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Following the reception of this report the Council directed that
the attention of the Ministry of Health be called to the question of
possible overcrowding at Abney Park Cemetery, and to the fact that
from 1,000 to 1,250 interments were still taking place there during
every normal year.
The cemetery was visited subsequently by an Inspector
from the Ministry of Health, and, in December, 1937, a communication
was received from the Ministry pointing out that,
in view of Section 7 of the Burial Act, 1852, the Minister's jurisdiction
in this case was limited to the making of a representation
to the Privy Council for the issue of an Order in Council under
Section 10 of the Burial Act, 1857, establishing regulations for the
protection of the public health and for the maintenance of public
decency in respect of burials in common graves ; that the Minister
had considered the report of his Inspector, but that it did not appear
to him that in the present circumstances the matter to which
attention had been directed was one in which he could take any
action.
MORTUARY ACCOMMODATION.
Under Section 234 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, every
Sanitary Authority is required to provide and maintain mortuary
accommodation for the reception of bodies found dead or upon which
an inquest is to be held.
The old mortuary building, situated in St. Mary's Churchyard,
which was out of date and unsuitable for modern requirements, was
demolished consequent upon the erection of the new Municipal
Buildings, and the Council entered into an agreement with the
Hackney Borough Council for the use of the Hackney Mortuary for
a period of three years at a cost of £120 per annum.
HACKNEY MORTUARY
M. F. Total.
Bodies deposited pending burial 38 28 66
„ „ ,, post-mortem 24 55
examination
69 52 121
Inquest on Parishioners (held at Hackney
Coroner's Court) 9 8 17
45