HC Deb 24 November 1914 vol 68 cc946-8W
Mr. KING

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many allotments in public cemeteries have been made under the Burial Act, 1853, Section 7, for the use of burials by Roman Catholics, Jews, Quakers, or other dissenters from the Church established by law in England; upon what general conditions were such allotments made; and whether in all cases such conditions were imposed as would safeguard the rights conferred by Section 1 of the Burial Laws Amendment Act, 1880?

Mr. McKENNA

The information asked for in the first part of the question is not available, and it would be a matter of great labour and difficulty to collect it. I am afraid that I cannot undertake to obtain it for my hon. Friend. It is not usual to attach conditions to an allotment; the ordinary form of allotment merely sets out that a specific area of the burial ground is allotted as a burial ground for the religions denomination named. I am advised that the effect of an allotment under Section 7 of the Burial Act, 1853, is that no service other than that of the religious body to whom the allotment was made can properly be held at a burial in the allotted ground. This being so, the provisions of Section 1 of the Burial Laws Amendment Act, 1880, do not apply.

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