I would never do that George ;-)
According to notes in the archives catalogue for Liverpool Record Office, burials at St John's ceased on 11 June 1865 and a faculty for creating a public garden was granted in December 1888. 82,491 burials took place there.
div>
Let's do the math. St John's church, consecrated in 1784 - [with no more burials received there after] 1865. That would amount to 81 years of interments since the church was consecrated. Taking this further, that would total 4,212 weeks of dedicated service, over that timeframe. 82,491 burials would equate to almost 20 burials per week, every week, for the entire 81 years of service. The rate would be approximately 3 burials per day, which considering the French prisoner's of war, the Irish famine, the resulting overcrowding and poverty, and the general high rates of mortality prior to Dr Duncan's days, would present a case for it being a true number of burials, and tragically, a normal sight in Liverpool's churchyards back then?
There is possibly likely to be more interments at St. John's gardens, as John Eye's map of 1765 describes the area as, "Great Heath, intended for burial grounds" some 19 years before St John's church was consecrated?
The next question has to be - are they all still there? I don't know, and I don't want to derail Colin's "Castle Street" thread? Food for thought though?
Sorry Colin, back to Castle Street...
Bookmarks