Burial of Drowned Persons Acts 1808 and 1886

Last updated

Burial of Drowned Persons Act 1808
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1801-1816).svg
Long title An Act for providing suitable Interment in Church-yards or Parochial Burying Grounds in England, for such dead Human Bodies as may be cast on Shore from the Sea, in Cases of Wreck or otherwise.
Citation 48 Geo. 3. c. 75
Territorial extent  England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent 18 June 1808
Repealed10 August 1872
Other legislation
Amended by
Repealed by National Assistance Act 1948
Status: Repealed

The Burial of Drowned Persons Act 1808, also known as Grylls' Act, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (48 Geo. 3. c. 75). The act provides that unclaimed bodies of dead persons cast ashore from the sea should be removed by the churchwardens and overseers of the parish, and decently interred in consecrated ground.

The passage of the 1808 act was one of the consequences of the wreck of the Royal Navy frigate HMS Anson in Mount's Bay in 1807. Prior to the passage of this act it was customary to unceremoniously bury drowned seamen without shroud or coffin, in unconsecrated ground. However, the burial in this manner of the many dead from the Anson, and the length of time that many of the bodies remained unburied, caused controversy and led to a local solicitor, Thomas Grylls, drafting a new law to provide more decent treatment for drowned seamen. This law was introduced to parliament by John Hearle Tremayne, Member of Parliament for Cornwall, and was enacted in 1808. [1]

A monument to the drowned sailors, and to the passing of Grylls' Act, stands above Loe Bar, near Porthleven, Cornwall. The construction of nearby Porthleven harbour was another of the consequences of the loss of the Anson. [2] [3]

Burial of Drowned Persons Act 1886
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1837).svg
Long title An Act to amend the Law in respect to the Discovery and Interment of Persons drowned.
Citation 49 & 50 Vict. c. 20
Territorial extent England
Other legislation
AmendsBurial of Drowned Persons Act 1808
Repealed by National Assistance Act 1948
Status: Repealed

This act was amended by the Burial of Drowned Persons Act 1886 (49 & 50 Vict. c. 20), to extend its applicability to bodies found in, or cast on shore from, all tidal or navigable waters. [4] This was needed following the case of the wreck of the Princess Alice , when various parishes refused to pay the cost of interment. [5] The parish was responsible for burial, under the Burial of Drowned Persons Act, and a fee of 5 shillings (a crown) was also paid by the parish for the recovery of drowned bodies.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Lizard</span> Peninsula in southern Cornwall, England

The Lizard is a peninsula in southern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The most southerly point of the British mainland is near Lizard Point at SW 701115; Lizard village, also known as the Lizard, is the most southerly on the British mainland, and is in the civil parish of Landewednack, the most southerly parish. The valleys of the river Helford and Loe Pool form the northern boundary, with the rest of the peninsula surrounded by sea. The area measures about 14 by 14 miles. The Lizard is one of England's natural regions and has been designated as a National Character Area 157 by Natural England. The peninsula is known for its geology and for its rare plants and lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Necropolis Company</span> Cemetery operator established in 1852

The London Necropolis Company (LNC), formally the London Necropolis & National Mausoleum Company until 1927, was a cemetery operator established by Act of Parliament in 1852 in reaction to the crisis caused by the closure of London's graveyards in 1851. The LNC intended to establish a single cemetery large enough to accommodate all of London's future burials in perpetuity. The company's founders recognised that the recently invented technology of the railway provided the ability to conduct burials far from populated areas, mitigating concerns over public health risks from living near burial sites. Accordingly, the company bought a large tract of land in Brookwood, Surrey, around 25 miles (40 km) from London, and converted a portion of it into Brookwood Cemetery. A dedicated railway line, the London Necropolis Railway, linked the new cemetery to the city.

The Receiver of Wreck is an official who administers law dealing with maritime wrecks and salvage in some countries having a British administrative heritage. In the United Kingdom, the Receiver of Wreck is also appointed to retain the possession of royal fish on behalf of the British crown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Trengrouse</span> British inventor

Henry Trengrouse was a British inventor who invented the "Rocket" lifesaving apparatus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Ives (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885 onwards

St Ives is a parliamentary constituency covering the western end of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The constituency has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Andrew George, a Lib Dem MP; George previously represented the constituency from 1997 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burial Act 1857</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Burial Act 1857 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is one of the Burial Acts 1852 to 1885. Its purpose is to regulate burial grounds. It regulates where and how deceased people may be buried, and provides for the exhumation of remains. The Act made it illegal to disturb a grave. The Act did not make it illegal to steal a dead body, and it is only the opening of the grave which constitutes an offence, not the removal of the contents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mullion Cove</span> Mullions Cove is a small community In Cornwall, England

Mullion Cove, or Porth Mellin, is a small community on the West Coast of the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, England, and on the eastern side of Mount's Bay. The Cove forms part of the parish of Mullion, and is accessible by road from Mullion village, 1 mile (1.6 km) to the northeast, and also via the South West coast path. It lies within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

HMS <i>Anson</i> (1781) Intrepid-class ship of the line

HMS Anson was a ship of the Royal Navy, launched at Plymouth on 4 September 1781. Originally a 64-gun third rate ship of the line, she fought at the Battle of the Saintes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cremation Act 1902</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Cremation Act 1902 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The major purpose of the Act was to allow burial authorities to establish crematoria. Later revisions of the Act outlawed open air cremations using funeral pyres, although in 2010 the Court of Appeal ruled this practice to be legal under certain circumstances.

Efford is an historic manor formerly in the parish of Eggbuckland, Devon, England. Today it has been absorbed by the city of Plymouth to become a large, mostly post-World War II, eastern suburb of the city. It stands on high ground approximately 300 feet above the Laira estuary of the River Plym and provides views over long distances: to the north across Dartmoor, to the east and south-east across the South Hams. It consists predominantly of local authority and housing association properties. Before this land was built upon it was known as 'The Wilds of Efford', and was largely unspoilt countryside and marsh land. That a deer park may have been attached to the manor is suggested by the survival of the street name "Deer Park Drive".

John Hearle Tremayne was a member of a landed family in the English county of Cornwall, and owner of the Heligan estate near Mevagissey. He was a member of the UK Parliament for the constituency of Cornwall, a Justice of the peace, and High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1831. He was also the second of four successive members of the Tremayne family who are credited with the creation of the gardens around Heligan House that are now well known as the Lost Gardens of Heligan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civil parishes in Cornwall</span>

A civil parish is a country subdivision, forming the lowest unit of local government in England. There are 218 civil parishes in the ceremonial county of Cornwall, which includes the Isles of Scilly. The county is effectively parished in its entirety; only the unpopulated Wolf Rock is unparished. At the 2001 census, there were 501,267 people living in the current parishes, accounting for the whole of the county's population. The final unparished areas of mainland Cornwall, around St Austell, were parished on 1 April 2009 to coincide with the structural changes to local government in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Loe</span> Freshwater lake in Cornwall, England

The Loe, also known as Loe Pool, is the largest natural freshwater lake in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The earliest recorded appearance of this simple name form was in 1337, when it was called "La Loo", but is mentioned as 'the lake' in 1302; Situated between Porthleven and Gunwalloe and downstream of Helston, it is separated from Mount's Bay by the shingle bank of Loe Bar. Both the Loe and Loe Bar are situated within the Penrose Estate, which is administered by the National Trust, and are designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest by Natural England. It is within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is considered a classic Geological Conservation Review Site. The South West Coast Path, which follows the coast of south-west England from Somerset to Dorset passes over Loe Bar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interments (felo de se) Act 1882</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Interments Act 1882 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which allowed a person whose death was felo de se to be buried in a churchyard at any hour, and with the usual religious rites. Previously, suicides could be buried only between 9pm and midnight, and without rites. Sir James Stephen said that the act was "so worded as to lead any ordinary reader to suppose that till it passed suicides were buried at a crossroads with a stake through their bodies".

Prevention of the lawful and decent burial of a dead body is an offence under the common law of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Outside of homicide it is quite rare. It is triable only by indictment and can be punished by, at maximum, life imprisonment, an unlimited fine or both.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregationalist Cemetery, Ponsharden</span> Cemetery in Cornwall, England

The Congregationalist Cemetery at Ponsharden, Cornwall was opened in 1808 to serve the Dissenting Christian congregations of Falmouth and Penryn. It received approximately 587 burials over a period of 120 years, before being abandoned in the 1930s. During the 20th century the site experienced significant neglect and extensive vandalism. In May 2012 a volunteer group began to restore the burial ground which is now a protected Scheduled Monument of national importance. The place-name Ponsharden is recorded in 1677 as "Ponshardy"; its meaning is Hardy's bridge.

Presented below is an alphabetical index of articles related to Cornwall:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kew Mortuary</span> Former mortuary

The Kew Mortuary or Dead-House is a small, shed-like building, approximately 3.75 by 2.25 metres and 2.8 metres high, attached to the back of Caxton House, 110 Kew Green, just to the east of Kew Bridge on Greyhound Lane facing Westerley Ware. This Victorian mortuary building retains an original slate slab.

References

  1. Hitchins, Fortescue (1824). Samuel Drew (ed.). The history of Cornwall: from the earliest ..., Volume 2. William Penaluna. p. 607. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  2. Schofield, Edith (2009). Cornwall Coast Path (third ed.). Trailblazer Publications. ISBN   978-1-905864-19-5.
  3. "History of Porthleven in Cornwall". www.porthleven-online.com. Neil Smith. Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  4. Little, James Brooke (1902). The Law of Burial: Including All the Burial Acts as Modified Or Affected by ... Shaw. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  5. "The Collision On The Thames". Times [London, England]. 1 October 1878. p. 7 via The Times Digital Archive.