The Church of St Catharine, Scholes, Wigan in the County of -- Lancashire --

Burials at St Catharine Scholes
in the Town of Wigan

There were 978 burials in St Catharine's Churchyard commencing 15 June 1841 and continuing through 28 August 1856 (on page 123 of the register). In September 1856 a large number of churchyards throughout England, including St Catharine's, were closed and municipal cemeteries opened. However, final closures were often postponed into 1857. The following notes written on page 123 record what happened at St Catharine's.

"On Septr. 1st burials were discontinued in St Catherine's Churchyard. Crypts in vaults and brick graves for the burial of the husband, wife, parents and children of persons already interred therein & in which case each coffin shall be imbedded in charcoal and separately entombed in an air-tight manner. By Order in Council July 28th 1856. For burials at the cemetery see next page.

On Friday October 31st the Order in Council was received by which the discontinuance of burials in St Catherine's Churchyard is postponed to March 1st 1857. For register of burials see page 127."

Pages 124-126 record funerals and burials at Wigan Cemetery prior to the burials postponement order being received. The heading for these pages reads "Burials in the Wigan Cemetery from St Catherine's Chapelry". Burials in St Catharine's churchyard start again on page 127 on 4 Nov 1856 and continue through 1 Mar 1857 on page 145. Page 146 starts with three funerals, but from then to when the register closed in 1908 on page 149, all entries are interments in brick vaults.

The Register for Burials at St Catharine Scholes 1841 - 1908 with Surname Index

There are 1178 Burial Records extracted for this Church