The parochial economics of Anglican burial in the two cities of London and Westminster from 1666

• Main Author: Johnson, Malcolm A.
• Published: King's College London (University of London) 2011
• Subjects: 393
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.572526

Through painstaking investigation of parochial records, this thesis for the first time maps the fees for burial which represented a key element in the economics of metropolitan parishes and incumbents alike in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It reveals how changes in patterns of burial and sanitary reform impacted on this income and the response to such changes of clerics and parishes. The investigation exposes how the nature of both those interred (such as the numbers of paupers and children) and the type of burial (whether in the churchyard, under the church or in a non-parochial graveyard) affected parish incomes. Particular attention is given to the financial arrangements associated with intramural internment. Case studies of particular parishes with contrasting profiles (in terms of wealth, population, environment etc) establish that burial dues represented between 10% and 45% of parish income and a significant proportion of an incumbent's stipend. It was against this background that vestries and clerics responded to nineteenth-century initiatives to end inner city burials and the opening of rival cemeteries owned by joint stock companies. Clerical reaction to the related legislation of 1850 and 1852 is explored and explained, as well as the losses of income which resulted After 1852 the Church had to face the implications of possessing many redundant burial sites and spaces in the two cities. The thesis explores how parishes responded to these challenges, and how the money yielded by the sale of buildings and churchyards affected parish economies. The use of redundant crypts to generate income or to benefit the local community is examined, raising questions about the future use of such space