Genealogists across the borough will be aided in their research as Sutton Council has announced that its burial records for Sutton Cemetery and Cuddington Cemetery, which date back to 1889, will now be accessible online.
The council has recently finished scanning and transcribing the records from Sutton Cemetery. This work forms part of a project involving the provision of a new computerised burials administration system for the Cemetery Service. The burial records for Bandon Hill Cemetery, which is jointly managed by the London boroughs of Sutton and Croydon, are also due to go online in April 2014.
Currently, residents have had to contact the cemetery office with their genealogical enquiries with the staff having to refer to the burial registers which are old, fragile books, some dating back over one hundred years. Local residents will now be able to search and download the records via the Deceased Online website http://www.deceasedonline.com/.
Cllr Jill Whitehead, Chair of Sutton Council’s Environment and Neighbourhoods Committee, said:
“This modernisation is much needed; the previous registers were old and could not have lasted a great deal longer. The records being placed online will allow a much greater access to our citizens and will facilitate quick efficient research. Given that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of WWI we expect many people to use this service to further research their ancestors who fought in the Great War”