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cemetery belonging to a private company or in one provided by some other authority, and in this
case the charge for interment for non-parishioners is usually higher than for parishioners. Now,
there is probably little doubt that the choice as to a place of burial by the relatives of a deceased
person is in a large number of cases much influenced by considerations of proximity—that is to
say, a cemetery supplies the neighbourhood in which it is situated, and consequently if a burial
place provided by an authority is at a distance, and there should be another nearer, it is possible
that many would choose the latter, even though having to pay a higher fee. But whether this be
so or not, the residents in a district for which a burial place has been provided have the advantage
of using a burial place at a smaller charge than those living in a district for which no provision
has been made. Certainly the former may be considered as being justified in having to pay less,
since there may be a burial rate levied in the district, although, as a matter of fact, it appears
from information supplied to the Council in 1897 as to what was the amount of the burial rate,
if any, raised in the different parishes, that out of 22 parishes or local authorities which have
provided cemeteries, in 9 only was there a rate for the purposes of the cemetery.
(7.) Information obtained for the same year, namely, 1897, as to the burial of paupers shows
that in those cases where burial grounds are provided, the various boards of guardians of the
unions representing the parishes avail themselves of the provision for the purpose, except in the
case of Kensington and St. George, Hanover-square, the paupers from which poor law unions
are interred at the Necropolis Cemetery, Woking. With one exception—viz., Marylebone—a fee
is paid by the guardians to the burial boards. These fees vary from 3s. 6d. at Paddington cemetery
to 21s. at Wandsworth cemetery. Where burial grounds have not been provided, the
guardians make use either of the provision made by other parochial bodies or of private cemeteries,
thus—
4 boards of guardians avail themselves of the ground provided by the City of
London at fees of 12s. 6d. and 13s. 6d. per burial, the fees being in each case bigger
than the fees paid by the Board of Guardians of the City itself, viz., 9s. 6d.
8 boards of guardians (including Kensington and St. George, Hanover-square,
which have parochial cemeteries) make use of the Necropolis at Woking, at fees varying
from 15s. to 30s. Gd.—chiefly 15s.
2 boards of guardians make use of the East London cemetery, Plaistow, Essex, at
fees of 13s. and 13s. 6d., and of the Roman Catholic cemetery, Leytonstone.
1 board of guardians avails itself of the Manor-park cemetery at a fee of 13s. 6d.
1 board of guardians makes use of the Great Northern cemetery, Colney-hatch, at,
a fee of 14s.
(8.) In the following table (1) information obtained partly by circular letters addressed by the
Council during 1897 to the various burial authorities and boards of guardians, and partly during
the present inquiry, is set out showing the actual charges for interment, the position of the
cemetery, if one has been provided, and the provision made for burial of paupers. The charges
for interment refer only to common graves. Private graves are purchased at varying sums over
and above these. In another table (2) information is set out as regards the private cemeteries in
the neighbourhood of London which have been visited.
C. W. F. Young,
Assistant Medical Officer of Health.