Last week I posted a couple of photos of Brockley Cemetery in Lewisham. This is where my great great grandmother, Mary Jane (Clarke) Freeth/Wright/Carroll, was buried in 1932. I’d found her entry in the Greenwich Union death register and discovered she had been buried “by friends” in Brockley Cemetery1. In May 2012 I contacted Lewisham Council and a lovely staff member there sent me Mary Jane’s burial details, as well as a map marked with the location of her grave. Eureka!
My mother was visiting from New Zealand at the time, and together we set off to find Mary Jane’s grave. This is what we were confronted with in the Roman Catholic section of the cemetery:
Brockley Cemetery, Lewisham, London – June 2012
You can see how overgrown the area was – it was almost impossible to read any of the gravestones, even where the inscriptions were still legible. After an hour, we gave up the search.
My next step is to contact the Friends of Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries, in the hope that they may be able to pinpoint the grave location more accurately. And to buy some heavy-duty gardening tools.
Wordless Wednesday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.
Mike Guilfoyle
Dear IwiKiwi,
I noticed that you were seeking to locate grave of your gggrandmother. Appreciate that this section of Brockley Cemetery is more overgrown and difficult to negotiate. With the wintry weather about to subside? it might be worth persisting with your search. We have experienced similar challenges in locating historic graves even with references. I am sure that you will find your loved ones grave in due course. Regards Mike Guilfoyle-Vice-Chair Foblc
Maggie
Thanks for your comments, Mike! Probably now is a good time to go searching, before all the spring growth.