View report page

83
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 44 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 19
Relatives or friends of the deceased 14
Hospitals in the City 11
Coroner's Court and Mortuary
During 1962, 445 bodies were received in the Mortuary on Coroner's
Warrants, etc. Of this number, 316 bodies were received following death
within the City of Westminster, and 129 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.
Two bodies were admitted to await burial.
Number
of Cases
Inquest cases 82
Non-inquest cases 363
Post-mortem examinations held 436
Causes of death in the foregoing were as under:—
Accidental drowning 2
Found drowned 4
Suicide by drowning 5
„ by other means 25
Accidents—
Street 12
Domestic 16
Others 7
Natural causes 363
Misadventure 1
Murder 1
Miscellaneous causes 9