I am an experienced family history researcher and teacher. I see cemeteries as treasure trove for family and local historians and want to do everything I can to see that the information contained on the stones is captured and preserved before it is lost.

I believe that we are all working on Find A Grave to honour the memory of people who have passed away. Everything I do on Find A Grave is out of respect for them, and to assist researchers and family historians. If you think I have made a mistake, please tell me! Everyone makes mistakes, and I would much rather know if I have done so, and get it corrected. I am happy for anyone to use any photos I add to Find A Grave - this is a collaborative site for us all to help one another, so feel free! It would be lovely if you could let me know, though, as I would be interested in whatever project these people are part of.

I am fascinated by the cemetery at Foster Hill Road, Bedford, which for well over 100 years was the main place of burial for Bedfordians. I love discovering how the people buried there were related. Many families there are related by marriage, and the whole place is a giant web of connections.

The cemetery has around 100,000 burials and cremations, but I would love to see a time where every stone is photographed, transcribed and researched on Find A Grave.

For the last two years I have been working on mapping Foster Hill Road Cemetery. I have now drawn detailed plans of the whole cemetery showing exactly who is buried in every grave. With a couple of other enthusiasts, I have then been taking the plans round the cemetery, checking every plot to see if it has a stone, and if it does, who is named on it. The drawing of the plans is complete, and the initial audit is done. We are now revisiting some sections of the old part of the cemetery which were done at the very beginning of the project before our methodology was fully developed.

I am also working through chronologically, adding all the burials, including those with no stone to make them "visible". The burials for Foster Hill Road Cemetery are now complete on Find a Grave from when the cemetery opened on 5 June 1855 to the end of June 1890. There is now an unbroken run of over 10,440 burials from the beginning, and the burials for the first 35 years of the cemetery are complete.

I have also recently added the burials at Foster Hill Road Cemetery of all the people who died in the workhouse between 1855 and the end of March 1901 to Find A Grave. We hope to add as much information about these people as we can, using workhouse records etc., since hardly any of them have stones, and their stories are largely untold. You can find them all in a virtual cemetery here:
Workhouse Burials at Foster Hill Road virtual cemetery (June 1855-March 1901)
If you think I have missed anyone out, please let me know. There are currently 733 people in the virtual cemetery. Some of the most interesting stories we have found can be seen here.

There is also a virtual cemetery for the 112 members of the Panacea Society buried in Bedford, which you can find here:
Panacea Society Virtual Cemetery
Most are buried at Foster Hill Road, but a very small number who died most recently are at the Bedford Cemetery and Crematorium at Norse Road.

I am an experienced family history researcher and teacher. I see cemeteries as treasure trove for family and local historians and want to do everything I can to see that the information contained on the stones is captured and preserved before it is lost.

I believe that we are all working on Find A Grave to honour the memory of people who have passed away. Everything I do on Find A Grave is out of respect for them, and to assist researchers and family historians. If you think I have made a mistake, please tell me! Everyone makes mistakes, and I would much rather know if I have done so, and get it corrected. I am happy for anyone to use any photos I add to Find A Grave - this is a collaborative site for us all to help one another, so feel free! It would be lovely if you could let me know, though, as I would be interested in whatever project these people are part of.

I am fascinated by the cemetery at Foster Hill Road, Bedford, which for well over 100 years was the main place of burial for Bedfordians. I love discovering how the people buried there were related. Many families there are related by marriage, and the whole place is a giant web of connections.

The cemetery has around 100,000 burials and cremations, but I would love to see a time where every stone is photographed, transcribed and researched on Find A Grave.

For the last two years I have been working on mapping Foster Hill Road Cemetery. I have now drawn detailed plans of the whole cemetery showing exactly who is buried in every grave. With a couple of other enthusiasts, I have then been taking the plans round the cemetery, checking every plot to see if it has a stone, and if it does, who is named on it. The drawing of the plans is complete, and the initial audit is done. We are now revisiting some sections of the old part of the cemetery which were done at the very beginning of the project before our methodology was fully developed.

I am also working through chronologically, adding all the burials, including those with no stone to make them "visible". The burials for Foster Hill Road Cemetery are now complete on Find a Grave from when the cemetery opened on 5 June 1855 to the end of June 1890. There is now an unbroken run of over 10,440 burials from the beginning, and the burials for the first 35 years of the cemetery are complete.

I have also recently added the burials at Foster Hill Road Cemetery of all the people who died in the workhouse between 1855 and the end of March 1901 to Find A Grave. We hope to add as much information about these people as we can, using workhouse records etc., since hardly any of them have stones, and their stories are largely untold. You can find them all in a virtual cemetery here:
Workhouse Burials at Foster Hill Road virtual cemetery (June 1855-March 1901)
If you think I have missed anyone out, please let me know. There are currently 733 people in the virtual cemetery. Some of the most interesting stories we have found can be seen here.

There is also a virtual cemetery for the 112 members of the Panacea Society buried in Bedford, which you can find here:
Panacea Society Virtual Cemetery
Most are buried at Foster Hill Road, but a very small number who died most recently are at the Bedford Cemetery and Crematorium at Norse Road.