Strange detail in burials at Cross Street, Manchester

[MythicalMarian]

Thanks to a certain online subscription site, it is now possible to view the original registers of Cross Street Unitarian Chapel in Manchester, for which I am eternally grateful after struggling with the often illegible MF at Manchester Library. However, yesterday I found an ancestor's burial there and was amazed at the detail in this NC register at such an early date (1810)

The entry gave: Date of death (rather than burial date); name and relationship to either father, mother, etc - in my case she was down as 'Relict of' (as she was a widow); age at death; cause of death; her address; where buried (in this case inside the chapel) and - this one really amazed me: Depth of grave in feet and inches! I have never seen this in any other register - has anyone else?

In this case, the grave inside the chapel was 5'8" - which I presume was how far they went down to put her on top of her parents. By stark contrast, a grave for an infant outside the church was only 18" deep!

Has anyone come across such an odd detail in any other NC or PRs?

[MythicalMarian]

Hi Marian.

Do you know if the infant was buried in an already established grave so that was the only space left?

I'm wondering if the registers were doubling as a lair book, for the information of the sexton/gravedigger. Giving location and depth would suggest this.

Could be, Fin. I found one entry where the grave was 9 feet deep inside the chapel. This almost suggests a vault or some such structure - not unusual in CoE churches, so I suppose the NCs could have had them too. The NCs are a new baby for me at this stage of my research :)

I also went back to have another look at other entries on the same page as my Mary, and found that in cases of certain infants - and even older folk, perhaps poorer ones - the minister has stated if the person/child has been put in another grave! Now, this could be a relative, I suppose, but I did find a few entries stating - Joe Bloggs - all his details - then 'L.G. in Stayley's grave' or such like. (I have worked out that L.G. and H.G. is perhaps lower ground and higher ground, but this is just a guess. As the old Cross Street was destroyed in the Manchester blitz, we've no way of finding out. Shame.

There was one comment against a burial that said 'Now only room for one small child' - so your idea of the lair book could be correct.

[Browneyes]

A funeral parlour online says...

Graves have to be dug to a sufficient depth to allow for future burials to take place. Therefore the grave needs to be deep enough to allow not only for the depth of coffins/caskets that will be buried but also to accommodate legal requirements of undisturbed earth to be between each coffin and the amount of earth that must cover the last interment.

I'm wondering if it was something to do with cost?

[MythicalMarian]

A funeral parlour online says...

Graves have to be dug to a sufficient depth to allow for future burials to take place. Therefore the grave needs to be deep enough to allow not only for the depth of coffins/caskets that will be buried but also to accommodate legal requirements of undisturbed earth to be between each coffin and the amount of earth that must cover the last interment.

I'm wondering if it was something to do with cost?

Could be, Browneyes. I must say though - 18 inches seems very shallow indeed, doesn't it? I doubt that would fall within our modern Health and Safety regulations.

[Browneyes]

Perhaps it was a 'token' burial for some reason. Quite sad though :(

[MythicalMarian]

Thanks for that, Finbar - fascinating.

Not very long ago - in fact about 4-5 years, one of our old churchyards in Stalybridge was cleared and the council used some chemical or other to treat the cleared pits. But the stench was still abominable - so I get an idea of the problems the book talks about!

[pottoka]

I looked up the burial record for one of my grandfathers recently and found notes in a column, headed "from which parish removed", saying "7 ft"; "vault"; "full" and "room for one more". This was in 1945.

My grandfather was in a 7 ft grave, and his wife was buried in the same grave - presumably above him - when she died ten years later. In the margin, it says which hospital she died in and "room for one more".