When was first cremation

C and A. D, cremation was widely practiced and elaborate urns were used to store remains in buildings similar to a columbarium we use today. Then, by A. D, due to Christianisation of the Roman Empire, earth burial had completely replaced cremation. The only exceptions were in instances of plague or war that along the next 1, years to remain with burial as the widely accepted mode of disposition throughout Europe. Cremation as we see it today began just over a century ago.

Professor Brunetti of Italy had perfected a model and displayed his dependable cremation chamber at the Vienna Expo. This rebirthed the cremation movement on both sides of the Atlantic. In the USA, the first crematory was built in by Dr. Julius LeMoyne in Washington, Pennsylvania. Cremation as we know it today uses intense heat to transform the body into ash.

Whereas in the earliest known method of cremation fire was used with a log pyre. Over time, the popularity of cremation began to wane. By the Middle Ages, cremation became a form of punishment and was not viewed as a compassionate way to care for the deceased. However, at the Vienna Exhibition of , Professor Ludovico Brunetti revealed a furnace that he had invented specifically for cremation.

Displayed with the furnace were about four pounds of cremated remains. Julius LeMoyne. The Federation operated within the framework of the Cremation Society and its convener was Mr. Arthur E. Piggott of Manchester whose great work for cremation, not only in the Manchester district but throughout the country, is familiar to all cremationists.

In the same year a parliamentary committee was formed to draft a Bill entitled Births and Deaths Registration Act to deal with the matter of death certification, and this new Bill came before Parliament and into force in At the third conference of cremation authorities, held at Wembley, the rules of the new Federation of Cremation Authorities in Great Britain were approved. That same conference was addressed by the significant figure of Bishop Gore, one of the acknowledged leaders of the Anglican Church, who declared himself unequivocably in favour of cremation.

The work of Sir Charles Cameron for the cause of cremation finds its memorial in the form of a stained-glass window in the chapel of the Woking crematorium. During the next three years the cremation movement spread to various parts of the British Empire. The first crematorium was established in South Africa in , the same time as the Cremation Society of Australia was founded. The following year the first crematorium was built in New Zealand. At home, new crematoria had meanwhile appeared at Bristol and Ipswich.

In the Council resolved to obtain new office accommodation an obvious sign of the extension of the Society's activities and in June of that year the freehold of 47 formerly No. The Federation of Cremation Authorities in Great Britain was now firmly established and holding its conference annually at various provincial centres. At the same time local authorities and others were taking a lively interest in this new movement and, during the next three years, crematoria were built at Edinburgh, Guernsey and Brighton.

Clynes, issued the new Cremation Regulations which have remained in force with but minor alterations to the present date. The same year "The Cremation Society of England" was renamed "The Cremation Society" in order to exemplify its application to the whole of Great Britain and not merely to one portion of the country. In we also find the first attempts at international reciprocity when the Society entered into agreements with several of the Scandinavian cremation societies to be of mutual assistance to members of the various societies dying abroad.

In there was the publication of the second edition of the early work Cremation in Great Britain. This second edition appeared in a more pretentious format and included illustrated descriptions of all the existing British crematoria together with summaries of all the legal enactments connected with cremation.

This marked the start of a new approach to the matter of publications by the the Cremation Society. The same year the Secretary, Mr. George Noble, visited Scandinavia where he made close contacts with the leading cremationists in Norway, Sweden and Denmark and returned with many new ideas arising from these meetings. In the year the Cremation Society ceased to be a cremation authority. Having established the first crematorium in Great Britain and controlled it with increasing success over many years, the Society now transferred the ownership of this crematorium to the London Cremation Company Limited, which was the authority controlling the Golders Green Crematorium.

In the following year an attempt to bring together all the various organisations directly or indirectly concerned with the disposal of the human dead resulted in the formation of the National Council for the Disposition of the Dead, under the Presidency of Lord Horder. This Council set out with the hope of one day obtaining some form of codification of the burial laws and also obtaining a measure of registration for funeral directors.

It attracted to itself many important national organisations and did valuable work until the outbreak of the Second World War brought its career to an end. As we read the records over the period, it is becoming clear that the history of modern cremation is now gradually but perceptibly approaching the end of an epoch. The movement is spreading throughout the whole of the provinces in this country and throughout the British Commonwealth.

New crematoria are being established everywhere, and new methods of propaganda are being introduced. At the beginning of this chapter we recorded an annual total figure of 1, cremations.

By the end of this figure had risen to 8, cremations. This increase, in terms of modern experience may not seem spectacular, but its growth over the period had been steady and pointed clearly in the direction of the growing acceptance of the principle of cremation by the people of this country. Soon the industrial classes were to be brought within the orbit of the movement, but it can be safely said of this third period that the foundations so truly laid by the pioneers were proving capable of bearing a growing superstructure, the limits of whose height and breadth were as yet unknown.

Sixty years had passed since that day in January, , when the distinguished group of pioneers met at the residence of Sir Henry Thompson and drew up the declaration on which was founded the Cremation Society of England. In this declaration they asserted their belief in the system known as cremation and stated their wish to adopt this system until a better one had been devised.

It is clear from our record of the past sixty years that their fellow citizens in this country were gradually coming round to the same point of view and, which is of equal importance, that local authorities were now recognising the significance of cremation and the need to provide the necessary facilities to meet the growing demand on the part of the public.

The cremation movement had survived the discouragement and troubles of its early years it was now growing up. But with the development in the stature there came other problems. To the Council of the Cremation Society the immediate problem was to convince the masses of the people that cremation was suitable for their purposes and that it was not purely a perquisite of the intellectual and monied section of society.

In an effort to solve this problem the Council of the Cremation Society during the next two years embarked upon two original ventures. In the first place, recognising the need for a medium whereby the developments of the various aspects of cremation should find expression, they decided to found a quarterly magazine which, under the title of PHAROS , was first published in the autumn of , and soon established itself as the official journal of the movement both at home and abroad.

In the second place the Council of the Cremation Society, resolving to bring cremation prominently to the notice of the industrial classes, decided to launch a scheme of cremation assurance whereby it was possible for persons who so desired to pre-pay their cremation fee by regular instalments. The scheme was greatly assisted by cremation authorities who immediately agreed to accept the policies of cremation assurance in the same way that they had always accepted the life membership certificates of the Cremation Society.

Cremation Assurance continued to thrive in its original form until when a change in the constitution of the Cremation Society brought into being the Cremation Assurance Friendly Society to which the assurance was transferred. At this time the movement suffered a severe loss in the death of Mr. Swinburne-Hanham, who was largely responsible for the establishment of the Golders Green Crematorium, had rendered invaluable service to the cremation movement which owes him a considerable debt of gratitude.

Evidence of the changing attitude of ecclesiastics towards cremation was provided in when the body of the Bishop of Derby was cremated, and further afield in India, the remains of Dr. Kurialachery, the late Roman Catholic Archbishop of Changanacherry, who died in Rome some years earlier, were brought back to his home and were cremated in the presence of many thousands of Roman Catholics.

In the following year, the Council of the Cremation Society elected as its Chairman, the King's Physician, Lord Horder, who had been a member of the Council for a number of years, but who now came to a position in which he was able to exert a great influence upon the movement, and by his great prestige bring the idea of cremation forcibly and authoritatively before a much wider public.

In an outstanding event in the field of international cremation took place in Prague, where, at the invitation of the Czechoslovak Cremation Society, leading cremationists from eleven European countries met to discuss their various problems. At the end of this conference it was unanimously resolved to explore the possibilities of bringing into being a permanent international organisation, and a committee of four, consisting of: Mr. Mencl of Prague, M.

Ferre of Lyons, Professor H. Zeiss of Berlin, and Mr. Herbert Jones of London, was appointed to draw up a draft constitution to be presented at an International Congress to be convened in London the following year. The London congress was duly held the following September when the International Cremation Federation was officially founded and its constitution approved.

As the first officers of the new Federation, Dr. Herbert Jones of London was elected Secretary-General. The Federation is now a world-wide organisation made up of over 40 countries. The aims of the Federation include the promotion and provision of information about the practice of cremation. The Society continues to play an integral role within the Federation. From to the Society provided the Federation's Secretariat. For details about the work, constitution and membership of the International Cremation Federation visit its website.

The three years immediately before the Second World War were noteworthy for the unprecedented number of crematoria opened in Great Britain. Towards the end of the year Mr. George Noble resigned the post of Secretary of the Cremation Society, which he had held since , and Mr. The increased administration, made necessary by the tremendous upsurge in the number of crematoria, justified an important change in the affairs of the Federation of Cremation Authorities in Great Britain, which acquired a new constitution and the new title of Federation of British Cremation Authorities.

The Federation, which had started life as a branch of the Cremation Society and had been nurtured by the Council of the Cremation Society through its growing years, had now become autonomous, with its own constitution and complete control over its own affairs, thereby fulfilling the hopes of its founders that it would become an important and authoritative entity within the framework of the British cremation movement. The Cremation Society had seen the value of holding annual conferences through which the link between the central body and members could be strengthened, and realising that great advances could only be made if all the forces throughout the country were co-ordinated and utilised, it initiated a series of purely cremationist annual conferences at which vital issues affecting cremation administration and propaganda are discussed by both professional and non-professional cremationists.

The first conference was held in in Balliol College, Oxford. With the war clouds over Europe there came a need for retrenchment and, in common with other voluntary societies, the Cremation Society decided for the time being to concentrate its efforts on matters of a routine character.

At least one important success was, however, achieved. In view of the generally held belief at the time that aerial bombing on the part of the enemy would result in many thousands of civilian casualties and resultant difficulties, the Council of the Cremation Society successfully petitioned the Home Secretary to make new emergency regulations to meet these needs, and these emergency regulations under which several thousands were cremated during the war, remained in effect until the signing of the peace treaty.

The year , which witnessed the opening of two more crematoria at Stoke-on-Trent and at Kettering, was noteworthy for the fact that on the death of the Duke of Bedford, Lord Horder was unanimously elected President of the Cremation Society. For some years he continued to hold with this office the appointment of Chairman of the Council which he later relinquished, but, to the great advantage of the cremation movement, he retained the presidency, exercising enormous authority and influence until the day of his death on 13th August, The death of Mr.

Neville Chamberlain during this year resulted in the cremation of yet one more ex-Prime Minister. The war was now raging and little is to be recorded of this period in which few innovations took place but many losses were sustained. In a fourth member of the Royal Family, H. Temple was the first Primate of All England to be cremated and there can be no question that his cremation had an immense effect upon the opinion of church people not only in this country, but throughout the whole Anglican community.

The year , which brought peace, also witnessed the rise of the annual figure of cremations in this country to a total of 50, During the preceding two years, several important events had taken place. In the first place, on the recommendation of the Council of the Cremation Society, the Committee of the Federation had adopted what became known as a Code of Cremation Practice, a code which was to be accepted by all cremation authorities and was to provide the ethical standard by which crematoria were to be administered.

This event was followed shortly afterwards by the transfer of the headquarters of the Federation to London and the appointment as Secretary of the Federation of Mr. Herbert Jones. Coincident with these changes there came into being the Cremation Council of Great Britain, which was a joint consultative committee on which the Society and the Federation had equal representation.

This enabled a united cremation movement to make authoritative approach to Government departments on all important issues. In the same year the cremation of Mr. Wells was an event of public interest, as was the cremation, also at Charing Crematorium, Kent, of Archbishop Lord Lang, the predecessor of Dr.

Temple as Primate of All England. Thus in the space of two years two Primates of All England had been cremated and a lead had been given from the very highest level to church people in support of this ever-growing cremation movement. In the year another ex-Prime Minister, Lord Baldwin, was cremated and the Cremation Society had a further personal loss in the death of Mr.

Herbert T. Herring, who over a period of many years had exercised a powerful influence. Swinburne-Hanham as the Honorary Secretary. In all these positions he had played a considerable part in the development of the movement in all its aspects, but perhaps his most enduring work was done at the Woking Crematorium where, in the capacity of Managing Director of the London Cremation Company, he was responsible for the development of the garden which today ranks among the most beautiful crematorium gardens in the country.

In the following year the first post-war International Congress was held at The Hague where a representative gathering of cremationists elected Professor Dr.

Secher of Copenhagen as the new President. A period of intense frustration followed the end of the war. A considerable acceleration of the progress of cremation had occurred during the war, the figures rising from 16, in to 50, in , plainly showing that the public were prepared to accept cremation in ever-growing numbers, but the facilities were just not available. Local authorities, concerned with the many social demands being made upon land resources, hoped cremation might make a substantial contribution to the solution, and so they were disappointed by the refusal of the Minister of Health, Mr.

Aneurin Bevan, to approve their plans owing to the severe restrictions on building activities imposed by the Treasury. The Cremation Council of Great Britain, however, submitted a memorandum to the Minister of Health on behalf of the local authorities impressing on him the fact that the present 58 crematoria were insufficient to meet the growing demand. The first request on behalf of 15 local authorities, selected on account of their urgent need, was refused but the Council pressed their case and eventually in restrictions were relaxed for five local authorities, Blackburn, Bolton, Grimsby, Kingston-on-Thames and Southend-on-Sea, who were invited to submit proposals to the appropriate regional building committee.

In addition to these favoured five, Sunderland was allowed to submit plans for completion of its crematorium started before the outbreak of war. This was the beginning of a post-war policy of encouraging local authorities to provide crematoria where the need was proved, and wherever possible, to combine with neighbouring local authorities to provide these services.

Although this policy was not consistently pursued by the Minister's successors, the efforts of the Society in this direction, nevertheless, met with considerable success. This post-war deadlock was broken in when Sunderland Corporation at last opened its crematorium. By this time the Minister had recognised the need for a national plan for crematoria, where crematoria were in future to be provided in places where they would meet the needs both of densely populated areas and of the scattered rural ones.

The bodies of three distinguished public figures were cremated during this period. The cremations at Golders Green of Mr. George Bernard Shaw and Mr.

By the millennium, with crematoriums around the United Kingdom and , cremations carried out, more than 70 percent of funerals were cremations. Today, there are almost crematoriums in the UK handling more than three quarters of all funerals, just under , cremations a year according to The Cremation Society of Great Britain Cremation Statistics The growing popularity of cremations has meant that, in some areas, waiting times for cremations have increased to the point that delays have even been debated in Parliament.

But with burial space limited and funeral prices continuing to rise, cremation is expected to keep growing in popularity. Already seen as a low -cost alternative to traditional funeral services, prices for no-frills direct cremation actually fell in , with the average cost down 6. Find out more about Golden Charter's cremation only plans , or call Golden Charter has one of the largest networks of independent funeral directors in the UK.