One of the ways in which BACSA seeks to further its objectives is to “establish for public benefit and access, cemetery records, whether visual, written, aural or electronic, which shall be stored in perpetuity and made available for public access”. Our founder Theon Wilkinson set about this task with his customary determination, and over a period of thirty years built up a substantial archive derived both from his own research into cemeteries and all things Indian, and from the many BACSA members who sent him information of all kinds.
The result is the Cemetery Archive containing:
1. Cemetery Files
2. Other archive resources, comprising United Kingdom Monumental Inscriptions (UKMIs) relating to India, family histories, and reference materials.
Administrative archive
In the course of administering BACSA and implementing its objectives the Association’s officers, chiefly Wilkinson as Secretary, accumulated the files contained in the Administrative archive which allows the historian to study how BACSA was founded and developed, and how it pursues its activities.
Burials database
There is also a Burials database containing the names of about 50,000 people buried in the subcontinent, Burma, South East Asia and Japan, and others buried in the UK but who lived or served in India or elsewhere in Asia, derived from BACSA’s cemetery record books and collection of UKMIs.
Other archive resources
United Kingdom Memorial Inscriptions (UKMIs)
There are a great many memorial inscriptions in the United Kingdom of people who lived or served in British India or elsewhere in Asia. Most of them do indeed come from the UK but there are also some from other countries notably the Republic of Ireland. The archive currently contains almost fifty UKMI Files arranged by English county with separate files for Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and overseas. A name index to the files can be found on the Burials database. BACSA continues to collect ‘UKMIs’ and the database is updated as they are received. If you spot an India-related memorial in a UK church or cemetery, do make a copy of the inscription and send it in.
Family History Files
Biographical information on people connected with India and South Asia ranging from brief notes to full scale family histories.
Reference Materials
A wide range of books, articles, notes and occasional papers on cemeteries and other topics relating to India and elsewhere in South Asia, subdivided into three series: