Looking for 1885 burial/cremation of death in Sydenham, London/Kent

My direct maternal great, great, great grandmother Elizabeth NORMAN (nee BURR of Harlow, Essex) died (have death certificate) on 1st June 1885 in Sydenham, Kent (now London SE26) but have long been unable to trace her final resting place.

I have revisited:
Ancestry (including 3 family trees)
Billion Graves
DeceasedOnline
FamilySearch
Find a Grave
Findmypast

I have also posted on the North West Kent FHS, Sydenham Forum and numerous Facebook groups to no avail.

I have a copy of her will but does not include any such final wishes.

Husband John NORMAN died in 1852 and is buried in St Bartholomew's chuchyard, Sydenham but no mention of Elizabeth.

Could Elizabeth have donated her body to medical science?

Coincidentally, I have 2 other female ancestors whose final resting place eludes me.

Please advise what other resources exist that may lead to me tracing Elizabeth's final resting place?

 

Hi Prussian, searching on FMP for just burials in Kent there is this record...........

First name Elizabeth
Place Gillingham, Grange Road & Woodland Road Cemeteries
Last name Norman
County Kent
Sex Female
Country England
Birth year 1810
Record source Gillingham, Kent. Former Grange Road Cemetery burials 1869-2007
Age at death 73
Record set Kent Burials
Burial year 1883
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Burial date 03 Jul 1883
Subcategory Civil Deaths & Burials
Death place Died at Brompton. Removed from Brompton
Collections from England, Great Britain
Kent Family History Society

Could this be her ?

 

Heather,

Thank you for taking the time search for my ancestor.

Sadly this is not my Elizabeth NORMAN.

 

You would need to investigate further, but it's quite possible that some time between 1852 and 1885 the churchyard became full. After that, except where there was a part-used family grave, people would most likely have been buried in a nearby cemetery.

If so, you would need to look into what cemeteries there were in the Sydenham area in 1885, and follow them up. Some may have records online via somewhere like Deceased Online, or occasionally on their own website, but with others you may need to contact the cemetery to ask them to check their registers for you, for which they may charge.

Have you checked newspapers for a death notice etc, as occasionally that will give information about the burial, though 1885 might be a bit early for that.

 

There is one website missing from the list in Prussian's opening thread, Gravestone Photographic Resource. I have looked for Elizabeth but didn't have any luck.

Have you considered that her name may have been mis transcribed, wherever she might be listed? Have you tried variations, wild cards etc?

If I have found the right GRO Death record, Elizabeth's death was registered in the Lewisham Reg District of which Sydenham was a sub district
She could have been buried in any of the cemeteries within the Borough of Lewisham.
Short of finding burial registers for the month in question and trawling through them I can't think of what else you could do.

 

According to the Lewisham Library parish register list, burial registers for St Bartholomew, Sydenham go up to 1923 but there are "few after 1858", so I suspect this is when the churchyard effectively closed. From the list, other newer churches in Sydenham do not appear to have done burials. So the 1885 burial would very likely have been in one of the local cemeteries.

The records for Sydenham at Ancestry are, as far as I can tell, from the BTs and only go as far as 1866.

I think it's unlikely that at this date she would have donated her body to science, but if she had, it would likely have been mentioned in her will.

Lewisham Library mention a list of inscriptions in St Bartholomew's churchyard, so that might be worth investigating.

 

It was the Kent Archaeological Society who initially informed me of my John NORMAN gravestone at St Barts. I later visited the churchyard but was unable to trace the gravestone.

 

Sydenham is in Lewisham Council District. The council are responsible for Brockley, Hither Green & Ladywell Cemeteries all of which were open by 1885. Is it possible her record is missing off of deceased online? - my maternal Grandmothers burial in 1957 in Nottingham is still missing from deceased online six years after they found the image for me! Suggest you email them with the date of death and ask them to check that records for early June 1885 for those 3 cemeteries are complete. No harm in asking!

 

In FindaGrave on this page, when you click on each place in the list it will display a further list of cemeteries within that place.
The website doe not include every grave in every cemetery, it is useful for finding out where cemeteries are.

I wouldn't discount Norwood cemetery, this might be worth a punt.