shall be repaid by the Overseers upon the certificate of the Burial Board, or Churchwardens, as the case may be, out of the rate made for the relief of the poor of the parish or place in which such churchyard or burial ground is situate, unless there shall be some other fund legally chargeable with such costs and expenses.
The words in italics have given rise to some dispute as to their interpretation. Some Burial Boards have claimed the right to maintain closed churchyards. The question was brought into the Court of Queen’s Bench in 1879, and it was decided that a Burial Board was required to maintain a closed cemetery, and that Churchwardens were the proper persons to maintain a closed churchyard. [79]
APPENDIX VIII.
15 and 16 Vict., cap. 85, sec. 10.
Churchwardens after order or at any time upon requisition of ten ratepayers to convene Vestry Meeting to determine whether a burial ground shall be provided.
Upon the requisition in writing of ten or more ratepayers [80a] of any parish in the metropolis [80b] in which the place or places of burial shall appear to such ratepayers insufficient or dangerous to health (and whether any Order in Council in relation to any burial ground in such parish has or has not been made), the Churchwardens and other persons to whom it belongs to convene meetings of the Vestry of such parish shall convene a meeting of the Vestry for the special purpose of determining whether a burial ground shall be provided under this Act for the parish; and public notice of such
Vestry Meeting, and the place and hour of holding the same, and the special purpose thereof, shall be given in the usual manner in which notices of the meetings of the Vestry are given, at least seven days before holding such Vestry Meeting: and if it be resolved by the Vestry that a burial ground shall be provided under this Act for the parish, a copy of such resolution extracted from the minutes of the Vestry, and signed by the Chairman, shall be sent to one of Her Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State.
APPENDIX IX.
24 and 25 Vict., cap. 125, sec. 2.
The Overseers of any parish may, with the consent of the Vestry, provide proper depositories of all the documents, books, and papers belonging to such parish, for which no provision is otherwise made by law, and charge the cost thereof on the poor rate.