The Cremation Society of Great Britain (now known as The Cremation Society) was founded in 1874 to promote the use of cremation as an alternative means of dealing with the bodies of the dead instead of burial which until then was the only option. Today the society is a registered charity and is not conducted for profit.
In Europe, a movement to reintroduce cremation as a viable method for body disposal began in the early 1870s. This was made possible by the invention of new furnace technology and contact with Eastern cultures that practiced it. [1] At the time, many proponents believed in the miasma theory, and that cremation would reduce the "bad air" that caused diseases. [2] In 1869, the idea was presented to the Medical International Congress of Florence by Professors Coletti and Castiglioni "in the name of public health and civilization". In 1873 Professor Paolo Gorini of Lodi and Professor Ludovico Brunetti of Padua published reports of practical work they had conducted. [3] A model of Brunetti's cremating apparatus, together with the resulting ashes, was exhibited at the Vienna Exposition in 1873 and attracted great attention [4]
The Cremation Society of Great Britain was founded in 1874 by Sir Henry Thompson, a surgeon and Physician to the Queen in which capacity he served Queen Victoria; he was also to become its first president. [5] He had seen Gorini's cremator at the Vienna Exhibition and had returned home to become the first and chief promoter of cremation in England. [4] Thompson's article 'The Treatment of the Body after Death' appeared in The Contemporary Review in January 1874. In it he wrote: "it was becoming a necessary sanitary precaution against the propagation of disease among a population daily growing larger in relation to the area it occupied". While his main argument in support of cremation concerned hygiene his other reasoning included that cremation would lessen the chances of burial alive, reduce the cost of funerals, save mourners from having to stand in all weathers during interment, and cremation urns would be safe from vandalism. [4] Thompson further expressed the radical financial argument that the resultant ashes could be utilised as fertilizer. The ensuing debate in the press encouraged Thompson to call a meeting of his friends at his home at 35 Wimpole Street on 13 January 1874 during which a declaration was written and signed by those present. [6] This stated:
"We, the undersigned, disapprove the present custom of burying the dead, and we desire to substitute some mode which shall rapidly resolve the body into its component elements, by a process which cannot offend the living, and shall render the remains perfectly innocuous. Until some better method is devised we desire to adopt that usually known as cremation." [6]
Apart from Thompson the co-signatories of the declaration included: Shirley Brooks, Frederick Lehmann, John Everett Millais, John Tenniel, Anthony Trollope and Sir Thomas Spencer Wells. At this meeting the Cremation Society of Great Britain was created. Its founder Sir Henry Thompson wrote that the society was "organised expressly for the purpose of obtaining and disseminating information on the subject and for adopting the best method of performing the process, as soon as this could be determined, provided that the act was not contrary to Law". [6] They founded the United Kingdom's first crematorium, Woking Crematorium in Woking in Surrey [5] with Gorini travelling to England to assist the installation of a cremator. It was first tested on 17 March 1879 with the body of a horse. However, after protests and an intervention by the Home Secretary, Sir Richard Cross, their plans were put on hold. In 1884, the Welsh Neo-Druidic priest William Price was arrested and put on trial for attempting to cremate his son's body. [7] Price successfully argued in court that while the law did not state that cremation was legal, it also did not state that it was illegal. The case set a precedent that allowed the Cremation Society to proceed. [8]
In 1885, the first official cremation in the United Kingdom took place in Woking. The deceased was Jeanette Pickersgill, a well-known figure in literary and scientific circles. [9] By the end of the year, the Cremation Society of Great Britain had overseen two more cremations, a total of 3 out of 597,357 deaths in the UK that year. [5] In 1888, 28 cremations took place at the venue. In 1891, Woking Crematorium added a chapel, pioneering the concept of a crematorium being a venue for funerals as well as cremation.
The Cremation Society of Great Britain drew up the original forms of certification for cremation which were to be adopted as the basis for the first Cremation Act in 1902.
After opening Woking Crematorium the society supported the opening of crematoria in other cities, with the Manchester Crematorium opening in 1892, Glasgow Crematorium in 1895, Liverpool Crematorium in 1896 and Darlington Crematorium in 1901. Meanwhile, Thompson's idea spread as far as the United States and Japan. The Hull Crematorium was opened in 1901 by the local council. In 1902 Golders Green Crematorium was built by the London Crematorium Company Ltd, which had been founded by Thompson. Birmingham Crematorium opened in 1903.
During World War I the society was not able to spread its message but its cause was publicised by the cremation of the Duchess of Connaught in 1917. Gradually, more and more people turned to cremation including prime ministers and bishops of the Church of England. In 1930 the society changed its name from The Cremation Society of England to The Cremation Society of Great Britain. [6]
Since its foundation in 1874 the Cremation Society has worked to popularise the use of cremation among all branches and levels of society. Over the decades the society has assisted and advised private companies and local authorities on the building of new crematoria at the same time as lobbying government to ease the restrictions which were preventing cremation from being readily available to all. [10]
Today cremation accounts for about 78% of all funerals in the United Kingdom. In 2008 the society amended its Memorandum and Articles of Association so that it could investigate alternative methods of dealing with the bodies of the dead. [10]
The Archive of The Cremation Society is held in the Durham University Library at Durham University. [11]
Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000, and the crematorium was opened in 1902 by Sir Henry Thompson.
Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning.
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 very 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.
Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Frederick William Hervey, 1st Marquess of Bristol, styled Lord Hervey between 1796 and 1803 and known as The Earl of Bristol between 1803 and 1826, was a British peer.
David Boyle, 7th Earl of Glasgow,, was a British naval commander and colonial governor. He served as Governor of New Zealand between 1892 and 1897.
Richard Fleming George Charles Grey, 6th Earl Grey was a British hereditary peer.
Cremation is a method used to dispose of the deceased in the Christian world despite historical opposition to the practice.
A crematorium or crematory is a venue for the cremation of the dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator, a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a crematorium can also be a venue for open-air cremation. In many countries, crematoria contain facilities for funeral ceremonies, such as a chapel. Some crematoria also incorporate a columbarium, a place for interring cremation ashes.
The Iron and Steel Institute was a British association originally organized by the iron trade of the north of England. Its object was the discussion of practical and scientific questions connected with the manufacture of iron and steel.
George Tomline, referred to as Colonel Tomline, was an English politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for various constituencies. He was the son of William Edward Tomline and grandson of George Pretyman Tomline.
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.
Mortlake Crematorium is a crematorium in Kew, near its boundary with Mortlake, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It opened in 1939, next to Mortlake Cemetery.
The City of London Cemetery and Crematorium is a cemetery and crematorium in the east of London. It is owned and operated by the City of London Corporation. It is designated Grade I on the Historic England National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Jeanette Pickersgill was an English painter, She was the first person to be legally cremated in the United Kingdom, at Woking Crematorium in Surrey.
Woking Crematorium is a crematorium in Woking, a large town in the west of Surrey, England. Established in 1878, it was the first custom-built crematorium in the United Kingdom and is closely linked to the history of cremation in the UK.
Sir Henry Thompson, 1st Baronet, was a British surgeon and polymath. His interest was particularly in the surgery of the genito-urinary tract.
Sir George Grey, 1st Baronet, was a British Royal Navy officer and a scion of the noble House of Grey who served as Master and Commander of the Mediterranean Fleet. He joined the Royal Navy at the age of 14 and was on active service from 1781 to 1804, serving in the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic War. He served as Flag Captain for John Jervis, Earl of St Vincent and later as Flag Captain for King George III on his royal yacht. From 1804 to 1806, he was Commissioner at Sheerness Dockyard, and from 1806 until his death in 1828 he was Commissioner at Portsmouth Dockyard.
Birmingham Crematorium is a Protestant crematorium in the Perry Barr district of Birmingham, England, designed by Frank Osborne and opened in 1903. A columbarium was added in 1928. The crematorium is now owned and operated by Dignity plc.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)