Part 16
So far as your experience goes, does the practice of interment in cemeteries result from motives of economy or from choice of situation?—From choice of situation, or from dislike of the parochial burial-grounds; in nine cases out of ten from preference of the situation and mode of interment in cemeteries; the choice would indeed be general, if it were not for the increased charges made by undertakers. The undertakers have generally increased the funeral charges at the cemeteries above one-third. The number of men taken out, whose whole day is occupied, make up the increased charge.
You state, that but for the increased charge, the custom of interment in cemeteries would be general; has the strength of the attachments to the parochial churchyards diminished?—Yes, under the recent inquiries and exposures of the state of the churchyards they have almost vanished. But at no time was the attachment to the parochial churchyards in town so strong as in the country. In the country, even the poorer classes will pay the sexton a fee of from 1_s._ 6_d._ to 2_s._ 6_d._, for “keeping up the grave.” This cannot be the case in the towns for want of space; parties who appoint their places of burial, generally select a place on account of its quiet.
Do you believe that the wish to be buried where kindred are buried, is, or would continue to be stronger, than a desire to be buried in well-provided cemeteries?—No; this is shewn by the increasing frequency with which parties who have family vaults, desire to be buried in the cemeteries. Very recently I performed the funeral of a lady belonging to a family who had a vault in a church at Westminster—her husband had been buried in it. By her will she desired to be buried at Kensal Green, and she had requested that if the churchyard at Westminster was closed, her husband’s remains might be brought and placed next to hers in the cemetery. There were other members of the family besides her husband buried in the family vault. Such instances are now becoming very frequent.
Inasmuch as interments in cemeteries have generally increased the charges of interment, is it not to be apprehended that unless some regulations on a larger scale than of small localities be adopted, the inconvenience arising in towns will increase the charges of these calamities to the poorest of the middle classes and to the working classes, not to speak of the charges on the poor’s rates, for the interments of paupers will also be increased by districts?—Yes; it has occurred to me that it will be so.
He expresses his conviction, however, that so strong is the feeling at present against parochial interments, that if there should be no legislative provision or interference for the public protection, the parochial burial places being left open to the competition of private and trading burial grounds, in a very short time not one-third of the present number of burials would take place in the parochial grounds.
§ 110. The expense to the rate-payers of parishes for the transference of the interments to the suburbs would be necessarily very high; the expense of numerous separate parochial establishments, if only on the scale of the establishments for the performance of the funeral ceremony, and for such imperfect care of the ground as that given in those described would be, at the least, between 25 and 30,000_l._ per annum. The proposed regulation of the distance of cemeteries from human habitations—that they shall in every case be two miles, not from houses, but from the metes and bounds of London and Westminster, and “of any other city, town, or borough,” as defined by the Municipal Act, and “which shall contain more than 500 houses, the occupiers of which shall be rated to the relief of the poor more than 10_l._ or upwards,” appear to be made without any local examination, or reference to proper observations or experience.—Vide post, §§ 162, 163, and 164. The metes and bounds of several towns and places include common lands and sites, sufficiently distant from any collections of houses, to be the most eligible sites, and suitable soils for cemeteries, which according to the best ascertained rule, should be at distances proportioned to the numbers of inhabitants and probable burials, varying according to these numbers, from 150 to 500 paces. All unnecessary increase of distance must be attended with proportionately increased charges of interment to the poorer classes: arrangements for preventing an increase of the expense of conveyance of the remains to distant places of interment, though practicable under general regulations for large national cemeteries, would be impracticable on the plan of numerous places of interment with small separate establishments. Mr. Jeffryes, an undertaker, who chiefly inters the poorest classes in the Whitechapel district, where the _parochial_ interments are generally diminishing, was more particularly questioned on this topic.
What has been your experience in respect to the interment of people of the working classes at cemeteries, and at a distance from their residence, as compared with burials near their residence? At what cemeteries have you interred persons?—At Mr. Barber Beaumont’s cemetery, which is about a mile and a half from Whitechapel; and also at the cemetery which is at the Cambridge Heath, Cambridge Road. I have attended, but not on my own account, funerals at all the other cemeteries—Highgate, Kensal Green, and others.
Supposing that interments within towns be prohibited for all classes, and that funerals for the future must be performed beyond the gas lamps or the pavements; judging from the cases you have already had, what must be the effect on the funerals of the labouring classes;—supposing that no other arrangements are made than that of allowing parishes, or any two of them, to provide cemeteries at a distance from town?—It will certainly increase the expenses to the labouring classes, and increase the expenses to the parishes generally. I perform funerals for the working classes at one-third less than most others; yet I find that the extra expense of a funeral only a mile or a mile and a quarter distance, is about one pound per funeral extra; this consists chiefly of the extra expense of conveyance.
Have you seen carriage conveyances or hearses for the conveyance of bodies to the cemeteries without the use of bearers?—Yes, I have: but to get a coffin out of the house, which sometimes has to be got down stairs, and is very heavy, four men at the least will be required, and then four men will be required to take it from the hearse at the cemetery, so that men’s labour cannot be much less, even if they provide bearers at the cemeteries, which is talked of: there will still be the extra expense of the carriage, whatever that is.
§ 111. From the practical evidence already cited, §§ 87, 88, it will be perceived, that notwithstanding this increase of expense, the chaplain or curate, if unaided, cannot be expected to perform the service in a manner that will be more satisfactory to the survivors than in those parochial grounds which are now the subject of complaint. The numerous successive services that may be expected to arrive on the Sunday must often unavoidably have the appearance of being hurried over, and without assistance and appropriate superintendence will sometimes really be so, whilst the funeral of the person of better condition which takes place separately, and at an appointed time, has its separate attention under circumstances, giving rise to the appearance and creating the feeling of an undue “acceptation of persons,” which it is said ought not to be, and which the examination of practical examples will show, need not be. Inasmuch as, in the present mode, the clergyman’s attention must be absorbed with his own clerical duties, the grave-yard and the material offices connected with it must be left to be managed, as it is now, by a sexton and common gravedigger. No multiplication of the numbers of such poor men in numerous extra-mural and parochial establishments will give them education, or elevate their minds to act without superintendence, up to the solemnity and delicacy of the duties to be performed in any proposed alteration of custom. In such hands the institution and service for the reception and care of the dead, (which, with all its appliances, is one of the most elevated that can adorn the civic economy of a large and civilized community,) would be impracticable, or would become a common “dead-house,” or a revolting charnel. It may be confidently affirmed, that to accomplish what is needed to satisfy the feelings of the population, on the points on which they are so painfully susceptible, and to gain the public confidence requisite to carry out all the sanitary appliances and improvements that are requisite in connexion with the practice of interment, would task the zeal and ability, and unremitting attention of any, the best staff of educated medical men that could be procured for such a service. The improvements which appear to be practicable, may be perceived on a consideration of the information hereafter submitted, as to what is already gained under arrangements of a comprehensive character.
§ 112. The chief conclusions in respect to the proposed suburban parochial interments deducible from the present experience appear then to be,
1. That the change of the practice of interments on the plan of suburban parochial or establishments of separate unions of parishes, while it gave immediate relief to the centre of the town, would create impediments to the regular growth of the suburbs, and, ultimately, as the interments increase, diminish the salubrity of the suburbs. §§ 107, 108.
2. That it would not _ultimately_ diminish any injurious effects arising from the practice of interments amidst the abodes of the living; and that its chief effect would be to transfer such evils from the districts where they now prevail to the midst of the population of other districts. §§ 105, 110.
3. That these results would only be obtained at a considerable expense to the rate-payers of the parishes from whence the practice of interments is transferred. §§ 107, 108.
4. That if burial in parochial grounds were transferred to such a distance as not to interfere with the growth of the suburbs, the increased distance of interments would occasion a proportionate increase of the expense of interments to the labouring classes of the community. § 110.
5. That inasmuch as the difficulty of obtaining the means of defraying the expense of such classes of interments is frequently a powerful means of increasing the evil of the long delay of the interments, the measures proposed would tend to increase the most extensive and direct source of injury to the health and morals of the survivors of the labouring classes—the long retention of the corpse in their crowded and ill-ventilated places of abode. §§ 43, 44.
6. That interment by a parochial agency would aggravate or leave untouched the other objections to the present practice of interments in the metropolis. §§ 98, 99, 111.
_Practicability of ensuring for the Public superior Interments at reduced Expenses._
The subject which may next be presented for consideration is how far the pecuniary burthens may be reduced consistently with the sentiments expressed by Jeremy Taylor, who deems it “a great act of piety, and honourable, to inter our friends and relatives according to the proportions of their condition, and so to give testimony of our hope of their resurrection. So far is piety; beyond, it may be the ostentation and bragging of grief to serve worse ends. In this, as in everything else, as our piety must not pass into superstition or vain expense, so neither must the excess be turned into parsimony, and chastised by negligence and impiety to the memory of their dead.”
§ 113. It appears, from detailed inquiries, made of tradesmen of experience and respectability, who have answered explicitly the questions put to them, that the expense of the materials at present supplied for funerals admit of a reduction under general arrangements of, at the least, 50 per cent. The practical experience of these witnesses would justify a dependence on their testimony as to the possible reduction of expenses, especially in case the public feeling should be gained to change from the practice of having processions through the town to the practice of processions nearer to the cemeteries, by which the expenses of conveyance included in Mr. Wild’s estimate would be diminished. It is stated by the latter that the disposition evinced by the higher classes, is to reduce expensive trappings. He states:—
Is it not an occurrence of increasing frequency amongst the respectable classes to express in their wills a wish to be buried plainly, and at moderate expense?—Yes, it is; and they sometimes fix sums. They fix such a sum as £150, where it has been usual to expend such sums as £400 or £500. Parties of respectability now begin to object to wearing cloaks and long hatbands. They are also beginning to object to the use of feathers, and to the general display. The system of performing funerals by written contract is also becoming very prevalent. It is so frequent with me that I must have some printed forms.
Mr. J. Browning of Manchester, member of the large society alluded to, as comprehending 150,000 members, states that they have evinced similar tendencies.
I have belonged to the Odd Fellows’ Society and to the Foresters’ Society, and have served office in both in this town, Manchester. I have belonged to them about 13 years.
Do you find any alteration in the dispositions of the members of those societies in respect to the ceremonies observed and the array at funerals?—Yes, a very great alteration.
In what respect?—In Manchester and Liverpool it used to be the practice, when a member of either society died, that the members and the officers attended decorated with their regalia, and followed the corpse in procession. They used to assemble in bodies, as many as two or three hundred, and there was a great deal of drinking. Now these sort of processions are put a stop to by members, and there is no regalia or processions used. Only a few members attend the deceased member, and they attend only with black scarfs, white gloves, and a black silk hatband, which is considered respectful. But in some of the country places they still follow the practice, and they will have the processions.
But the general tendency is to render the ceremony more simple?—Yes, and there is much less drinking in the towns.
§ 114. These manifestations are ascribable to a consciousness of the incompatibility of funereal displays through the crowded streets of populous districts, and are consistent with the desire to obtain proper respect for the deceased, shown in the objections to brief, meagre, and hurried services, and in the selection of secluded and decorated places of burial; it is shown, indeed, by the removal of the meretricious trappings, which have lost their effect, and the preference of a more quiet simplicity which, under such circumstances, forms a better means of ensuring that respect.
§ 115. Assuming the practicability of the accomplishment in this country of administrative arrangements such as have been accomplished, and are in habitual execution, abroad, to the great satisfaction of every class of society, a primary regulation, which would be practicable, would be to obtain for the public the opportunity of obtaining, at various scales, supplies of goods and services for funerals. To Mr. Wild the following questions were put:—
Do you believe it to be practicable, by proper regulations, greatly to reduce the existing charges of interments?—Yes, a very great reduction indeed may be made—at least 50 per cent.
May it be confidently stated that under such reductions, whatever of respectability in exterior is now attached to the trapping, or to the mode of the ceremony, might be preserved?—Oh, yes; I should say it might, and that they could scarcely fail to be increased.
Might not the expenses of the funerals of _the labouring classes_ be greatly reduced without any reduction of the solemnity, or display of proper and satisfactory respect?—Very considerable reductions may be made, and attention to propriety very greatly increased. One large item of expense is the expense of bearers: they cost, for a walking funeral of an adult, 12_s._ Nine shillings of this expense would be dispensed with if the burial were at a cemetery. This would go towards the expense of conveyance, and contribute to the compensation: besides, it would avoid for the mourners the inconvenience and annoyance of walking through the crowded streets, often in wet weather. One circumstance attending burial in cemeteries would be, a diminution of the number of mourners: this would occasion a diminution of the expense of funeral fittings.
What is the lowest price for which a coffin is made?—The lowest priced coffin at this time, is the adult pauper’s coffin, with a shroud, but with no cloth or nails, or name-plate or handles, and costs 3_s._ 6_d._; the contract is usually for deal, inch thick, but they never are; if they were, they could not be supplied under 4_s._; they often break when taken to the grave.
What would be the price of a coffin deemed respectable by the labouring classes, with name-plate and appropriate fittings complete, if manufactured for an extensive supply?—The average price of such coffins is now about 35_s._; but the same quality of coffin might be supplied on a large scale for about 17_s._
What would be the price of coffins for persons of the middle class, if supplied on a similar scale?—The prices vary with them from 3_l._ to 10_l._; they have frequently double coffins; the same coffins might be supplied from 30_s._ to 5_l._, or 50 per cent. less.
§ 116. Mr. Hewitt, whose testimony has already been referred to, states, that under general arrangements, it would be practicable to alleviate the evil of the expense to an extent which would appear incredible. He says—
I have so far carefully considered the subject, that I should be ready to take a contract for the performance of burials at the following rates:—For a labouring man, 1_l._ 10_s._ without burial fees; for a labourer’s child, 15_s._, for a tradesman, 2_l._ 2_s._; for a tradesman’s child, 1_l._ 1_s._; for a gentleman, 6_l._ 7_s._ 6_d._; for a gentleman’s child, 3_l._ 10_s._ These expenses are for “walking funerals;” the expenses of hearses and carriages would depend on the distance, and would make from one to two guineas each carriage extra.
All these, with the same descriptions of coffins, and with the same respectability of attendance?—Yes, on the scale of about half the existing burials in the metropolis; if it were for the whole, it might be done much better, and in some instances perhaps at a greater rate of reduction.
§ 117. Mr. Wild gives, on similar grounds, the following estimate of the practicable rates of expenses of interment with all decent appliances:—
─────────┬───────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────── │ Tradespeople. │ Mechanics. ─────────┼───────────────┬───────────────┼───────────────┬─────────────── │ Adults. │ Children. │ Adults. │ Children. ─────────┼───────┬───────┼───────┬───────┼───────┬───────┼───────┬─────── │ From. │ To. │ From. │ To. │ From. │ To. │ From. │ To. ─────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼─────── │£. _s._│£. _s._│£. _s._│£. _s._│£. _s._│£. _s._│£. _s._│£. _s._ Coffin │ 1 5│ 4 4│ 0 15│ 1 10│ 0 17│ 1 5│ 0 10│ 0 15 Fittings,│ 0 15│ 2 0│ 0 10│ 1 0│ 0 10│ 0 15│ 0 5│ 0 10 &c. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Sundries │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Convey- │ 1 1│ 4 4│ 1 1│ 2 2│ 0 17│ 1 1│ 0 10│ 1 1 ance │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼─────── Totals │ 3 1│10 8│ 2 6│ 4 12│ 2 4│ 3 1│ 1 5│ 2 6 ─────────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────
§ 118. Next to the arrangements practicable for the regulation of the supplies of goods, the most important practicable arrangements for reduction of expense are those which may regulate the services necessary for interments. The item set forth in the above estimate of the charge for conveyance is on the supposition of separate conveyance in the present mode to the distant cemetery. With reference to the charge for the poorer classes, Mr. Wild was asked—
Might not several sets of mourners be carried in one conveyance?—Yes; that has often occurred to me, and it would tend to reduce the expense materially. When two or three children have died in one street, and they have had to be buried in the same cemetery, I have asked the parents whether, as they had to go to the same place, they objected to go in the same conveyance, and they have frequently stated that they had no objections. These were of the more respectable classes of mechanics.
In the fittings up of the coffins, is it considered that these would be as good as those now used?—Quite as good.
§ 119. One large item in the expense of funerals in the metropolis and populous districts is the expense of hearers, § 115, who are provided for each separate funeral. This expense is about 12_s._ for a set of bearers for the funeral of an adult of the working classes. Formerly common bearers were provided by the several parishes in the metropolis. Any arrangements of a national character would include the provision of a better regulated class of bearers at a greatly reduced expense. In the course of the examination of Mr. Dix, the following information was elicited:—
It has been suggested that, if the hearse were always used, the expense of bearers would be dispensed with in walking funerals. What do you conceive would be the case?—I conceive that that would not be the case, inasmuch as it would require bearers to remove the body from the house to the hearse, and from the hearse to the grave. But this difficulty might, I would suggest, be, to a great extent, obviated by the establishment of public bearers, who should have the exclusive right of removing all corpses, and whose rate of payment should be fixed.
What is the present rate of payment of bearers to the grave for the labouring classes?—It is 2_s._ 6_d._ each.
If public bearers were appointed, what might be the expense?—Much less than one-half.
Do you think that this principle of management would be satisfactory to the working classes?—It is in fact an old method. Formerly there were bearers in all parishes, appointed by the churchwardens. In the parish of St. Margaret’s, Westminster, and in most of the city parishes, the practice continues to this day. In the form of bills of the various parish dues the charge for bearers remains to the present day.
Were these parish bearers less expensive than others?—No; they were not.
Why were they discontinued?—In consequence of these bearers often becoming undertakers themselves, which created a jealousy amongst the trade, who refused to employ them, and the parishes had no power to compel their employment. Also in consequence of the men being elected by the churchwardens; they were seldom elected until they became of an age that rendered them incapable of performing the duties properly. They were not properly dressed, and were under no control. In recommending public bearers, I presume they would be under a different control than a parochial one or than the churchwardens. I would add, however, that as one set of bearers cannot carry a corpse more than a mile, I would only propose them in aid of the hearses.
§ 120. Mr. Wild, who had previously volunteered the suggestion as to the means of reducing the expenses of conveyance, by arrangements on an extensive scale, observes, further, in reference to the bearers—