Genealogy Chat

Hi I would like to know that if someone had taken their own life, can they still be buried on consecrated ground? This is going back to the mid 1970's, I was told that in the eyes of the church a cremation would take place? Can anyone help? Thanks

I really don't know about the 1970s, though I like to think they are more enlightened. Certainly previous times suicides weren't buried in consecrated ground. But it doesn't mean that your 1970s person was cremated, they could have been buried in unconsecrated ground. nell

Hi Nell, The person in question was buried in consecrated ground, suicide was the cause of death, it is just that I was always led to believe it wasn't ' allowed'? Lisa

I think that it is possible nowadays for suicides to be buried in consecrated ground. Kath. x

Hi Thanks Nell and Kath, kind of puts me at ease a bit.

We have a father and daughter buried in our village churchyard in the 1920's - both commited suicide. I think it depends on when suicide stopped being considered a sin and became recognised as the outcome of mental disturbance or illness. Jay

I asked my dad this one... he is a vicar... and yes a person who comitted suicide would have been buried in consecrsated ground in the 1970's.xx

I wonder if it depends on the particular minister of the church, would it be a decision they could make at the time?

Hi Our Em Well, Thank you so much! I don't like to think of relations not resting in peace. Please thank your dad for me. Lisa

Lisa I found this by googling 'As recently as the 1950s, people in Britain were still being sent to prison for attempting suicide. The 1961 Suicide Act repealed the law under which both actual and attempted suicides were held to be criminal acts. England and Wales were the last countries in Europe to decriminalise suicide. The word 'suicide', itself, has the implication of being a criminal act, literally meaning self-murder.' So I imagine once suicide was no longer regarded as a crime, it began to stop being seen as a sin. nell

Hi Nell Thanks for your help, to this day there is mystery surrounding this death and the fact that he was buried in blessed ground. Thanks again Lisa

I have a rellie who committed suicide by shooting himself. There was an inquest and the coroner recorded suicide as the cause of death on the certificate. I recently found his grave in the village churchyard. This was a small village so word must have got around about the circumstances of his death, but he was still allowed to be buried there. The vicar must have been very understanding. This was way back in 1871!!!!