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Date updated: 8/03/2023

1. About this Guide

This guide explains how to find the burial place of an individual in London’s cemeteries.

Before the mid-19th century most burials in London took place in churchyards and were recorded in parish registers.

In the 1850s, the overcrowded churchyards and burial grounds of inner London were closed by a series of Acts of Parliament and subsequently burials took place mainly in municipal and commercial cemeteries.

2. What do I need to know before I start?

Try to find out:

  • The date of death
  • The place of death
  • Their last known address

For cemetery burials, there was not always a connection between the area where the death occurred, and the cemetery chosen for interment. Start with the cemeteries closest to the place of death and last known address but be prepared to widen your search.

3. Cemetery Records held at London Metropolitan Archives

LMA holds burial records for the following cemeteries:

Bunhill Fields Burial Ground

City of London Cemetery, Little Ilford

  • Registers of private graves 1856-1949, monuments 1870-1948 and cremations 1905-1943 in CLA/052
  • Original burial registers 1856 to date are held at the cemetery and can be searched on the City of London Cemetery website

City of London and Tower Hamlets Cemetery

Highgate Cemetery

Kensal Green Cemetery

New Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, Islington

  • Burial registers 1831-1853 and burial fee registers 1824-1853 in B/NBF

Nunhead Cemetery

Velho and Novo Cemeteries

  • Burial registers 1657-1935 in (LMA/4521/A/02/04). You must get permission from the S&P Sephardi Community to view these records
  • A transcript of the burials at Novo Cemetery 1733-1918 is available in the LMA Library (shelfmark 60.58 SPA)

Victoria Park Cemetery

West Norwood Cemetery

Whitechapel Quaker Burial Ground

  • Microfilm of interment order book 1777-1781 in CLC/196

4. Burial records held elsewhere

Most burial records are still held by the cemetery offices of individual London boroughs. Many boroughs have now digitised their records and made them available online on websites such as Deceased Online (charges apply).