A Personal Perspective
Paper to Archaeology Department
Durham University Cremation
A Personal Perspective, Alan José FICCM
I began my working career in Cemeteries and Cremation quite by chance, although the concept of working in the funeral Profession was not unknown to me as my Grandfather and an Uncle had been Funeral Undertakers.
I had finished two years at college studying Surveying and was about to embark on a year of practical experience. In those distant days of the 1970’s, it was necessary to change a Student National Insurance Card for a full time Employee National Insurance Card at the Labour Exchange. It was there that the girl dealing with this change told me about a job at Beckenham Crematorium. On impulse, I said that I would go for an interview if the company wished to see me. Two days later I had embarked on a new and what has been an exciting, challenging and fulfilling career.
Over the past 34 years or so I have seen significant changes in the service offered to the bereaved.
In the early 1970’s, the very large majority of services were conducted by a Church of England Clergyman or a Non Conformist member of the Clergy (Methodist, Baptist United Reform) or by a Roman Catholic Priest. Almost everyone considered themselves to be a member of a church group even if they had not attended “church” regularly.
Indeed, because of this, Beckenham Crematorium, where I began my career, along with almost all other Crematoria, had a “Rota” of Clergymen to conduct Funeral Services for those who did not have a connection with a particular Parish. One of my jobs was to put up the Ministers Fees each day (£1.00 at the time). The Rota Minister might conduct 5 or 6 or sometimes more services in a day using only the most scant of information about the deceased and in most cases he had no contact with the family.
Families seemed happy in the main to accept this situation - something that would just not be acceptable in this day and age.
Today, families give a great deal of thought to the Funeral Service of a loved one and will select readings and hymns and have a detailed discussion with the Funeral Celebrant be he or today, often she, an ordained clergyman/woman a Humanist or a Civil Celebrant.
The relatively recent ordination of women has caused some disagreement in church circles and indeed many people still find this reality a difficult concept but as far as my experience is concerned, women clergy are often excellent and can have a great degree of understanding the needs of a bereaved family.
Non religious funerals have become more common over the last 20 years, and in some areas account for well over 30% of all services. This is no doubt due to the fact that we live in a very secular society and people do not go to church or feel the need to do so. Some also feel that it could be hypocritical to have a Religious Funeral after perhaps only having been to church for Weddings and Funerals, a few times during their lifetime.
Non religious funeral celebrants also offer a very good service to the bereaved, who, certainly do in most cases, need some structure to the Funeral Ceremony. At all levels, religious or not, the Funeral Service is a very important part of the grieving process.
One of the biggest changes to a funeral service however, is the type of music played! Hymns are still very popular, but one will no longer be surprised by a request for a piece of music for a Funeral and indeed this is quite right.
Music either classical or ‘pop’ can be very precious to people and where better to show this than at a Funeral.
Another change over the years is that mourners do not wear black very often and indeed it is quite common for a family to request that bright clothes be worn to a Funeral.
The public are today much more willing to consider death although it can still be a tricky subject. Record numbers of people have purchased prepayment Funeral Plans and left very detailed instructions of how their own Funeral Service should be conducted and yet because neo-natal death rates are far, far lower than they were 100 and even 50 years ago, death is not so much part of life. In general it is accepted that death is inevitable - but only acceptable if the deceased has reached at least 3 score years and ten.
Modern Cremation
Sir Henry Thompson (Queen Victoria’s Surgeon) called a meeting at his house at 35 Wimpole Street, London on the 13th January 1874 where the Cremation Society was formed. The aim was to establish a legal means of cremating Humans Remains as quickly as possible.
The first cremations of the modern era were in fact the wife and mother of a Captain Hanham of Blandford in Dorset. The Home Secretary having refused the Cremation Society authority to cremate the two deceased members of the Captain’s family - Hanham himself erected a Crematorium in the grounds of his house and he cremated his wife and his mother on 8th and 9th October 1882.
(Captain Hanham died in 1893 and was also cremated there.)
Despite much press comment, the Home Office took no action (a parallel today with the issue of the Funeral Pyre in 2008 when the body of a Hindu illegal immigrant was cremated near Newcastle upon Tyne subsequently Davender Ghai has been to the Court of Appeal in a bid to hope Funeral Pyres be made legal in the U.K).
The following year, 1883, Dr. William Price attempted to cremate the body of his 5 month old son at Llantrisant in SouthWales. He was immediately arrested and put on trial at the South Glamorgan Assizez in Cardiff.
The verdict of this trial was given in February 1884 - Mr Justice Stephen pronounced that cremation is legal providing no nuisance is caused in the process to others.
This was the news that the Cremation Society had been awaiting and so it was that the first modern cremation took place atWoking Crematorium, that of Mrs Pickersgill, on 26th March 1885.
In 1885 - 3 Cremations took place at Woking Crematorium.
In 1886 - 10 Cremations took place and by 1888 this number had increased to 28 Cremations and during 1892 - 104 cremations were carried out.
By the end of 1904, there were nine Crematoria in operation in Great Britain:Woking, Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, Hull, Darlington, Leicester, Golders Green (London) and Birmingham - and the total number of cremations that had taken place since 1885 was 4409.. The practice of cremation was beginning to be established.
The role of the Crematorium Superintendent & Registrar is a very different one to that of the Funeral
Director.
The Funeral Director is the person who is called upon by the bereaved (usually the next of kin of the Deceased) to make the necessary arrangements for a Funeral.
It is the Funeral Director who will remove the body of the deceased from the place of death to either a mortuary or to his Chapel of Rest. The Funeral Director will discuss the detailed requirements of the Deceased’s family and make arrangements in accordance with instructions received.
My job, and the job of Crematoria staff is to provide a suitable building where services can be held and for cremating the body of the deceased in a cremator designed for the purpose in accordance with the Cremation Act 1902 and the Cremation Regulations (England & Wales) 2008.
I am required to obtain the necessary documentation to enable a cremation to take place, keep proper and full records of each cremation and to ensure that the correct identity of each of the Deceased Cremated Remains is established from the arrival of the coffin until the final disposal of the Cremated Remains.
The cremation process has remained much the same as it was in 1885 - different cremator designs have been tried over the years, but even the most modern cremators work in very much the same ways as they always have done. The time for cremation of an adult today has not significantly changed either (11/2 hours) was the average time in 1885 - very similar to that achieved today!
There are other processes being considered at the present time, promession and Resomation. Neither has so far been put into practice but the Cremation Society has resolved to accept Resomation as a suitable way of reducing a human body to ashes.
There are at least two companies in the U.K. that can offer the bereaved the options of having the cremated remains of their loved one made into a diamond!
This is a very expensive process, that it really uses a very small amount of cremated remains - think of a teaspoon full - to produce a diamond. These can look very attractive but in my experience there is little diamond.
Cremated Remains can however, cause a problem. The Applicant for the Cremation only has the right to the Cremated Remains and sometimes their decision on what happens to Cremated Remains is not always shared by other members of the family.
Unusual options that have been requested over the past few years have been for small amounts of Cremated Remains to be placed in separate containers.
In one case, 12 small parcels of Cremated Remains were taken up to 12 peaks by fellow climbers - friends of the deceased and scattered.
In another case, a small quantity of cremated remains were “scattered” under a favourite seat in a park in Las Vegas.
As far as I know, the egg timer idea does not work!
There are always myths and stories about subjects that people do not know about or understand: cremation is just the same. This is why I always encourage people to come and see how the Crematorium works.
Only one coffin is cremated at a time.
The coffin is charged into the Cremator as it is received, the handles etc. are not removed.
The deceased does not “sit up” during the cremation.
The Cremated Remains are correctly identified.
This is a big and interesting topic but I hope that this has given a flavour of my view of modern cremation.
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