Are you looking for an ancestor or relative who you think is buried in York Cemetery, but have no idea where?
Perhaps you know where your ancestor is buried but would like to know who else shares their grave, where they lived at their time of death and their occupations , etc?
The Genealogy Team are here to help you.
The Team
The Genealogy Section of York Cemetery is managed by a small, friendly, helpful and enthusiastic team of Volunteers from the Friends of York Cemetery.
Enquiries
Email: We encourage you to make your initial enquiry by email: info@yorkcemeterygenealogy.org.uk
The email account is regularly monitored and we aim to provide a response within a few days
In Person: The Murray Room (at the Gatehouse) is open for in-person enquiries on Fridays only (except Bank Holidays) between 10.00 and 15.30.
You will be given a warm welcome.
Grave Visits:
These can be arranged as follows;
Fridays (except Bank Holidays) 10.00 – 15.30. No Appointment Necessary. However, please indicate a date and approximate time for your visit as this helps us prepare.
Saturday Afternoons 12.30 – 15.30. By Appointment Only. These are particularly convenient for working people and those living outside York.
Monday to Thursday. By Appointment Subject to Availability of a Volunteer.
The Service
Every burial, currently in excess of 124,500, since the cemetery opened on 21 January 1837 is fully recorded on a searchable database. The Database records over 10,200 different surnames in the cemetery Burial Registers including several variations of the now accepted spelling of the surname.
There is no public access to the database but the Genealogy Team will be pleased to carry out searches in response to enquiries.
We charge a small fee for some of our services. Details can be found on the Charges page.
All monies collected through this service are used to assist the York Cemetery Trust in their work to improve and preserve the cemetery.
Initial Enquiry and Response – No charge
Please provide as much information as possible about your relative. As a minimum we require a name, approximate death date and approximate age
We will search the database to confirm that your relative is with us in the cemetery and provide a small amount of additional information to ensure we have the correct person.
Reports – Small charge
We provide three Reports. Please refer to the Database Searches page for full details of each Report. Briefly:
Surname Report – provides a list of all people recorded in the cemetery with that name
Individual Report – provides known information about the individual
Full Report – in addition to the known information about an individual it includes the grave occupancy and the Memorial Inscription where this is relevant
The Individual and Full Reports include an A4 size map of the cemetery showing the approximate location of the grave.
Memorial Photos
Where these have been taken they are included as ‘thumbnails’ as part of the Individual and Full Reports.
Additional memorial photos and larger copies of the ‘thumbnails’ can be provided for a small charge.
People Photos
We have a number of images of people buried in the cemetery. Where available these are included as part of the Individual and Full Reports. Larger photos can be provided at no extra cost.
Hugh Murray’s Pedigrees
The late Hugh Murray was a local historian who compiled a number of pedigrees, or family trees, of local families. These have been digitised and copies are available for a small charge.
Accompanied Grave Visits
As part of our helpful service we will accompany you to the graves. Where the graves are accessible we will carry out moderate clearance to enable you to read any memorial inscription.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Many regards,
The Genealogy Team
Link to York Cemetery Website
Link to Friends of York Cemetery
Hugh Murray’s Garden of Death Book
