documents
Abbreviations
BP = Burial Plan, BT = Bishop’s Transcripts, CWG = Commonwealth War Grave, d. = died, GoR = Garden of Remembrance, MI = Monumental Inscription, OC = Old Churchyard, PR = Parish Register, Slay = transcript of MIs by Katherine Slay.
Other abbreviations are listed at the start of the documents in which they are used.
DATABASE of 1888 and 1938 Extensions
Each entry gives the location of the burial by Row and Plot number, e.g. 14.22 means Row 14, Plot 22. The dates of birth and death are given, if known; otherwise the dates of baptism and burial, again if known.
The research was carried out between April 2023 and August 2025 by Dennise Lane, Pauline Pearson, John Fitch, and the late Ken Green, with contributions by Rosie Speer and Diane Evan. Because of the numbers involved, we relied chiefly on the evidence of the Censuses, and on records of BMD’s (births, marriages and deaths), with occasional use of newspaper reports and obituaries, when we were lucky enough to find them.
Note: Since 2006, burials have taken place in the southeastern section of the churchyard (marked as ‘Current Burials’ on Plan A). In addition, interments of cremated ashes have taken place since 1999 in the Garden of Remembrance (marked as ‘Ash Burials’ on Plan A). We have not researched these recent burials. We have also not researched the individuals buried in the Old Churchyard. Perhaps some future researcher will take on this task! However, an index of burials up to the end of 1887 is included on this page.
The People of Whyke Churchyard
This article is a sampler: it draws examples of particular interest from the approximately 1,930 biographies found in the Database. Its purpose is to open pathways into this large body of material. The article aims to show how our research sheds light on the lives and circumstances of parishioners in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It may encourage readers to pursue their own interests in the Database, perhaps using the electronic Search facility to do so.
Chichester Street Index of Burials
This Index, compiled by Pauline Pearson, makes it possible to discover information about the previous residents of a property. The Index identifies the previous residents by Row and Plot number: e.g. for 126 Whyke Road it gives 24.31. Next go to the Burial Plan (below), which says that 24.31 is Rhoda Hector. Now you can find information about her in the Database: it tells us that she lived at that address from 1957 to 1999.
Burial Plan of the 1888 and 1938 Extensions
The Plan shows who is buried in adjacent graves – often people who are related but have different surnames. It also enables us to trace the historical progress of burials row by row. We have to thank successive Churchwardens, including Ken Green, for maintaining this Plan, which until recently was the only record of the location of individual burials.
View Burial Plan of the 1888 and 1938 Extensions
Index of Burials to 1887
Burials up to the end of 1887 were in the Old Churchyard (OC).
This index has been compiled from the parish registers (PR), Bishop’s Transcripts (BT) and inscriptions on headstones (MI). The “Notes” in column 5 are currently based on these sources only. The names of all those parishioners buried before 1610, and many buried between 1610 and 1711, are not recorded in these sources, and are therefore unknown to history, though “known to God”.
If the person buried has a headstone, the number in column 1 shows where to find it in Katherine Slay’s transcription, and in her plan of the Old Churchyard.
In Column 4 the date of death, where known, is listed, rather than the date of burial.
Until 1752 the year began on 25 March and ended on the next 24 March. An entry in the index such as 15 Feb 1671/2 indicates that the year is 1671 in the original record, but 1672 by modern reckoning.
History of the Churchyard
The History traces the development of the Churchyard, and provides some context for individual burials. Please note that the History is copyrighted, and should not be copied without permission.
Plans of the Churchyard
Plan A shows the various sections of the Churchyard in relation to each other and to the Old Church and surrounding streets. Plan B, by Katherine Slay, shows the location of headstones in the Old Churchyard; it is keyed to her transcription of the inscriptions on the stones. Plan C, by Ken Green and Hilda Yardley, shows the layout and numbering of the 1888 and 1938 Extensions.