When a death certificate cannot be found, cemetery records can give information on the death of an ancestor. They may also offer more information on a deceased ancestor and their close family.
There are two types of cemetery records that record information about people who have been buried – burial records and headstone inscriptions. Even if there is no monument or plaque, burial records record all burials in a cemetery. Headstone inscriptions, often give important information that is not available elsewhere, especially for early deaths where written records do not exist or provide little data.
Information on burials can be found in a variety of sources, including:
- Burial certificates
- Church registers
- Civil death certificates
- Council and private cemetery registers/records
- Funeral director or undertaker records
- Monumental inscriptions (listings of grave markers, memorial plaques and monuments)
- Newspaper funeral notices
Except for Tasmania, death certificates in all states and territories specify the location of the deceased’s burial from:
- Australian Capital Territory (ACT) – January 1930
- New South Wales – March 1856
- Northern Territory – 1949
- Queensland – March 1856
- South Australia – 1948
- Victoria – July 1853
- Western Australia – 1896
Burial records vary from cemetery to cemetery, however, the deceased’s name, date of birth, date of death and plot number or description of location are often included in the majority of entries. By researching both burial records and headstone inscriptions, the following information may also be found:
- Age of Deceased
- Place of Death
- Place of Birth
- Names of Parents
- Name of Spouse
- Names of Children
- Years in Australia
- Names of Witnesses
Cemetery trusts, ecclesiastical authorities, and local councils keep burial and cemetery records. Many of these have been published and are available for research online. Although not all local councils offer an online search option for cemeteries, their websites are always worth examining if their area of authority includes the cemetery or burial site of interest. If you’re having trouble obtaining cemetery or burial information online, see if your local library, state library, or family history group has published records or transcriptions, or gives access to historic registers.
Some things to keep in mind when looking for Australian cemetery records:
- Because no official records of deaths were kept during the early years of the colony, and no land was set aside for burying the dead until 1792, the locations of all burial sites cannot be determined with 100 percent certainty.
- A headstone is not always found on a grave. Many people were buried in unmarked graves, and old headstones are often worn, damaged, or difficult to read.
- Due to the wide distances between communities, many individuals who died on their way to other places were buried in the place where they died. These sorts of burials are referred to as ‘lone graves’. Many of these lone graves have been discovered, and the available information has been collected and transcribed.
- Many burials took place on stations, which were tiny communities spread over vast swaths of grazing country. These burials were usually confined to family members or station employees. Station graves were on private property, and burial information was rarely documented; however, information may possibly be found in a written family or town history.
Pictured: Daylesford, Victoria, James Charles Armytage (1802-1897)