What are Coffin Plates? How are they useful in genealogy research? These questions and more are answered at Ancestors At RestThe history of Coffin Plates or casket plates is a long but not very well documented one. Coffin plates are decorative adornments attached to a coffin that contain genealogical information like the name and death date of the deceased. In Victorian Times (and earlier) the coffin plate was removed and presented to the family as a memento of the dearly departed.
With almost 500 coffin plates now online, AncestorsAtRest.com is the largest repository of these wonderful genealogical treasures. Each coffin plate has the name of the deceased plus date of death, and usually date of birth. Images of the plates are provided. You can search these coffin plates for free - who knows, you might find an ancestor or two!
1 comment:
Hi., I know they put name plates on top of the older wooden coffins, but where did they put the plates on newer caskets? Did this tradition die out when new caskets made the scene? Thanks, chris (victorianlife@embarqmail.com)
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