§ MR. COZENS-HARDY(for Mr. GURDON,) Norfolk, Midasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether, in reply to a communication from the Rector of Attleborough, Norfolk, he has informed him that he cannot lawfully conduct a Burial Service in the new cemetery until some portion thereof has been consecrated; whether the 12th section of "The Burial Laws Amendment Act, 1880," protects from censure or penalties Ministers of the Church of England who may perform the Burial Service in any unconsecrated ground or cemetery; and, whether he will lay upon the Table any Correspondence or Telegrams between the Home Office and the Rector or the Burial Board of Attleborough?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. MATTHEWS) (Birmingham, E.)The Rector of Attleborough was informed on the 1st of January, in answer to his inquiry, that until the legal requirements had been complied with, he could not conduct a burial service there. The view taken in the Home Office at that time was that the 12th section of the Burial Laws Amendment Act, 1880, exempts from censure or penalties ministers of the Church of England who perform the Burial Service in unconsecrated ground; only where such ground has been legally established as a burial ground, and the provisions of the Burial Acts have been complied with. I must not be understood to assert that this view of the effect of somewhat complicated statutes is the right one. There is no objection to lay on the Table the correspondence and telegrams between the Home Office and the Rector and the Burial Board of Attleborough. But as it is voluminous, the object of the hon. Member might, perhaps, be best attained by his paying a second visit to the Home Office, and perusing the correspondence there.