Jeremy started by describing the contemporary function of the funeral director and how there were some 4500 individual firms, some of whom are part of a large organisation although around 60% are family/independently owned and managed. The tasks carried out by funeral directors today are a far cry from those of the ‘undertaker’ when the business first came into being in the 17th C.
The story of the funeral director starts with the funerals of the nobility – titled people with money and influence that were managed by Heralds from the College of Arms to a specified format and rituals that were both costly and time consuming. Lesser mortals were buried by guilds that looked after the funerals of tradesmen, or the parish who provided the place of burial for the poor and use of the reusable ‘parish coffin’, the body being removed and wrapped in a shroud before burial.
The first commercial enterprises appeared to supply the demands of the ceremonies so that the carpenter and the coach master offered their services without reference to the guild. The monopoly position of the Heralds with the enormous cost was also steadily eroded. Funerals had become nocturnal to represent the darkness of death and dramatised the sorrow of the bereaved with the procession led by mutes employed to provide a suitable level of solemnity.
Disquiet with the staging and the manner in which women were treated by the heraldic funerals emphasis on male peerage, coupled with a growing desire to express grief in a more private fashion, led to their decline.
Towards the end of the 17thC evidence exists of the first undertaker circa 1675 and finally an undertaking business of William Russell received approval from the College of Arms to undertake certain funerals, eventually sounding the ‘death-knell’ of the College and usurping the Herald’s function. Those in craft based occupations such as upholstery and carpentry were in an ideal position to furnish funerals and supply the paraphernalia.
Undertakers began to emerge in London where the population was concentrating and became responsible for organising the provision of a coffin, en-coffining the body (yes it is a real word!) and supervising the ritual on the day, together with transportation. By the 18th C the coffin had become a permanent receptacle and also a status symbol through the degree of expenditure lavished on it with 4 basic types of coffin, single, double and triple walled and lead interiors, adding substantially to the income of the undertaker! A whole supporting industry of coffin furnishing manufacturers flourished.
The 18thC undertaker increasingly operated in the capacity of an agent between the bereaved and third parties such as the clergyman and churchyard. At this time there was no statutory or guild regulation.
The growth of anatomical teaching with the need for fresh bodies led to the problem of grave robbing with the only legal source being those unfortunates who had been to the gallows. Extra strong coffins and even night watchmen at the graveside did not always confound the thieves who have been known to dig tunnels and break through the end of the coffin to drag out the body. This situation was not remedied until The Anatomy Act of 1832 legitamised the source of bodies – from the workhouse!
The ‘Victorian Celebration of Death’ increased the expenditure considerably once again. The lower classes in particular desired to show ‘respectability in death’ to match their social status in life and ostentation was seen as a means of proving respectability. In attempting to capitalise upon the prevailing attitude the undertaker of the time was able to exploit what was “customary and proper”. Many tradespeople saw this as a lucrative sideline due to the relatively low capital requirements and that transport and manpower could be hired from carriage masters. A hierarchy developed dictated by the extent to which the undertaker possessed the resources to equip the funeral.
The wholesale funeral furnishings manufacturing industry emerged able to supply everything from coffins and shrouds, hearses and horses to black crepe!
Although the Victorian celebration of death performed a number of functions for the bereaved there is much evidence of corruption. The ‘burial club’ into which the poor contributed money in an effort to avoid a pauper’s funeral suffered financial impropriety and fraudulent management of the funds. Often the only major beneficiaries were the trustees who were frequently the undertaker and the publican. Charles Dickens referred to the “fat atmosphere of funerals” and criticised the great expense and unnecessary pomp of the processions with scathing descriptions in several of his famous books.
Historically the Church of England had been the provider of burial space but with the migration from the countryside to towns and cities urban churchyards and burial grounds had become crowded and unhygienic. Finally the religious link was severed in 1832 with the opening of London’s first garden cemetery at Kensal Green by the General Cemetery Company in a 40 acre landscaped space to provide a secure and permanent resting place.
Further cemeteries were established by private companies including the vast Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, which was served by a funeral train from a private station at Westminster Bridge Road.
The burial acts of 1852 and 1853 permitted the local authorities – then ‘local vestries’ – to operate cemeteries and the number of burial grounds around the country escalated.
The second major development of the 19thC was cremation, the first of which took place in 1885 at Woking Crematorium, established by the Cremation Society of England.
The third area of change was legislation that covered a whole raft of legal powers to regulate aspects of disposal. During this time the undertaking industry expanded significantly.
The 20thC produced 3 of the biggest challenges with two world wars and Spanish flu where vast numbers of bodies had to be dealt with. The majority were buried with many burials in deep graves and even the army and local authorities were called on to help.
The following has been provided by Jeremy to bring the story up to date:
The 20th century opened with the death of Victorian England as Queen Victoria herself passed away. William D Field was instructed by Bantings of St James to provide the funeral services for her state funeral. With the increase in urban crowding and population density death began to move from the family home to the funeral director’s premises and funeral service began to look a lot like it does today. Throughout the period the Field family continued to innovate providing private cemeteries and in the 1930s crematorium. At that time less than 30% of funerals in the London area ended with a cremation. The majority ended in burial. By the close of the 20th Century this statistic was reversed and the Field’s Great Southern Group was operating nearly 40 crematoria across the UK.
In recent years the family has returned to funeral directing as the core aspect of the business but who knows what the next 100 years will hold!
