BURIAL ACT OF 1900.

DISINTERMENTS, NOTICES, TOLLING BELL.

The disinterment of bodies, from whatever motive, is illegal, and punishable as a misdemeanour. It may, however, take place in the following cases :(a) By Licence of a Secretary of State.

a

(b) By a Faculty, in the case of the removal of body from consecrated ground to consecrated ground elsewhere.

(c) By a Coroner's order, for an inquest.

Until 1880 burials in consecrated ground had to be in accordance with the rites of the Church of England. Only a clergyman could read the service; he was forbidden to use it in unconsecrated ground. A change in the law was made by the Burial Laws Amendment Act, 1880 (43 & 44 Vict., c. 41). By this Statute it is enacted (inter alia) that:

Sec. 1.-Burial may take place in a churchyard without the rites of the Church of England upon fortyeight hours' notice in writing being given to the incumbent by the person responsible for the burial that it is intended that the deceased shall be buried without such service. It is sufficient that the notice be left at the incumbent's usual place of abode. In the case of the consecrated part of burial grounds maintained by a burial authority, notice shall be given as the burial authority shall direct, and not in accordance with this Act (Burial Act, 1900, Sec. 8).

Sec. 3.-If the time fixed for the burial in a churchyard, which must be stated in the notice, be inconvenient on account of some service arranged before the receipt of the notice, or on account of

any regulations as to the time of burial, the person receiving the notice shall within 24 hours appoint a time for the burial, unless a mutual arrangement is made. The day is not to be altered, unless the burial be in a churchyard, and the day named be Sunday, Good Friday, or Christmas Day, when the following day may be appointed. In the latter case any reason appearing good to the person receiving the notice is sufficient, if it be expressed in writing. The time of burial apart from arrangement is to be between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. from April 1st to Oct. 1st, and during the rest of the year between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Sec. 5.-In the case of burials under this Act, all regulations shall apply to the position and making of the grave, and all fees shall be paid as apply and are paid in the case of Church of England burials.

Sec. 6.-Burial may take place either without any religious service, or with such "Christian service as thought fit. The words "Christian service" include every religious service used by any church, denomination or person professing to be Christian.

Sec. 7.-No one shall deliver any address not being part of or incidental to a religious service permitted by the Act, nor shall, under colour of a religious service or otherwise, make any attack upon the Christian religion or any body of Christians.

Sec. 9.-No right of burial is given where no previous right existed.

Secs. 10, 11.--The person responsible for the burial, and not the person conducting the ceremony,

is to fulfil the requirements of the law as to registration. (See Schedule B.)

Sec. 12.-A clergyman may use the Church of England service in unconsecrated ground.

Sec. 13.-A clergyman may use a service, not being the Church of England service, if prescribed or approved by the ordinary, in cases where the Church of England service may not be used, or where desired by the person responsible for the burial.

It is doubtful whether the incumbent has power to forbid the bell to be tolled at a burial under the Statute.

The forms given in the Act are the following:

I

(or friend, or legal representative, as the case may be, describing the relation if a relative) having the charge of or being responsible for the burial of A. B. of

in the parish of

who died at

of do hereby give you notice that it is intended by me that the body of the said A. B. shall be buried within the (here describe the churchyard or graveyard in which the body is to be buried) on the day of at the hour of without the performance in the manner prescribed by law of the service for the burial of the dead according to the rites of the Church of

England; and I give this notice pursuant to the
Burial Laws Amendment Act, 1880. To the
Rector (or as the case may be) of

I

of

SCHEDULE B.

the person having the

charge of (or being responsible for) the burial of the deceased, do hereby certify that on the day of A. B. of

aged was

buried in the churchyard (or graveyard) of the parish (or district) on

(or as the case may be) of

To the Rector

Prints of these forms can be obtained of the National Free Church Council, London.

Difficulties having arisen in the case of burial grounds maintained by local authorities owing to the legal consequences of consecration, the Burial Act, 1900 (63 & 64 Vict., c. 15), was passed, enacting (inter alia) that :—

Sec. 1.-A burial board may, if they think fit, apply to the Bishop to consecrate part of the burial ground, and if they do not do so within a reasonable time after request, the Secretary of State may make such application if satisfied that a reasonable number of the inhabitants of the district so desire, and that the consecration fees have been paid or secured.

Sec. 2.-A burial authority may, at their own expense, build a Chapel in the consecrated portion, to be used for any religious service by any person. Any other Chapel to be built, whether in the consecrated portion or not, must be so built at the cost

of the denomination desiring it. A Secretary of State may order the burial authority to allow such Chapel to be built if they have refused permission, provided that the estimated cost has been tendered to them, or is reasonably secured.

Sec. 3.-A table of fees for services rendered by Ministers of Religion is to be prepared, to be approved by the Secretary of State. Such fees are to be the same in the consecrated and unconsecrated parts, and are to be collected and paid over by the burial authority. No fee is to be paid to an incumbent in respect of exclusive burial, or the erection of a monument, or any other matter whatsoever, in burial grounds, under the Act, except for services rendered. But where, at the passing of the Act, fees other than for services rendered are payable, they are to be paid during the lifetime of the present incumbent or for fifteen years, whichever be the longer, but the burial authority may make an agreement with the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for commutation. Fees payable to the incumbent under Section 5 of the Burial Laws Amendment Act, 1880, are in all probability fees "other than for services. rendered." Nor are fees to be paid to a clerk or other Ecclesiastical officer, other than fees to a Sexton for services rendered, though any person entitled at the passing of the Act to such fees is entitled to compensation from the burial authority.

Sec. 7.-Chaplains in cemeteries under the Public Health Interments Act, 1879, are no longer to be appointed by a burial authority. The incumbent of