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to be buried or cremated the body of any person who has died or is
found dead in the area, where no other arrangements have been made
for the disposal of the body.
The Council is empowered to recover the cost of burial from the
estate of the deceased, and is eligible to receive payments in respect of
the cost of such burial from death grants payable under the provisions of
the National Insurance Act, 1946.
Where persons without known relatives die in the City, it is frequently
necessary not only to arrange for their burial, but to dispose of the
contents of their homes. This is done in consultation with the Treasury
Solicitor. Such action is necessary to enable the proceeds to be applied
towards the cost of burial and also to avoid rent accruing and to release
the accommodation for housing purposes as early as possible.
During the year 57 burials were undertaken by the City Council
in its Cemetery at Hanwell. The requests for the burials were received
from the following sources:—
H.M. Coroner 22
Relatives or friends of the deceased 12
Hospitals in the City 21
Consular official 1
Medical practitioner 1
Coroner's Court and Mortuary
During 1963,1,068 bodies were received in the Mortuary on Coroner's
Warrants, etc. Of this number, 290 bodies were received following death
within the City of Westminster, and 778 from the Boroughs of Camberwell
and Bermondsey, under an arrangement made with the Southwark
Borough Council referred to in the following section of this Report.
Five bodies were admitted to await burial.
Number
of Cases
Inquest cases 185
Non-inquest cases 883
Post-mortem examinations held 1,025
Causes of death in the foregoing were as under:—
Accidental drowning 1
Found drowned 5
Suicide by drowning 9
Suicide by other means 55
Accidents—
Street 21
Domestic 40
Others 26
Natural causes 883
Misadventure 1
Murder 3
Miscellaneous causes 24