Burying in Woollen Acts

The Burial in Woollen Acts 1666-80 were Acts of the Parliament of England (citation 18 & 19 Cha. II c. 4 (1666),[1][2] 30 Cha. II c. 3 (1678) [3] and 32 Cha. II c. 1 (1680) [4]) which required the dead, except plague victims and the destitute, to be buried in pure English woollen shrouds to the exclusion of any foreign textiles.[5]

Enforcement

It was a requirement that an affidavit be sworn in front of a Justice of the Peace (usually by a relative of the deceased), confirming burial in wool, with the punishment of a £5 fee for noncompliance. Burial entries in parish registers were marked with the word "affidavit" or its equivalent to confirm that affidavit had been sworn; it would be marked "naked" for those too poor to afford the woollen shroud.

The legislation was in force until 1814, but was generally ignored after 1770. The 1666 Act was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1863.[6]

Use in genealogy

Burial records so annotated can be a source of genealogical information, providing evidence of economic status and relationships that may be otherwise unavailable or ambiguous.[7][8]

References

  1. ↑ "National Patterns, 1648–1815 > England, Scotland, and Ireland > England and Scotland > July 1664". The Encyclopedia of World History. bartleby.com. 2001. Archived from the original on 2002-11-02. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
  2. ↑ 'Charles II, 1666: An Act for Burying in Woollen only.', Statutes of the Realm: volume 5: 1628-80 (1819), p. 598. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47386. Date accessed: 6 March 2007.
  3. ↑ 'Charles II, 1677 & 1678: An Act for burying in Woollen.', Statutes of the Realm: volume 5: 1628-80 (1819), pp. 885-86. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47475. Date accessed: 6 March 2007.
  4. ↑ 'Charles II, 1680: An Additional Act for burying in Woollen.', Statutes of the Realm: volume 5: 1628-80 (1819), p. 940. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47486. Date accessed: 6 March 2007.
  5. ↑ Rivoli, Pietra (2005). The Travels of a T-Shirt in The Global Economy (first ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. p. 155. ISBN 0-471-64849-3.
  6. ↑ Statute Law Revision Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict c 125) from Google Books
  7. ↑ Ancestral Trails: The Complete Guide to British Genealogy and Family History, Second Edition, by Mark Herber in association with the Society of Genealogists, Sutton Publishing Limited, Baltimore, MD 2004 p 362-3.
  8. ↑ Burial In Woollen Act 1666-1680 Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. from traceyourpast.co.uk
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