Useful info
On this page you’ll find more information about visiting the sites, researching graves, and tracing your family tree.
What are the opening times for St John’s (Elswick) Cemetery?
OPENING TIMES
St John’s (Elswick) Cemetery
April to October
Monday to Friday – from 9am to 6.45pm
Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays – from 10am to 4.45pm
November to March
Monday to Friday – from 9am to 3.45pm
Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays – from 10am to 3.45pm
The cemetery grounds are open to everyone.
Children under 12 should be accompanied by an adult.
Please use the bins to keep the cemetery clean and tidy.
Dogs are welcome to enjoy the beautiful spaces of the cemetery but…. please keep them on a lead and pick up their poo!
Where can I get water at St. John’s?
There are 2 taps, 1 is situated to the right of the cemetery gates on the West View entrance, down the hill past the chapels on the left-hand side if you have entered from the main gates. The second tap is in the north west corner of the cemetery, near the old farmhouse.
More information can be found on the council’s webpage
How can I find a specific grave or trace my family tree?
If you are trying to locate a grave, it is best to contact [email protected] with the name of the deceased, date of death and, if possible, the address the person was living at, at the time of their death. There is a fee of £27 for each search request. Once you have the location details of the grave, it can still be a challenge to find it . The map below identifies the ‘con’ (consecrated) or ‘uncon’ (unconsecrated) sections of the cemetery.
Tyne & Wear Archives (North East Museums) also hold useful information. They hold cemetery records which will yield information about individual persons. Such records include burial registers, grave books and monumental inscriptions.
They hold Westgate Hill: Register of burials 1829-1957; index to burials 1829-1857; purchased vaults and graves c1829-1923, plans of cemetery 1847. Westgate (St Johns Westgate and Elswick): Indexes to burial registers c1857-1998; burials 1857-1998; purchased graves 1857-1927; graves registers 1858-1998; records relating to Jewish section 1859-1958; index of Jewish burials 1864-1990.
St John’s Elswick Cemetery map:
Image: Courtesy of Tyne & Wear Archives
You can download their Cemeteries and Crematoria user guide here
Here is a list of useful resources and tips put together by the Stories of the Stones group.
- Visit your local library! When you join, you gain access to voter registers, poll books and local history books. Many libraries also have free access to Ancestry and FindMyPast that otherwise require a paid subscription.
- Free but less detailed sites include Family Search, Free BMD (births, marriages and deaths searchable back to 1837), Scotland’s People if you have ancestors from north of the border, FreeREG and FreeCen.
- You can also become a member of Northumberland and Durham Family History Society for access to family trees and histories, monumental inscriptions, unwanted certificates, various microfiche and a wealth of experience and help!
- Top Tips
- Ask older relatives for clues – they’ll have memories and family stories, photographs and maybe even documents. Family bibles also often include birth and marriage dates. This will provide a great starting point.
- If you already know the location of some of the headstones, older ones often include information on other relatives or specific areas your relatives were from. Some headstones include family members even if they are buried elsewhere.
- Don’t be too strict on the spelling of first and last names, records were often spelled as they sounded, or written down in the way most familiar by the person making them. So, if you cannot find a John Reid, for example, try Read or Reed too.
- If you get stuck on a certain branch or person, try tracing their siblings or start on another branch.