oath made or not made!

[bolton]

Hi
I wonder if any one can tell me what this means.
On lots of the death records on Dorset opc
It tells of the death then after it says oath made.
Sometimes it says no oath made.
Does this mean that it's a payment  or just a Christian act ?
I feel sure some will know the answer.
Regards Chris

[oldtimer]

Hi

This probably refers to the Burial in Woollen Act of the late seventeenth century..  It was seen as a way of helping the woollen trade, and declared that all bodies should be buried in woollen cloth, with the exception of plague victims. A person was required to make oath that the deceased had been buried in woollen cloth. If the deceased was not buried in woollen, a fine was made. Many wealthy people  who wanted something finer than wool for the shroud of their deceased friends seemed happy to pay this - something of a status symbol perhaps.

[I've left]

I've an idea that the statute said you should not be buried in any material other than wool.

So there was no fine if you were buried naked.

More seriously - these days we take it as natural that the body is always in a coffin but when did they come into use? I would guess that some time ago it was only the wealthy who were buried in a Coffin.

Bryan

[Berlin-Bob]

You can find some discussions about buried in woolen in the
RootsChat Reference => Lexicon ^{(click here)}
(Tip: click on a category - on the right - for related topics)

Bob