ABSTRACT
Most City of London study participants who were born in the East End described their mothers in traditional, idealized terms as women who had raised many children, often took in additional work ‘to put food on the table’, and were there as a source of comfort and emotional support. City of London study participants interpreted the choice of earth burial over other forms of disposal as entailing an implicit commitment to visit and maintain the grave of a parent. Elderly people who were no longer able to visit the cemetery devised strategies to maintain involvement with the graves of parents and thus to ensure that they were properly tended. Such ongoing interest revealed the significance of the cemetery as a place of connection and people’s continuing sense of responsibility that the graves be tended.
