Burial register query

[fedup]

I have found a burial entry in the register for All Saints Dovercourt Essex for a Kate Daisy Dennant age 3 yrs 7 months. The entry says 'certified by William James Dennant' (her father), but the column headed 'By whom ceremony performed' is blank.

Does anyone know the reason for this? Were the regulations such that a ceremony need not be performed, and what would have qualified the father to certify the burial?

Advice gratefully received.

[Pam Downes]

Knew this rang a bell.

I've seen entries under which has been written 'as certified by the Burial Law Amendment Act 1880'. http://www.
lincstothepast.com/Records/RecordDisplayTranscript.aspx?oid=548936&iid=53235

Googling found this explanation about the Act - paragraph two in particular. http://
en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Burial_and_Burial_Acts

The family were possibly non-conformists.

Pam

[Peter Goodey]

Were the regulations such that a ceremony need not be performed...

Yes. Everyone had a right to be buried in the parish churchyard whatever their religious affiliations.

and what would have qualified the father to certify the burial?

In the case of a non-CofE burial, the person in charge of the body had to provide a certificate to the effect that the burial had taken place.

[fedup]

Thanks for this Pam, and also the links. It's a very likely scenario, as I can't find baptisms for the children, so likely non-cons.

[fedup]

Thanks for this very helpful response. It will spur me to look for the baptisms of this child and her siblings in non-con churches in the area.