Find a burial and verify identity

A burial, memorial and death are different documentary events. Inscriptions are clues; burial registers and death records help verify dates, place and identity. This general method draws on an Australian guide; its repositories and access rules do not apply to every country.

The method, step by step

1. Start with the last known residence and documented death date. Look for funeral notices or church registers. Death and burial localities may differ; keep them separate.
2. Identify cemetery management and register custody: municipality, parish, private body or archive. A photograph database may cover only some graves and dates; absence there does not prove no burial.
3. Record cemetery, section, row, grave number, burial date and register reference when given. Transcribe inscriptions without silently correcting dates; explain differences from civil records.
4. Compare parents, spouse, age and residence in separate records. Shared grave names offer family clues, but one monument alone does not establish the exact relationship.
5. Fictional example: a monument says “Marie, 1863–1930” while death gives age 69. Keep both observations and sources. Seek birth, marriage and burial; do not replace the inscription year with a calculation without explaining the conflict.