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From: Sheila Murray <>
Subject: Re: [EoLFHS] Abney Park Cemetery
Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 21:08:38 +0100
In-Reply-To: <000701c363fd$85732f20$68957ad5@dan>


Hello, Derek

I have just revisited the Abney Park site as I was most alarmed at what you
had said. I have a lot of ancestors in that cemetery!

The address I got to it under was
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~abneypark/abneyy.html

You are quite right about Ancestry being all over it - I was very careful
which bits I clicked on and I did get to the search page - my Dunkleys had
been updated on 11 July this year, so someone is still working on it. The
original webmaster has done a huge amount of work to index all the entries,
so I should think he would have been very glad to get some sponsorship from
Ancestry.

The cemetery is supposed to be maintained by Hackney Council, but they say
they have no money to do that, so its future is very iffy to say the
least. The last time I visited, I was told that it may have to be closed
to the public if it can no longer be kept safe for visitors. I think this
would be tragic - I live a long way away (in Scotland) otherwise I would be
volunteering to help keep it maintained.

I hope you manage to find what you were looking for on the website.

Best wishes
Sheila Murray
Member No. 6241
At 14:49 16/08/03 +0100, you wrote:
>In the past I visited the Abney Park Cemetery website
>http://www.abney-park.org.uk/ and found it fascinating and very useful.
>However when I explored it recently it seemed to have become a bit
>chaotic. The on-line surname search no longer worked and just
>took me to an Ancestry.com search, with a free trial offer.
>
>Checking again today, some aspects still work (e.g. the virtual tour) but
>several sections seem to have been abandoned, with the
>last update about 2001. The research request form indicates that surname
>searches can be carried out, at a charge of £8, but the
>only address I can find is in Canada. The most recent newsletter is Jan
>2000. I tried phoning (020 7275 7557) and got a recorded
>message, giving a phone number (0207.923.3644 - no reply but this may be
>because it is Saturday) and asking me to leave a message.
>The 'contact the trust' link on the website does not work.
>
>Does anyone know what is happening to this previously excellent site? Is
>it just a case of there being no volunteers to continue
>the work? Even more significant, what is happening to the cemetery itself?
>
>Best wishes
>
>Derek
>
>Hertford, England
>e-mail:


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