History of Cremation

• see also:
  • Australian history:
    • The 18th century
    • The 19th century
    • The 20th century - 1st quarter
    • The 20th century - 2nd quarter
    • The 20th century - 3rd quarter
    • The 20th century - 4th quarter
    • The 21st century
  • Victoria:
    • History of Melbourne

Indigenous peoples of Australia:

• Australia's aboriginal peoples long practiced cremation, with the oldest known cremation in human history being that of Mungo Woman some 40,000 yrs ago.
• It seems that mainland Aborigines ceased the practice perhaps 10,000 yrs ago as after the sea levels rose isolating Tasmania, the Tasmanian Aborigines have continued the practice.

Cremation in Western culture:

• until the late 19th century, cremation was seen by British peoples as a practice of heathens and pagans and also known to be practiced by the Hindu peoples in India which was under the rule of the British Empire.
• the push for cremation sprang out of the British funeral reform movement of the late 19th century, which was spurred by the excesses of Victorian era funerals.
• cremation became a very emotional topic much as is euthanasia is today.
• the medical profession were among the advocates on sanitation arguments whilst the churches opposed it on the following arguments:
  • it was a pagan practice
  • humans are made in God's image and it was sacrilegious to destroy it
  • what about the Resurrection - what would have happened if Jesus was cremated?
• the main advocate of the cremationists in Australia was Dr John Mildred Creed.
• in 1886, the Vatican issued a decree labeling it a pagan practice.
• early non-indigenous cremations in Australia:
  • Mr Foo Choo, a Chinese leper was cremated in 1890 at the Quarantine Station in Portsea, Victoria, at the height of the White Australia policy for "hygiene reasons".
  • in 1895, a Mr Singh, a Sikh, was the 1st consenting non-indigenous person to be cremated and this was done at Sandringham beach (a popular bathing beach) in Victoria without any permits.
  • later that year, a 83yr old piano teacher, Mrs Elizabeth Hennicker became the 1st European to be cremated in Australia - also at Sandrigham beach, performed by the undertaker Joseph Le Pine but the media attended and generated poor publicity as people could watch the remains burning.
  • outrage by locals later that year when a Hindu man was also cremated on the beach.
• after years of political lobbying, crematoriums began to be built:
  • 1903 - South Australia's West Terrace - 1st cremation in Australia within a crematorium was witnessed by an unruly crowd and media
  • 1925 - Sydney's Rockwood
  • 1927 - Melbourne's Fawkner
  • 1934 - Brisbane
  • 1936 - Hobart
  • 1937 - Perth
• early coke-fired furnaces took a day and a half to cremate a body to ashes and bone (bone then had to be placed in a grinder)
• until the 1950's the general public opinion regarded cremation as being for loopy radicals.
• in 1963, the rising popularity of cremations pushed the Vatican to grant Catholics permission for cremation as long as the remains are not scattered but are buried or entombed.
• in the 1960's, cremations began to overtake burials as the preferred option for Australians.
• by 2000, Melbourne's Springvale Crematorium was processing an average 25 cremations each day (max. 50-60) with 5 burning at any one time.

The modern cremation process:

• each takes an average of 70min
• each natural gas-fired primary furnace is rated at 1.5 gigajoules per hour producing 690degC furnace
• certain items are removed from the coffin prior to placing in furnace:
  • glass - this melts and becomes stuck to furnace floor and is difficult to remove
  • flower arrangements and wreaths with wire bindings
  • exterior fittings that won't burn - name plate, metal handles, crucifixes - these are buried in the cemetery & not re-used.
• by 10min, coffin has collapsed
• by 30min, body fat has been burnt with the black smoke of volatile gases being burnt in a 900degC secondary furnace.
• by 50min, most of the other parts of the body are burnt, with the heart and brain the last of the organs, leaving the skeleton.
• over the next 20min, the skeletal remains become brittle and are reduced to ash.
• residual bone may be ground to ash then any medical metallic parts removed
• NB. in the past, the batteries in older pacemakers used to explode & thus was a contraindication to cremation but newer pacemakers are not a problem
• NB. silicone implants are not a problem

References:

• article in The Age newspaper 2007 extracted from a book by Robert Larkins "Funeral Rights: What The Australian "Death Care" Industry Doesn't Want You To Know" Viking, 2007. Sounds like an interesting read if you want to know more about it.