Topic: Locating an Ancestor in Linwood Cemetery
Topic type:
Helpful hints for those wanting to find an ancestor in the complex, irregular layout of Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch, NZ.
Please note - Linwood Cemetery has a complex layout
Plots are labelled and referred to by the Block (abbreviated as B) then the Plot (abbreviated as P) and then the person's family name e.g. B10P21 SMITH
The Block numbering starts from the Hay Street (South) side with Block 1 and ends in the North West Bromley Park border (and car park) with Block 48. Blocks closest to the Butterfield Ave car park are the Quarter-Block A and Block 36A.
Within each Block is a number of Plots usually laid out in rows. Occasionally Blocks have been extended more creatively by adding
- an 'a' row on front of the Block (as with Blocks 5, 7, 9, 11) and which in Block 7 replaces row 1-9 in Block 8;
- an 'a' row at the end of a Block (as with Block 40),
- an 'a' row going vertically when the rest of the Block goes horizontally (as in Blocks 16A, 15),
- a vertical row or rows continuing the Block's numbering (as in Blocks 28,46),
- a random 'a, b or c' at the end of a row (as in Blocks 33, 34).
As well as 'lost paths' between some Blocks, finding the location of a plot in this large, complex cemetery can be quite a challenge, yet one we are happy to help with.
In 2009, following a request in 2006 from the Friends of Linwood Cemetery and funding of $30,000 from the Hagley-Ferrymead Community Board, Block Markers were put into the ground to help people locate plots. These markers are generally at the ends of every other row and where one Block changes to another Block. During February and March 2014 one of our volunteers went through the Block Markers and checked their location, moving any in the wrong place to their correct location. Several were still blank, many where missing and a further significant number needed the Block number adding for clarity. This information has been forwarded to the City Council without response, so the Friends have stencilled the missing information on the Block Markers to help people locate their ancestors in the meantime.
There are four 'heritage' boards funded by the City Council at the Butterfield Avenue car park and around the cemetery to help guide you to the different Blocks and to the graves of some people of historical interest. More information about these people can be found in Richard Greenaway's Linwood Cemetery Tour Guide on the CCC Library website. These boards show the plot number at each end of a row for each block in the area the board covers. As with anything man-made there are some design errors on the numbering of the rows on the boards, but generally they are a good guide. Please don't hesitate to contact info@linwoodcemeterynz@gmail.com if you need help locating a plot.
Other numerical systems are quoted on any research when known, e.g. New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG) which used a numerical system based on headstones existing in 1979 and divided the cemetery into Areas and Rows, starting at the Bromley Park end of the cemetery.
© Friends of Linwood Cemetery Charitable Trust
Updated 6th September 2018 by Alexandra