ABSTRACT
This chapter explores an issue of particular complexity: the provision of land for burial. Histories of both cemetery development and urban government have tended to overlook the fact that the supply of land for burial could be a contentious local issue. It focuses on the early period, from the foundation of the first cemeteries in the 1820s to the passage of the Burial Acts in the 1850s. The chapter contends that, in the early history of cemetery establishment, the principle of local control of burial provision tended to remain constant. It illustrates the reasons why the Church lost its grip on the provision that it had dominated for centuries. Increasing secularisation of this essential urban function did not mean the successful growth of state intervention in this area. The chapter addresses a key urban governance issue: deciding which agency is best placed to provide a service essential to the well-being of the community.
