I have an ancestor who died in the workhouse in 1896. Does anyone know where the inmates from the workhouse would have been buried
My understanding is that if someone died in the Workhouse family members had the option of claiming the body and taking it for burial - so the ancestor could be buried some distance from the place of death.
Workhouses were often the only place where someone could obtain medical attention so if that was the reason they were an inmate their family may have been able to afford to take them away for burial.
But if no-one claimed the body it was down to the Master to dispose of it, which he would want to do as cheaply as possible. This could mean a pauper's grave nearby or he could have offered the body to a medical school. I have an example from the 1920s where no-one claimed the body and it was sent from Wellingborough Workhouse to Cambridge Uni "for medical science". His remains were finally laid to rest in Cambridge - not somewhere I would have thought have looked for a burial for someone who died in Northants.
I'd ask Bromley Local Studies what they know about local practice at the time.
