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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, a pauper's funeral was a funeral for a

pauper Pauperism (Lat. ''pauper'', poor) is poverty or generally the state of being poor, or particularly the condition of being a "pauper", i.e. receiving relief administered under the English Poor Laws. From this, pauperism can also be more generally ...

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, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...

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 In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

right of the dead to a dignified burial was first recognized in England in the 1840 case ''Rex v. Stewart'', 12 AD. & E. 773. 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. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

countries, to describe a

public health funeral Public health funerals are funerals in the United Kingdom paid for by the local authority, where the relatives are either unwilling or unable to pay, or where no relatives can be found. England and Wales Public health funerals in England and Wal ...

(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 public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

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

See also

References