St Anthony in Roseland Burials in Woollen 1768-1814

This my transcription of the parish records for St Anthony in Roseland and has been made from LDS film 246796 images 203 to 213 (courtesy of the Church of Latter Day Saints). The spellings of names varies wildly so think laterally!

The register is entitled "Burials in Woolling" and came about as a result of two acts of Parliament that were passed in the late 17th century to protect and promote the English wool trade. The first in 1660 prohibited the use of any material other than wool for burial. The second in 1678 required "No corpse of any person shall be buried in any shirt, shift, sheet or shroud or anything whatsoever, made or mingled with flax, hemp, silk, hair, gold or silver, or in any stuff or thing other than what is made of sheeps wooll only" and imposed a fine of £5 for defaulters. It introduced an affidavit which had to be signed, stating that the deceased was buried in woollen. The fine could be imposed not only on the estate of the deceased but also on the family and even on the householder in whose house the person expired!

Those who could afford to, sometimes made provision in their will for the £5 to be paid, so that they would not suffer the ignominy of being buried in wool. There is certainly a possible example of this here if you look for the burial of Sir Richard Spry in 1775. You will see that he was buried in linen so someone had to pay the fine for him!

Each year the register had to be presented to a magistrate by the cleric and I have shown the magistrate's statement as it was recorded in the register.

These acts were not repealed until 1814.

This transcription may be a useful cross check against the burial records for the period.

© Bill O'Reilly 2006

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