A guide to searching for death and burial records in Southwark

Burial records and cemeteries

Many of the religious records of burials that survive for Southwark are Church of England (Anglican) records which start from the 16th century. These are held by the London Metropolitan Archives and are digitised and searchable on Ancestry. Their records for London, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials date from 1813-2003. 

Church of England Burials 1538-1812

Church of England Deaths and Burials 1813-2003

Microfilm copies of the records for the following ancient parishes of Southwark are available to view at Southwark Archives during open hours. Booking a microfilm reader is essential. These are also available on Ancestry.

• St Mary Newington
• St George the Martyr
• St Mary Magdalen Overy
• St Margaret
• St Saviour
• St Thomas
• Christ Church, Surrey (1670s)
• St Olave
• St John
• St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey
• St Mary, Rotherhithe
• St Giles, Camberwell

Southwark Archives holds a selection of nonconformist registers on microfilm (see also Section 9). Those with burial records are listed below and the non-conformist registers from 1694-1931 can be found on Ancestry

FindMyPast also holds these registers taken from the originals at the National Archives:

• East Street Baptist Chapel, Walworth
• Baptist Chapel, Goat Yard, Horsleydown
• Baptist Chapel, Maze Pond, Southwark
• Butler's Burial Ground, Horsleydown
• Collier’s Rents Independent Chapel, Southwark
• Denmark Place Chapel, Camberwell
• Friend's Monthly Meeting, Southwark (Quakers)
• Goat Yard Baptist Chapel, Horsleydown
• Independent Chapel, Neckinger Road, Bermondsey
• Independent Chapel, Union Street, Southwark
• Independent Chapel, York Street, Walworth
• Maze Pond Baptist Chapel, Southwark
• Peckham Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Stafford Street
• St John's New Burial Ground, Horsleydown
• South London Burial Ground, East Street, Walworth
• Southwark Chapel, Long Lane, Bermondsey

The London Borough of Southwark has three active cemeteries

Nunhead Cemetery

Camberwell Old Cemetery

Camberwell Cemetery and Honor Oak Crematorium

Southwark bereavement services offices are located in Camberwell New Cemetery and current funeral enquiries can be made via telephone on 020 7525 5600 or email cemeteries@southwark.gov.uk.

Finding burial records online

The burial and cremation records for Southwark's three cemeteries can be found on Deceased Online. The site is free to search and this will provide in most cases, a date of burial or cremation, date of death and region, for example, Southwark. You will need to register and pay a fee for the following:

• digital scans of burial and cremation registers or computerised records when registers are not available
• information on who is buried in a grave
• photographs of graves and memorials
• cemetery maps showing grave locations

The website also has records for cemeteries and crematoria in these other south London boroughs:

Lewisham (1858-1999)
Lambeth (1837-2016)
Greenwich (1855-2011)

The staff at Southwark Archives are able to search for a burial on Deceased Online on your behalf and advise you which Southwark cemetery it is in, and the date of the burial. For further information relating to burials or access to the records listed above, you will need to visit the website. Generally, the burial register will provide an address and sometimes an informant, which may help to narrow down multiple options where the deceased has a common name.

Addresses of the deceased for the last 15 years are not published in order to comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation, as outlined in the Data Protection Act 2018.

Page last updated: 28 November 2023