Tracing your family tree and discovering information about your ancestors can be a fulfilling experience. One of the important steps you have to go through in this process is locating the final resting places of your ancestors. This article will help you figure out how to search the grave sites of your ancestors effectively. Feel free to follow this guide if you are looking for information in an Aldergrove cemetery or anywhere else.
Get Organized
The first step is to get organized. Collect any information you already have about your ancestors – full names, dates and places of birth/death, spouse’s and children’s names. Write down what you know, indicate any details you are uncertain about, and clearly define your genealogy research goals. Outline the ancestor grave sites you wish to locate. This will help provide directions for your search.
Talk to Relatives
Speak with relatives, especially older family members, to collect clues about your ancestors. Family stories and anecdotes can provide cemetery names, gravesite locations, burial details, and other useful information. Relatives may have visited grave sites before and can point you in the right direction. Even stories you cannot confirm can give hints to pursue. Write down all your findings to analyze.
Check Historical Records
Various historical records can aid you in your search. Birth, marriage, and death records often list cemetery names. Obituaries contain interment details. Church burial registers, funeral home records, coroner’s reports, cemetery deeds, and burial transit permits may provide relevant clues.
For Vancouver ancestors specifically, the British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency and the British Columbia Archives have millions of genealogical records you can access.
Contact Local Cemeteries
You may also think about contacting a cemetery in Surrey you think of. Find a grave website can help you with locating contact information of a cemetery.
Once you identify a cemetery, get in touch with them directly. The cemetery office will have burial records you can browse on-site. Larger cemeteries may have some records accessible online to search. If you have specific ancestors’ names and approximate death dates, cemetery staff can look up lot/plot locations for you. Be aware records may be incomplete or contain errors, especially for very old burials. Regular cemetery office hours are Monday to Friday.
Search the Graveyard Yourself
If a cemetery search comes up empty or lists just a general area, you may need to wander the graveyard yourself looking for familiar surnames on headstones. Weekday mornings tend to be the quietest. Having the ancestor’s full name and exact year of death helps immensely in locating their grave marker. Many older stones suffer damage over time and can be hard to read. Use chalk or flour to highlight engraved letters. Take along a smartphone to snap photographs and transcribe inscriptions later if needed.
Seek Professional Assistance
If you have exhausted other avenues without success, a professional genealogist can conduct targeted cemetery research for you. Experienced researchers have better knowledge of obscure record collections and advanced search methods that may turn up hard-to-find graves. Expect to pay an hourly rate or fixed fee depending on the complexity of your case. Be ready to share your family tree details with them.
Preserve Your Discoveries
As you find your ancestor’s grave locations, be sure to document your search process and preserve any records collected along the way – cemetery maps, burial cards, gravestone photographs, etc. Not only does this help justify your conclusions but it assists future generations who come looking as well. Consider uploading records, photos, and site locations to online genealogy websites to share.
Final Words
Visiting the final resting spot of your ancestors can be a fulfilling experience after an intensive search. As databases grow and more genealogical resources shift online, hunting down grave locations of family forebearers becomes a bit easier. Still, it requires patience, persistence, and old-fashioned footwork. By following this guide and applying these cemetery search tips, Vancouverites can successfully track down the burial places of their relations.
Published: September 25, 2024
