1823 Suicide Act (General)

by slowhands , proud of his ancient Dean Forest roots, Wednesday, April 23, 2008, 13:33 (6065 days ago) @ barbarajane

Burial of Suicide Act 1823 (4 Geo. IV)

is the law refered to

An Act which stopped the previous custom of burying a suicide in the roadway. It was now lawful for these to be buried in consecrated ground, although without the benefit of a religious service. It also brought to an end the tradition of driving a stake through the body and throwing lime over it.

The Act of 1823 "abolished the custom of burial at the crossroads and provided that the body should be buried [in the churchyard] between nine and twelve at night without any religious rites. This statute has been repealed by the Interments (Felo de se) Act 1882, which provides that a body may be buried in any way authorized by the Burial Laws Amendment Act 1880, i.e. either without any religious service or with such Christian and orderly religious service at the grave as the person having charge of the body thinks fit."

The last recorded burial of a suicide at a crossroads in this country was in 1823, when a man called Griffiths was buried at the junction of Eton Street, Grosvenor Place and the King's Road (although without a stake driven through his chest).

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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>