In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, a pauper's funeral was a funeral for a pauper paid for under the

Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

. This policy addressed the condition of the poor people of Britain, such as those living in the

workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...

s, where a growing population of the British ended their days from the 1850s to the 1860s. This period saw between 32 and 48 percent increase in the proportion of the elderly and the sick paupers in these institutions. An account described how poor people could not avail themselves of the funeral relief until they entered the workhouse. The

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

right of the dead to a dignified burial was first recognized in England in the 1840 case ''Rex v. Stewart'', 12 AD. & E. 773.

History

According to Lacquer, pauper's funerals were seen at the time as a sign of failure, being a source of worry for the poor and degrading to their survivors. He states that while the poor had been buried at the expense of the local parish since at least the 1500s, pauper's funerals first became stigmatized between about 1750 and 1850, as social standing began to depend on acquired attributes like wealth, membership in organizations, and philanthropic or entrepreneurial prominence. In the 1600s and early 1700s, there had been almost no relationship between the wealth of an ordinary person and the costs of their funerals, which were more focused on feasts than parades. The

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

had a monopoly on all funerals involving

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

, with set arrangements for each place in the social order, until the late 1600s, after which more expensive funerals became more widely available. The costs of a funeral later began to closely match the social class and wealth of the deceased. In 1811 the essayist

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book '' Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764� ...

wrote that "Nothing tended to keep up in the imaginations of the poorer sort of people, a generous horror of the workhouse more than the manner in which pauper funerals were conducted."

Modern usage of the term

The phrase is still sometimes used, both in the UK and some

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

countries, to describe a public health funeral (or equivalent service outside the UK): a basic burial paid for by the

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

when funeral arrangements cannot (or will not) be made by the family of the deceased. For instance, due to the inability of some families to pay for funeral costs the local authorities pay for the expenses of around 4,000 burials in the country every year.

References

Funerals in the United Kingdom {{UK-hist-stub

History

Modern usage of the term

See also

References