The Victorian Era

What Were Victorian Funeral Customs

Article · Society & Daily Life · The Victorian Era, 1837–1901

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The Victorian funeral was one of the most elaborate, ritualised, and public ceremonies of the period, and the customs that surrounded it — the laying out of the body, the watch with the body, the funeral procession, the funeral service, the interment, and the funeral feast — were among the great social institutions of the British people. The Victorian period saw a high death rate, a low average life expectancy at birth, a high rate of infant mortality, a high rate of child mortality, and a high rate of maternal mortality, and the experience of death was a central feature of the Victorian Family and the Home, of the Victorian Daily Life and Society, of the Victorian Religion, of the Victorian Literature, Theatre, and the Written Word, of the Victorian Architecture and Interior Design, and of the Victorian Fashion and Dress of the period.

The Laying Out of the Body

The laying out of the body was the first stage of the Victorian funeral, and it was the work of the What was life like for Victorian servants? of the period, of the local nurse, of the local midwife, of the family, and of the local undertaker. The body was typically washed, dressed in the shroud or in the burial clothes, laid out on the bed or on the table, surrounded with flowers, surrounded with candles, surrounded with the What were Victorian mourning brooches?, surrounded with the What is Victorian hair jewellery?, surrounded with the prayer books, surrounded with the hymn books, surrounded with the Bibles, surrounded with the photographs, surrounded with the flowers, surrounded with the wreaths, surrounded with the crosses, and surrounded with the garlands of the period. The mutes — the professional mourners in the long black cloaks and the tall black hats — were hired from the undertaker, and they were a particular institution of the period.

The laying out of the body was followed by the watch with the body, the wake, the sitting up with the body, the visiting of the body, the kissing of the body, the touching of the body, the blessing of the body, the praying over the body, the singing over the body, the reciting of the rosary over the body, the reciting of the psalms over the body, and the reciting of the prayers over the body. The watch with the body was attended by the family, the friends, the neighbours, the colleagues, the tradesmen, and the servants of the deceased, and the watch with the body was often an occasion for the consumption of substantial quantities of food, drink, and tobacco.

The Funeral Procession

The funeral procession was the second stage of the Victorian funeral, and the funeral procession was a major public event. The funeral procession was typically led by the undertaker’s mutes — professional mourners in long black cloaks and tall black hats, carrying black-draped staves and wands tipped with ostrich plumes, with long scarves of crepe hanging from their shoulders — who walked in front of the hearse. The hearse was typically drawn by black horses, with black plumes, with black trappings, with black drivers, and with black attendants. The hearse was followed by the mourning coaches, the private coaches, the family carriages, the family broughams, the family landaus, the family barouches, the family phaetons, the family gigs, the family dogcarts, the family wagonettes, the family omnibuses, the family hansom cabs, and the long list of other family vehicles of the period.

The funeral procession was a major public event, and the procession would often attract the attention of the local population, the local press, the local police, the local traders, the local workers, the local children, and the local poor. The procession would often include the local poor, who would be given food, drink, and small change at the funeral feast, and the procession would often include the local clergy, the local dignitaries, the local officials, the local tradesmen, the local friends, the local neighbours, the local colleagues, the local servants, the local pets, and the long list of other local figures of the period.

The Funeral Service and the Interment

The funeral service was the third stage of the Victorian funeral, and the funeral service was typically held in the parish church of the deceased, or in the new Victorian cemetery movement of the period. The service was conducted by the parish clergyman, according to the rite of the Book of Common Prayer, and the principal elements of the service were the processional, the greeting, the hymn, the prayer, the lesson, the address, the psalm, the canticle, the creed, the sermon, the prayers, the thanksgiving, the blessing, and the recession. The funeral service was typically followed by the interment, the burial of the body in the family vault, in the family plot, in the new Victorian cemetery of the period, or in the parish churchyard.

The interment was followed by the funeral feast — variously called the funeral breakfast, the funeral dinner, or the funeral tea depending on the hour. The feast was held at the home of the bereaved, at a local hotel or public house, or in the case of a great Victorian funeral in a hired room at a club or assembly hall. Cold meats, hot pies, sandwiches, pound cake, and substantial quantities of wine, spirits, and malt liquor were the standard provision. In the weeks and months that followed, the family observed the customs of mourning dress, mourning stationery, and withdrawal from society examined in Why was mourning fashion so elaborate? and What is the Victorian cemetery movement?. A memorial portrait or photograph of the deceased — sometimes with a lock of hair mounted as jewellery, a practice examined in What is Victorian hair jewellery? — was a common way of keeping the dead present within the home.

The Penny Funerals and the Pauper Funerals

The very poor of the period were buried under a system known as the “penny funeral” or the “pauper funeral.” The penny funeral was a low-cost funeral provided by the local undertaker, the local joiner, or the local parish, in which the body was carried to the grave in a plain coffin, without mourners, without a hearse, without a service in the parish church, and without a funeral feast. The pauper funeral was the funeral provided by the workhouse, in which the body of a pauper was carried to the grave in a plain elm coffin, by the parish gravedigger, in the corner of the parish churchyard, without a gravestone, without a service, and without mourners. The system was widely criticised in the period, and the 1900 Burial Laws Amendment Act reformed the burial law by allowing the local authority to provide a secular funeral service for those who did not wish to use the parish church.

The Cremation Society of Great Britain, founded in 1874, was the first organisation to promote cremation as an alternative to burial. The Woking Crematorium, opened in 1879, was the first crematorium in Britain, and the 1902 Cremation Act, which regulated the practice of cremation, was the foundation of the modern system. The Cremation Act of 1902 was followed by the Cremation Regulations of 1903, and the new system of cremation spread rapidly through the twentieth century.