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A minimum twice-weekly refuse collection was maintained throughout the Borough and, in many
cases, a thrice-weekly clearance was provided. All street gullies were mechanically cleansed at least
six times during the year, and all streets were swept at least once daily.
In April His Worship the Mayor opened a new Welfare Block in North Wharf Road for the staff
of the Cleansing Department. Drying rooms and shower baths are provided, together with a modern
canteen and recreation rooms."
Burial or Cremation of the Dead.
Under section 50 of the National Assistance Act, 1948, it is the responsibility of the Council to arrange
for the burial or cremation of any person who has died or been found dead in the Borough, and for
whom no suitable arrangements for disposal of the body have been or are being made.
Nine persons were buried or cremated under the provisions of the Act during 1956.
Crematorium—Medical Referee.
The Medical Officer of Health is Medical Referee for the Council's Crematorium which is situated
in the St. Marylebone Cemetery at East Finchley. During the year, 1,966 certificates authorising
cremation were issued, an increase of 143 compared with the previous year. Since December, 1937,
when the Crematorium was opened, 13,556 cremations have taken place.
National statistics for 1956 continued to show an upward trend which has proceeded unbroken for
the past twenty-one years.
There seems to be diversity in the practice of medical referees for crematoria in different parts of
the country. This was emphasised at a Special Seminar for Referees held during the Conference of the
Cremation Society at Weston-super-Mare in June, when the desirability of setting up a consultative
body of medical referees with wide experience in administering cremation legislation was urged with
the idea that one of their first actions would be to produce a standard Code of Practice for general
adoption. It was decided that such a permanent consultative body should be formed and five medical
referees, of whom the Medical Officer of Health of St. Marylebone was one, were appointed " to consider
the precise form this body shall take."
Mortuary.
Two male bodies were received in the Public Mortuary in Chiltern Street. No post-mortem
examinations were carried out.
In addition, 95 bodies were deposited at the Mortuary pending reburial after exhumation, details
of which are given in the following paragraph.
Exhumations.
Holy Trinity Church, Marylebone Road.—In connection with the conversion of certain parts of
Holy Trinity Church for use as administrative offices by a religious society, it was found necessary
to remove the remains of some 95 persons and re-inter them. Removal took place in accordance with
the terms of an Exhumation Licence granted by the Home Secretary, the work of a local undertaker
being supervised by the Medical Officer of Health and staff of the Department. The coffins were mainly
lead lined and many, because of age—they were all over 100 years old—were in poor condition and
needed special care in handling. Strict precautions to safeguard public health were taken during the
whole operation. The coffins were removed from the Church in batches of six or seven daily to the
public mortuary in Chiltern Street and the remains transferred to new elm shells to which nameplates
were affixed prior to burial in the Council's cemetery at Finchley.
Vaults Beneath Paddington Street Carriageway.—During excavations of the Paddington Street
carriageway alongside the disused burial ground, which was enclosed by brick walls in 1771-72, a
coffin was found buried in earth at a depth of about eight feet. Upon inspection of the site it became
apparent that there might be other coffins in the immediate vicinity and, indeed, further excavations
revealed four burial vaults. These contained coffins in earth at a similar depth below the carriageway
and an Exhumation Licence was obtained by the contractors concerned. Because of the distorted,
fragile and corroded state of the lead coffins it was necessary to carry out all the work below ground
in the restricted space available. New wooden shells were lowered into position alongside the old
coffins and the remains transferred to them by the light of torches and candles. Sixteen bodies
were exhumed and re-interred at St. Marylebone Cemetery, East Finchley, the work, as in the
previous case, beinf conducted under the supervision of the Medical Officer of Health and staff of
the Department.