Cremation, or the practice of reducing a body to ash, has seen a remarkable evolution, transitioning from being a centuries-old cultural practice to becoming the majority choice for disposition in many Western countries. While ancient cultures like Classical Greece and Rome practiced both burial and cremation, and India has historically been a cremation culture, the practice was largely forbidden in the UK once Christianity became established.
The Rise of Cremation
The modern push for cremation began in the mid-19th century. With industrialization leading to the rapid growth of towns and cities, churchyards quickly became full. Additionally, the miasma—the gases and foul air rising from putrefied bodies—was considered a significant health threat.
This public health concern led to the founding of the Cremation Society in 1874 by Sir Henry Thompson, a celebrated surgeon. He was joined by free thinkers from the realms of medicine, science, and the arts who campaigned for the legalization of cremation. A pivotal moment came with the trial of Dr. William Price, a flamboyant Welsh nationalist and self-appointed Archdruid, who was arrested after cremating his own son. In 1884, Judge Stephen ruled that cremation was not illegal, provided it did not cause a public nuisance. This ruling paved the way for the Cremation Act of 1902.
By the mid-1960s, a major societal shift occurred in Britain. The country flipped from being a burial-majority to a cremation-majority nation. This change was partly driven by the issue of choice, particularly for women who no longer had to be buried in their husbands' graves. The statistics are striking: in 1939, only 3.5% of deaths resulted in cremation, but today, the cremation rate in the UK stands at nearly 80%.
Ashes: Keeping Loved Ones Close
Since the mid-1970s, the British public has increasingly chosen to take the cremated remains away from the crematorium to "do their own thing," a practice many people on the continent still find unusual. All "ashes creations" are fundamentally about keeping loved ones close.
Memorials are primarily for the people left behind to help them carry on. Cremation has made the dead "more mobile," allowing them to become part of the "furniture" of our daily lives. Modern memorialization practices are highly personalized and varied:
Some families place the remains in artful containers rather than a traditional urn, often containing the ashes of multiple family members.
Memorial jewelry is worn constantly, keeping the loved one literally close.
A small but growing number of people choose to have their loved ones' ashes mixed into tattoo ink so that the bodies are literally mingled together.
Future choices continue to innovate, such as having ashes incorporated into a vinyl record.
Ultimately, all these creations serve the same purpose: to provide a tangible way for the bereaved to carry on with the memory of the deceased.
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