§ DR. CAMERON (Glasgow, College)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether he has yet considered the application of Mrs. Eichbaum for a permit to remove for the purpose of cremation the remains of her daughter from the churchyard in which they were recently interred; and, whether he proposes to treat the application in any way differently from one for permission to exhume a body for the purpose of re-interment?
§ THE SECRETARY or STATE (Mr. MATTHEWS) (Birmingham, E.)The 14 application of Mrs. Eichbaum has been under my consideration. I am advised that cremation is not necessarily illegal; and I should not, therefore, take upon myself to refuse leave to exhume a body merely because the relations intended to cremate instead of re-interring it. In Mrs. Eichbaum's case I have referred the matter back to the Inspector; because so long a time has elapsed since her daughter's death that I think it requires consideration whether the body can properly be exhumed for any purpose, or whether special conditions will have to be prescribed.