What do these abbreviations mean from this burial parish register?

[Guy Etchells]

I'm missing something here 

Surely the register would state either that they were buried naked or that an affividavit had been sworn confirming that the burial complied with the Burial in Wool Act (i.e. that they had been buried in wool, not naked)?

In this case it appears to state both 

No you have misunderstood the Act.
The wording states-
"That the said Person was not put in, wrapt or wound up, or buried in any Shirt, Shift, Sheet or Shroud, made or min­gled with Flax, Hemp, Silk, Hair, Gold or Silver, or other than what is made of Sheeps Wool only, or in any Coffin Lined or faced with any Cloth, Stuff or any other Thing whatsoever, made or mingled with Flax, Hemp, Silk, Hair, Gold or Silver, or any other Material but Sheeps Wool only; (3) and if no Re­lation of the Party buried, or other Person, shall bring an Affidavit as aforesaid, to the Parson or Minister, within the Time aforesaid,

This means that the body is not to be wrapped or buried in any item that is not woollen.
It does not exclude being buried naked

Cheers
Guy

[Gadget]

While acknowledging you have written on the Act, I'm not sure that I agree with you, Guy. This is your interpretation and you quote your piece.

There are also other refs. For e.g.

Failure to comply resulted in a £5 forfeiture. One-half of this went to the informer, the other half to poor of the parish where the body was buried. Within 8 days of the burial, an affidavit had to be provided attesting that the burial complied with the Act. The affidavit had to be sworn in front of a Justice of the Peace or Mayor by two creditable persons. If the parish did not have a JP or Mayor, the parson, vicar or curate could administer the oath.

In practice, the affidavit would often be sworn at the same time as the burial and certified by the officiating priest.
http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/articles/buried_in_wool.html

Also, an affidavit had to sworn in front of a Justice of the Peace confirming that the body had been buried in wool. There was a penalty of £5 if any other material was used.

The incumbent would then write the word affidavit, or note A or Aff against the relevant entry in the Parish Register.

If a family were poor and could not afford a woollen shroud, the entry in the register may have the word 'naked' written in it...........

 1690 and it was enacted that within eight days of the funeral an affidavit of the fact of the burial being in woollen should be brought to the minister, failing which notice should be given to the churchwarden or overseer, who would levy on the defaulting person for the recovery of the fine
http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Church/stjames/affidavit.html


Parish registers were marked with the word affidavit or with a note 'A' or 'Aff' against the burial entries to confirm that affidavit had been sworn, or marked 'naked' for those too poor to afford the woollen shroud. Some affidavits survive.
http://www.sovereign-ancestry.com/woollen-burial.html



Gadget

[california dreamin]

Mmmm...I find this pretty interesting. But it makes me wonder that if we are having a hard time understanding how a  non-wool burial should be recorded - what about the local clergy?

I have been trying to find any other examples of registers marked with BN or naked (or similar!) but have not found any.  So I'm beginning to wonder how often this actually did occur?  We know people did pay the £5 not to be buried in Wool but to forfit wool and go for naked?

I found looking at TNA an entry from Worcestershire which included in their Archives the following records:
Register book of all burials according to the Act of Parliament for burying in wool. 1678-1722
Register book of burials and affidavits. 1723-1770
I wondered if something similar exists for Sarah B's parish?

I noticed also that alot of the information online is just everyone rehashing other people's take on the Wool Act.  I think we all get the gist of the Act -

While looking however I found a transcription of the Parish Registers for St James Church Abinger Common (it is in pdf form).  No notations of "Af msd"  though a handful starting in 1786 says 'duty paid'. So perhaps different clergy or parishes recorded the burial in wool or non-burial of wool in there own manner.

I will be keeping my eyes peeled in future.  I am hoping that Andrew will keep us updated also!

CD


PS- As an aside whilst looking through these transcriptions I found the following entries which made me smile  :

1730 -John Marsh - a noted traveling hogg ringer
1736- A Travelling Welchman who commonly went by the name of Taff
1763- George Child a very ancient man
1785 - a foundling infant whimsically caled Warley Heath
1803 - Widow Stone age 100 years and upwards

[Gadget]

I forgot to mention that I went through previous burials in Barrow, back to 1730s.

It seems that it very much depended on the parish Clerk/vicar whether or not the affidavit was recorded. In some instances every burial for a few years had this after the entry, for other years just miscellaneous details, etc. of the person were recorded. 

However, what I did see were some years when the entries were mixed; one person having the aff mentioned and the next person having nothing. Nowhere did I find Naked or just N or B.N mentioned.


Gadget

[AndrewJE]

Mmmm...I find this pretty interesting. But it makes me wonder that if we are having a hard time understanding how a  non-wool burial should be recorded - what about the local clergy?

I have been trying to find any other examples of registers marked with BN or naked (or similar!) but have not found any.  So I'm beginning to wonder how often this actually did occur?  We know people did pay the £5 not to be buried in Wool but to forfit wool and go for naked?

I found looking at TNA an entry from Worcestershire which included in their Archives the following records:
Register book of all burials according to the Act of Parliament for burying in wool. 1678-1722
Register book of burials and affidavits. 1723-1770
I wondered if something similar exists for Sarah B's parish?

I noticed also that alot of the information online is just everyone rehashing other people's take on the Wool Act.  I think we all get the gist of the Act -

While looking however I found a transcription of the Parish Registers for St James Church Abinger Common (it is in pdf form).  No notations of "Af msd"  though a handful starting in 1786 says 'duty paid'. So perhaps different clergy or parishes recorded the burial in wool or non-burial of wool in there own manner.

I will be keeping my eyes peeled in future.  I am hoping that Andrew will keep us updated also!

CD


PS- As an aside whilst looking through these transcriptions I found the following entries which made me smile  :

1730 -John Marsh - a noted traveling hogg ringer
1736- A Travelling Welchman who commonly went by the name of Taff
1763- George Child a very ancient man
1785 - a foundling infant whimsically caled Warley Heath
1803 - Widow Stone age 100 years and upwards

Nice
Unfortunately whilst investigating Sarah Brown's(ne Roden) siblings today I just came across this entry

Sidney Roden 18 aug 1755 'drowned in a washtub'
Andrew

[Guy Etchells]

There was no specific way of registering the fact an affidavit had been produced that was entirely up to the vicar.
The various Acts simply required the fact an affidavit had been produced be recorded and if no affidavit had been produced that that fact be recorded.

Viz.
"That the Parson or Minister of every Parish shall keep a Register in a Book to be provided at the Charge of the Parish, and make a true Entry of all Burials within his Parish, and of all Affidavits brought to him as aforesaid, within the Time limited as aforesaid; (2) ‘and where no such Affidavit shall be brought to him within such Time, that he enter a Memorial thereof in the said. Registry, against the Name of the Party interred, and of the Time when he notified the same to the Church-wardens or Overseers of the Poor."

In a similar vein there was no specific requirement that the body was clothed or wrapped. The requirement was that if it was clothed or wrapped only wool could be used.
Cheers
Guy

[venelow]

I have been trying to find any other examples of registers marked with BN or naked (or similar!) but have not found any.  So I'm beginning to wonder how often this actually did occur?  We know people did pay the £5 not to be buried in Wool but to forfit wool and go for naked?

CD
[/quote]

Like you CD I am amazed that anyone would choose to be buried naked. My genealogy book mentions burial in wool and the required affidavit but it does not mention that sometimes people were buried naked. I yield to Guy's greater expertise on this matter and, like you, I will be looking out for this next time I am trawling through a burial register. It seems to be a very rare occurrence.

Venelow