Parish Burial Register

[Megan Roberts]

I was trawling through a parish burial register and came across a strange entry in the "by whom the ceremony was performed" box. This is from 1950:

Certified by George Roberts, contractors

Any ideas what this refers to?


All the the other entries are "normal" ones with the names of clergy etc.

[arthurk]

My best guess is that this would have been a simple burial without any involvement by the clergy of the church. Possible reasons could include it being paid for by the local authority, or the deceased being non-conformist (though there would usually be a non-conformist minister's name for that) or totally non-religious and not wanting any kind of service.

I've sometimes come across small businesses which are part building contractors and part funeral directors, so this might explain George Roberts. If there hadn't been a minister, the funeral director would be the most appropriate person to sign the register.

[Megan Roberts]

Thanks arthurk.

[arthurk]

Another thought - I think I once heard from a funeral director that they sometimes interred ashes with little or no ceremony, so that might be another possibility to add to the list.