| The Parish Church of St James |  |
| St. James's Road, Hampton Hill, TW12 1DQ (Parish Office 020 8941 6003) | |
| THE HISTORY OF St. JAMES'S CHURCH | |
| Section Contents: Go to The History of St. James's Church Home Page to see all pages |
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Churchyard Records
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The Churchyard Records are for the
use of relatives and friends of the deceased buried in St. James's Churchyard
who wish to find details of the burial, and if listed, the location
of the grave itself. They are also for those interested in the history
of the Churchyard and the Hampton Hill area, and possibly for other
research. See
the on-line searchable database |
| The original plan of the Churchyard was drawn up in the 1960s by Denis Leatherdale. Roy Brooks, Jack Gostling and Denis Leatherdale were appointed Guardians of the Churchyard. There is a plan of each individual grave in the Churchyard with the name and number. For area G there exists a separate plan with names only but it is not entirely accurate and we are unsure of its origin. |
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In 1988 a Working Party set out in earnest to try and correlate the information in the five Burial Registers with the actual graves and give each grave a number. An alphabetical card index system was set up, the details of each grave were recorded on separate sheets and an alphabetical list was started with the intention of producing a typed copy for easy reference. This task was taken up again in 1998, computerised plans of the Churchyard produced and an alphabetical list of the 4000+ people recorded in the Burial Register prepared. There are about 1000 graves identifiable in the Churchyard. |
The churchyard was closed by Order in Council in 1991 as there was no more space for new graves. After 1991 there have only been burials in existing graves, ashes interred in family graves and in the Garden of Rest. The Churchyard is now cared for by the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames. |
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Christian graves are always orientated longways East to West, that is to face the rising sun. The headstones usually also face East although there are exceptions to this; when the grave is by a path the headstone may be reversed so that it can be seen more easily. To assist searches for individual graves, the plans are divided into areas A to G. This division is shown on the plan "Churchyard Areas". |
| The plans of each area, eg "Plan of Graves in Area A", show the numbering of the graves. The numbering of rows is not the conventional left to right, but instead follows a right to left order which conforms with the original listing. The page, (or pages), following each plan, eg "Names in Area A" list the graves in order with the names of those interred or commemorated in it. Special graves are marked with the letter S in the notes column in the List of Names. Brief notes on these special graves are in the section "Special Notes. . . " |
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The Garden of Rest, Area H, is used solely for the interment of uncontained ashes, with no individual markers in it. |
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| Area H is a special area within Area B, as the plan of area B shows. It is well marked and tended, with a small garden at either end. The Garden of Rest was created in 1969. The first ashes to be interred there were those of Jessie Straw, mother of Doris Childs, on 8 June 1969. |
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There are about 1000 identifiable graves in the Churchyard commemorating the lives of over 4000 people. The earliest burial in this record is that of Walter Richard Daines, aged 11 months, in 1864. This is in Area A near the noticeboard on the corner of Park Road and St. James's Road. In the early Registers there are records of a considerable number of children who died due to bad housing and insanitary conditions at that time. In the earliest Burial Register the area is known as New Hampton and only changes to Hampton Hill in 1881. |
The Churchyard originally comprised only the area which immediately surrounded the church. In 1882, in the light of the growing population of the new parish, the Vicar of Hampton, the patron, gave an acre of land adjoining Park Road to be used as a parish burial ground. The Churchyard was further extended in 1924, including part of the Vicarage ground. The Churchyard now covers an area of about 3 acres. Footpaths run through the churchyard, but there are no public rights of way. |
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The War Memorial in the centre of the Churchyard was unveiled on 26 May 1920 and features the Roll of Honour of those who died in the two World Wars. |
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Only the current Burial Register, March 1948 onwards, is kept in the Church. The other four Registers are deposited in the London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, Clerkenwell, London EC 1R 0MB, Tel No 020 7332 3820. |