Public burials - sad thought

[Bee]

Just for interests sake, a few details on cost of funerals.

In 1914 when my grandfather buried his first born he paid 8s 6d for the exclusive right of burial for 14 years plus 2s for the grave sodding.

Three years later he buried his wife, the total cost for her burial was 12s 9d., (10s for the burial, 3d for the grave number stake and 2s 6d for the Ministers' fees)

[coombs]

Some of my London ancestors would have been buried in public graves, not pauper graves, at the St Pancras & Islington Cemetery. They worked, so would have no doubt paid for a space and a coffin beforehand.

One ancestor died in April 1889 aged 76, and had been ill for 6 weeks by then but had been admitted to the workhouse at numerous times from 1885 to 1889. He was an outdoor army pensioner, and he was a soap boiler. Hard to know when he sorted out his burial arrangements, or if his family paid for it after he died.

[BelgianAncestry]

You will struggle to find "old" graves because in Belgium, graves are not preserved for eternity. "Buying" a plot is not possible anymore. That is the result of a lot of historical events in our area, with successive governments (Austrian, French, Dutch, Belgian) passing laws that led to the current situation. At one point it was possible to buy a "perpetual" concession, which of course was only affordable for the wealthy (abolished as late as 1971). Currently, a grave is kept for a maximum of 50 years. At the time of burial there is a minimum period of, for example, 25 years, depending on the municipality the graveyard is in, after which additional period(s) can be purchased to preserve the grave longer, but never "for ever". After that, the grave, the stone, and therefore also the mortal remains are removed and reburied. Only stone monuments that have a historical or artistic value are to be preserved. It was not until the 18th century that the first voices were heard to break the centuries-old link between church and cemetery. (The RC church refused to bury protestant "heretics" or buried the corpses in a corner, they also refused to bury people who committed suicide, they charged at will for burial, ceremony and mass, made as distinction between paupers and the rich(er) etc.) The eventual transition to secularized cemeteries was very gradual and sometimes not without a struggle. It is in our days the municipalities that manage their cemeteries; not the parishes. In fact, due to the density of the population, there is very little space these days to build new cemeteries and, moreover, an increasing majority of Belgians opt for cremation. A cemetery has a neutral character, and it is not allowed to make a distinction because of the faith or worship of the deceased or the circumstances leading to her/his death. The most recent law regulating the use of cemeteries and funeral services are a regional affair, thus there are decrees valid in Flanders, Wallony and Brussels. If you can read Dutch: here is the decree valid in the Flemish Community:
https://codex.vlaanderen.be/Portals/Codex/documenten/1012053.html#:~:text=Dit%20decreet%20regelt%20een%20gewestaangelegenheid.&text=Iedere%20gemeente%20moet%20over%20ten,een%20gemeenschappelijke%20begraafplaats%20te%20beschikken.