Cemeteries

This article details sources for monumental inscriptions and cemetery records.

See also:

• List of cemeteries in British India, for records of individual cemeteries and districts
• Cemeteries and monumental inscriptions reading list
• LDS Microfilms of Church registers in India includes burial registers

FIBIS resources

• The FIBIS database has a category of records called Cemeteries
• FIBIS Fact File No 6: Graves in British India by Richard Morgan 2011.
  • Part 1 explains what sources, paper and online, there are for Memorial Inscriptions in British India.
  • Part 2 suggests how to make best use of your time and resources if you wish to visit India and transcribe or photograph MIs of ancestors there.

Available to buy from the FIBIS Shop

British Library Records

• The British Library has the book, in three volumes, The Oriental Obituary being an impartial compilation from monumental inscriptions on the tombs of those persons whose ashes are deposited in these remote parts since the formation of European Settlements, to the present time To which is added Biographical Sketches, Anecdotes, etc by William Urquhart of Madras. Published in Madras by Journal Press, 1809. Shelfmark: General Reference Collection C.55.d.23. This book must be read in the Rare Books Reading Room. It appears that some or all of the contents of this book has been borrowed by M Derozario for his 1815 book The Complete Monumental Register, available online, refer below. The first volume of The Oriental Obituary 1809is online at archive.org

• Official Publications: Church Registers IOR/V/27/73 gives details of the four volumes of the book List of burials at Madras / compiled from the register of St. Mary’s Church, Fort St. George by C.H. Malden, for the period 1680-1900, published 1903-05. Also available as Shelfmark OIR 929.5 open access , where the four volumes are bound in one.

• Official Publications: Monumental Inscriptions and Monuments IOR/V/27/74 1848-1946. Many of these items are books on the open access shelves.
  • Two of these books, items IOR/V/27/74/69 -70, A list of inscriptions on Christian tombs or monuments in the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Kashmir and Afghanistan possessing historical or archaeological interest Part 1 by Miles Irving (1910) and Part 2 by George William De Rhe-Philipe (1912), the latter containing biographical information, have been reprinted by the Naval and Military Press under the title Soldiers of the Raj. These books are also available to read online, refer below.

• There is an extensive collection of records in the BACSA archive at the British Library, refer British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia

• United Kingdom High Commission files relating to cemeteries IOR/R/4/1-539 1943-1967. Transferred from Indian Public Works Department to the British High Commission, New Delhi, and from there to the India Office Records in 1972-73. Includes
  • File 12a Military memorials of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in India and Pakistan IOR/R/4/87 Dec 1948-Dec 1950
  • File 12b Military memorials of the Royal Artillery in India and Pakistan IOR/R/4/88 Jul 1947-May 1948
  • File 12e Military memorials of the Royal Engineers and the Sappers and Miners in India IOR/R/4/91 Jul 1947-Dec 1947
  • File 18/1 Durham Light Infantry monuments IOR/R/4/97 Aug 1949-May 1950
  • File 18/4 Graves of foreign nationals IOR/R/4/114 Mar 1890-Sep 1950
  • Also contains items "List of inscriptions". As an example, the FIBIS data base contains Transcriptions of summary data from gravestones in Chakrata taken from IOR/R4/539

Note these records are available on LDS microfilm where there is more detail provided about the individual items, in the "Film Notes".

Organisations

BACSA

A very useful resource for locating ancestors buried in South Asia is the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia (BACSA). This organisation is dedicated to preserving European cemeteries in the region and has completed many projects to preserve cemeteries. It has many records in its archive at the British Library. In addition, BACSA publishes many useful books on the subject of South Asia, including complete transcriptions of all the monuments in many cemeteries. To view the Cemetery Record books currently available, and also those out of print, go to BACSA Books and select Cemetery Record Books. Also see Cemeteries and monumental inscriptions reading list.

Indian-cemeteries.org

• Indian-cemeteries.org has hundreds of transcribed memorials from cemeteries all over India.

CWGC

If your ancestors died this century whilst serving with Commonwealth armed forces (e.g. Great Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand) then their graves will be maintained in special cemeteries by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. These are scattered throughout Asia (and other parts of the world) and are beautifully maintained.

• Commonwealth War Graves Commission Homepage

The CWGC has a long term program in India for the reinstatement of First World War Cantonment Graves which were previously declared un-maintainable

For images, see the "War Graves Photographic Project" below

Inscriptions in online books

• Asiaticus : In Two Parts. Part One, Ecclesiastical, Chronological and Historical Sketches. Part Two, the Epitaphs in the Different Burial Grounds in and about Calcutta by John Hawkesworth 1803. (80 pages) (Google Books)
• The Complete Monumental Register: Containing All the Epitaphs in the Different Churches and Burial Grounds in and about Calcutta...together with General Inscriptions from the Presidencies of Madras, Bombay etc.] by M Derozario 1815 (230 pages) (Google Books). Index of names.The author advises he has borrowed the contents of Asiaticus by Mr Hawkesworth and of the Oriental Obituary by Mr Urquhart of Madras.
• The Bengal Obituary: or, a record to perpetuate the memory of departed worth, being a compilation of tablets and monumental inscriptions from various parts of the Bengal and Agra presidencies 1851 Google Books Index of Names
• List of inscriptions on tombs or monuments in Bengal possessing historical or archaeological interest by C R Wilson, 1896 is available as a free pdf type download from FamilySearch (located, if the given link is not permanent, by searching the Library catalogue). Includes index. Part I contains the Calcutta inscriptions; part II contains inscriptions from the Lower Provinces. c 248 pages This link may have download problems during maintenance night time Utah Time (Utah Time=GMT less seven hours). Try again at another time. Adobe Acrobat reader probably required.
• Inscriptions on Tombs or Monuments in Madras possessing historical or archaelogical interest Julian James Cotton 1905 archive.org.“It includes all epitaphs of adults earlier than 1800 and such entries of later date as possess historical or local interest”. Covers the Madras Presidency. Table of Contents An Index of names appears at the end.
  • A revised edition, with additional information, was published in two volumes 1945-46. The first volume relates to the City of Madras, French India, Indian States and Fort Marlborough on the West Coast of Sumatra. The second volume relates to the districts of the Madras Presidency. There are two indexes at the end of each volume, an index to names on tombs or monuments, and an index to names in notes. Volume I Contents, Volume II Table of Contents Archive.org.

The three volumes also may be read online on the Digital Library of India website.

• List of Inscriptions on Christian Tombs and Tablets of Historical Interest in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh by Sir Edward Arthur Henry Blunt (1911) Archive.org
• List in Bengal, Past and Present Volume 41, Part 2, April-June 1931 called "Monumental Inscriptions in the United Provinces Part 2" pages 148-156 by Captain H Bullock (computer page 72) Archive.org. Includes some corrections to Blunt transcriptions.
  (Part 1 is pages 58-67 Volume 41, January-March 1931, unfortunately not online, but available at the British Library)
  Further monumental inscriptions are in Volume 44 (of BPP), page 169 but computer page 78,which may be read online on the Digital Library of India website. (contents is computer page 7 and volume commences at page 103) Refer Online books-Digital Library of India for more details about this site.
• The following books are available to read online on the Digital Library of India website.
  • List of Tombs and Monuments of Europeans etc in the Madras District 1898 catalogued as list of tombs and monuments of europeans, and co. in the madras district 1898. There is no index. Listed by cemetery and year of death, with deaths up to the 1890s. (65 pages)
  • List of European Tombs in the Tanjore District 1914 Contents, computer page 6 (Madras Presidency, includes Tranquebar)
  • A list of inscriptions on Christian tombs or monuments in the Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Kashmir and Afghanistan possessing historical or archaeological interest Part 1 by Miles Irving (1910) and Part 2 by George William De Rhe-Philipe (1912), the latter containing biographical information. Index for Part 1, computer page 202. The second book commences computer page 10 and is an alphabetical listing.
  • Inscriptions on tombs or monuments in Rajputana and Central India by O S Croften, 1905 Table of Contents computer page 14
• List of European Tombs in the Cemeteries Attached to the Various Churches in the Nilgiri District 1905 (106 pages) is available to download on Barry Lewis’ Colonial Cemeteries in addition to the following smaller lists
  • List of European Tombs in the Anantapur District 1894
  • List of European Tombs in the Bellary District with Inscriptions Thereon by J J Cotton 1894 (41 pages)
  • List of European Tombs in the District of Cuddapah by CH Mounsey 1893
  • List of European Tombs in the Kurnool District 1894
• Jesuit Missionaries in Northern India and Inscriptions on their Tombs, Agra (1580-1803)by Rev H Hosten SJ (1907) Archive.org
• The Annals of Karnal- Chapter 6 Churches and Cemeteries by Major C H Buck 1914 Archive.org lists some of the inscriptions in the cemeteries at Kurnaul
• List of inscriptions on tombstones and monuments in Ceylon, of historical or local interest, with an obituary of persons uncommemorated by J Penry Lewis 1913 Archive.org. The information from this book has now been transcribed and is available on the FIBIS Database

• Search individual location pages for other book links.

Other external links

• Koi-Hai - 'Graves' - an article covering various parts of India and Ceylon, with photographs.
• Kabristan Archives 'Old Irish and Indian Graveyards' - has books on cemeteries in India and Ceylon.
• Details of Malabar: Christian Memorials 1737-1990, by Dr John C. Roberts and N P Chekkutty, a book on European gravestones and church memorials in the Malabar towns of Cannanore (Kannur), Tellicherry (Thalassery) and Mahe which has details on the Portuguese, Dutch, French and English gravestones in the region.
• Details of the book Armenian Graves, Inscriptions and Memorials in India: Dacca 1722-1977 by Liz Chater 2011
• Obituary: Theon Wilkinson, 1924-2007, founder of BACSA. The Times, 18 January, 2008
• Dead men’s tales The Telegraph, Calcutta 17 February 2008. John Kendall and indian-cemeteries.org
• "Cemeteries, Public Memory and Raj Nostalgia in Postcolonial Britain and India" by Elizabeth Buettner published in History & Memory - Volume 18, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2006, pages 5-42. html version, original pdf
• The War Graves Photographic Project Works in conjunction with the CWGC but now also covers “all nationalities and military conflicts”. There is a fee payable if you require a high resolution image or photograph.
  • "An Indian Idyll: A Tour of Indian War and Cantonment cemeteries" by David Milborrow Probably early 2011 (archive.org link)
  • "On the Road to Mandalay" by David Milborrow February 2013. Burma cemeteries (archive.org link)
• Find A Grave - millions of user added grave inscriptions from around the world, some with photos. Asian cemeteries not well covered but some with war graves/memorials have many entries.
• deceased online which states : "The central database for UK burials and cremations". Includes database coverage. Search for free and pay to view records.
• Maritime Memorials in respect of ships’ crews’ deaths, in the Location category “Rest of World” has some entries for India, and other countries such as China, Singapore etc. National Maritime Museum website
• 7 Wonders of India: Kohima War Cemetery Video on YouTube (Second World War)
• Taukkyan War Cemetery Burma Video on YouTube (Second World War)