Burial Grounds (Scotland) Act 1855
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1855 c. 68 |
(18 & 19 Vict.) C A P. LXVIII.
[23d July 1855]
BE it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows:
I Short Title.
I. This Act may be cited as the ‘Burial Grounds (Scotland ) Act, 1855.’
II Parochial Board to carry into execution this Act.
II. In the Execution of this Act in Parishes not within the Limits, prescribed or established under the Act passed in the Session of Parliament held in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Years of the Reign of Her present Majesty, intituledAn Act for the Valuation of Lands and Heritages in Scotland, of any Burgh sending or contributing to send a Member to Parliament, ‘Parochial Board’ shall be held to signify the Parochial Board for the Management of the Poor, where such Parishes are not combined for such Management, and where such Parishes are so combined the Parochial Board under this Act shall signify and be composed of such Members of the combined Board as are assessed for Relief of the Poor either in respect of Occupancy or Ownership within each Parish respectively; and the Manner of holding and of transacting Business at Meetings of such Parochial Boards under this Act shall be similar to the Manner in use in respect of the Management of the Poor; and in Parishes within the aforesaid Limits of any Burgh aforesaid the Town Council of the Burgh shall be held to be the Parochial Board of such Parish under this Act: Provided always, that where, within the aforesaid Limits of any Burgh aforesaid, there is included a Burgh of Regality, the Magistrates of such Burgh of Regality shall, notwithstanding anything herein-before enacted, be held to be the Parochial Board of any Parish within, or forming Part of such Burgh of Regality.
III Provision as to Parishes partly burghal.
III. Where any Parish is partly within and partly without the Limits of such Burgh aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the Sheriff of the County within which such Parish or the greater Part thereof is situated, on Application to him by any Two Members of the Parochial Board of such Parish, or by any Ten Persons assessed for Relief of the Poor within such Parish, or by any Two or more Householders residing within One hundred Yards of any Burial Ground or proposed Burial Ground within such Parish, and on giving Notice by Advertisement in theEdinburgh Gazette and such Newspapers of local Circulation as he may dee fitting, and hearing any Parties having Interest, to determine whether such Parish shall be held to be a Parish within or without the Limits of the said Burgh for the Purposes of this Act, and an Interlocutor so determining shall receive Effect and be as valid as if the same was set forth in this Act; and it shall not be competent to make any new Application to the Sheriff for his Determination in respect to such Parish till after the Lapse of Five Years from the Date of his last Determination respecting the same.
IV Proceedings on Complaints of Danger to Health.
IV. It shall be lawful for any Two Members of the Parochial Board of any Parish inScotland , or for any Ten Persons assessed for Relief of the Poor within such Parish, or for any Two Householders residing within One hundred Yards of any Burial Ground or proposed Burial Ground, to present a Petition to the Sheriff of the County within which such Burial Ground or proposed Burial Ground is situated, setting forth that a Burial Ground within such Parish or such Distance is or would be dangerous to Health, or offensive or contrary to Decency, and the Sheriff shall thereupon fix a Day, being not less than Ten nor more than Twenty Days after such Petition is presented, for inquiring into the Allegations contained therein, and shall appoint Intimation thereof to be made by Advertisement in theEdinburgh Gazette and in such Newspapers of local Circulation as he shall deem fitting, and on hearing the Petition shall permit all Parties whom he shall judge to have an Interest to appear and be heard in such Manner as he shall deem fitting, and if on such Hearing he shall be of opinion that any of the aforesaid Allegations are true, he shall pronounce an Interlocutor to such Effect, and shall transmit a Copy thereof to One of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State: Provided that it shall not be competent to present any such Petition to the Sheriff, except with Concurrence of the Procurator Fiscal, till after the Lapse of Five Years from the Date of any Petition to the like Effect having been dismissed.
V On Representation of Secretary of State, Her Majestyin Council may restrain the opening of new Burial Grounds, and orderDiscontinuance of Burials in specified Places.
V. It shall be lawful for Her Majesty, from Time to Time, by Order in Council, upon the Representation of One of Her Principal Secretaries of State that a Copy of such Interlocutor of a Sheriff has been received by him, in pursuance thereof to order that no new Burial Ground shall be opened within certain Limits specified in such Order, save with the previous Approval of One of such Secretaries of State, or (as the Case may require) that after a Time mentioned in the Order Burials within certain Limits, or in certain Burial Grounds or Places of Burial, shall be discontinued wholly, or subject to any Exceptions or Qualifications mentioned in such Order, and such Order in Council shall thereupon have like Force and Effect as if the same were embodied in this Act: Provided always, that Notice of such Representation, and of the Time it shall please Her Majesty to order the same to be taken into consideration by the Privy Council, shall be transmitted to the Crown Agent inEdinburgh and the Sheriff Clerk of the County in which such Burial Ground is situated; and the same shall be by them respectively published in the Edinburgh Gazette , and fixed on the Doors of the Church of or on some other conspicuous Places within the Parishes affected by such Representation, One Month before such Representation is so considered.
VI Penalties.
VI. Every Person who shall after the Time mentioned in such Order in Council bury any Body, or in anywise act or assist in or permit the Burial of any Body, in any way contrary to such Order, shall be liable for each such Offence to be imprisoned for any Period not exceeding Two Calendar Months, or to pay a Penalty not exceeding Twenty Pounds.
VII Order not to extend to Burial Grounds of Quakers orJews, unless expressly included.
VII. No such Order in Council as aforesaid shall be deemed to extend to any Burial Ground of the People called Quakers, or of the Persons of the Jewish Persuasion, used solely for the Burial of the Bodies of such People and Persons respectively, unless the same be expressly mentioned in such Order, or shall be deemed to extend to any Non-parochial Burial Ground, being the Property of any private Person, unless the same be expressly mentioned in such Order.
VIII Saving of certain Rights to bury in Vaults, &c.
VIII. Provided always, That, notwithstanding any such Order in Council, where at the Time of the passing of this Act any Person shall be entitled to any Right of Interment in or under any Church or Chapel or within any Churchyard or Burial Ground affected by such Order, it shall be lawful for One of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, from Time to Time, on Application being made to him, and on being satisfied that the Exercise of such Right will not be injurious to Health, to grant Licence for the Exercise of such Right daring such Time and subject to such Conditions and Restrictions as such Secretary of State may think fit, but such Licence shall be revocable at any Time, and shall not give to the Holder of such Right, or to any other Party, any other Power than he would have had if this Act had not been passed.
IX Upon Requisition of Ratepayers, &c. Meeting ofParochial Board to be convened, to determine whether Burial Ground shall beprovided.
IX. Although no Burial Ground in the Parish has been closed by Order in Council, the Inspector of the Poor of any Parish not within Burgh, and the Town Clerk in the Case of any Parish within Burgh, shall be bound, upon the Requisition in Writing of Ten or more Persons assessed for Relief of the Poor of the Parish, or upon the Requisition in Writing of any Two or more...
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