This vivid pictorial history gives a fascinating insight into the ways Londoners have dealt with death over the last 100 years. The city's rich cultural, social and religious character is reflected in approaches to death, and in funerals and burial rituals. Brian Parsons has brought together a wide-ranging collection of historical photographs to show the growing variety of ceremonies that express the cosmopolitan makeup of the city. His original work gives us a telling glimpse of prevailing attitudes to death and burial, and it offers a revealing portrait of a neglected aspect of life in the capital and the country as a whole.

The London Way of Death

History

Parsons, Brian

Europe

The History Press

The cemeteries of Greater London have been a neglected area of the capital's history. They are filled not only with the remains of recent generations but also with a wealth of architectural and social history that is described here in an entertaining and eloquent narrative full of picturesque melancholy. Part one of this study records the origins of London's cemeteries and includes introductory chapters on cemetery history, planning, architecture, epitaphs, and natural history. Part Two is a gazetteer with descriptions of all the cemeteries in Greater London, together with short biographies of the celebrated people buried in them. There are two indexes, one listing the names of those in the gazetteer, and a second naming the architects, landscapers, and sculptors whose work is represented in the cemeteries. The text is illustrated throughout with contemporary photographs and a wide range of rarely seen archive images. This is an important source for biographical and genealogical research, and a compendium of material for the architectural historian. Social and local historians will also find much of interest here.

London Cemeteries: An Illustrated Guide & Gazetteer

MELLER, Hugh

<p>London Cemeteries is a comprehensive guide to all cemeteries within Greater London. Listed alphabetically and with a map to help locate them, for each cemetery it includes the address, the date of foundation, the owner, the size, a note on its history, development and current state, and the names, dates and major achievements of any noteworthy people buried there. There are also chapters on the origins of London's cemeteries and cemetery history, planning, architecture and epitaphs. Illustrated throughout with both modern photographs and a wide range of rarely seen archive images, it is an essential source of information for anyone interested in London's social and architectural history. Alongside a refreshed design, this 6th edition has been extensively revised and updated with the use of new digitised plans and maps, updated biographies, revised details of buildings, new visitor facilities, new research on flora and fauna and 12 additional cemeteries in the Greater London area.</p>

London Cemeteries: An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer

<p>Overcrowded churchyards, shortage of land and rapidly increasing population how could the late Victorians dispose of their dead? Cremation was the only answer. But today, with over two-thirds of all deaths being followed by cremation, it is hard to appreciate the massive struggles faced by the Cremation Society after its foundation in 1874. Religious bigotry, legal obstacles and sheer moral outrage all stood in the way. But interest grew, and aided by the work of others, including the acts of a flamboyant Welsh Druid, the first cremator was available for public use in 1885 at Woking. This book is the first full-length study of these events and how cremation developed into an acceptable and dignified way to dispose of the dead. It tells of the arrangements for early cremations and the progress of the movement down to the passing of the first Cremation Act in 1902 when London finally received its first crematorium. It is extensively illustrated including many rarely seen images.</p>

Committed to the Cleansing Flame: The Development of Cremation in Nineteenth-Century England

Spire Books

A comprehensive historical survey of the work of undertakers in the first half of the twentieth century, essential reading for anyone interested in understanding an often hidden but certainly most fascinating trade.Reflecting the rapidly changing nature of the undertaker's work in pre, inter and post- war Britain, this book details the introduction of embalming; how the enormous task of dealing with the dead from both World Wars was undertaken; how undertakers coped with the tragic death toll of the Spanish flu, and the rise of the Co-operative Funeral Service.Around these more institutional historical keystones, the author includes several important burials from the period: the moving story of the burial of the Unknown Soldier; the extraordinary tale of the 'empty coffin' of Lord Kitchener, and the awful logistics of dealing with the worst ever aviation tragedy, the crash of the airship R101.Also included is the author's own collection of rare photographs detailing the changes in modes of transport, premises and coffins that took place during this time, along with contemporary advertising and other images showing the undertaker at work. A further section illustrates the work of a related occupation, the monumental mason.

The Undertaker at Work (Strange Attractor Press)

Business & Money

Industries

Strange Attractor Press