The great and terrible evils arising from the practice of keeping corpses in inhabited rooms by the poorer classes were pointed out by Mr. Chadwick in the year 1843[245] and the following clauses upon this subject and the necessity imposed upon the local authority to provide proper mortuaries are contained in the Public Health Act 1875:
“Any local authority may, and if required by the Local Government Board shall provide and fit up a proper place for the reception of dead bodies before interment (in this Act called a mortuary), and may make bye-laws with respect to the management and charges for use of the same; they may also provide for the decent and economical interment, at charges to be fixed by such bye-laws, of any dead body which may be received into a mortuary (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 141).
“Where the body of one who has died of any infectious disease is retained in a room in which persons live or sleep, or any dead body which is in such a state as to endanger the health of the inmates of the same house or room is retained in such house or room, any justice may, on a certificate signed by a legally qualified medical practitioner, order the body to be removed, at the cost of the local authority, to any mortuary provided by such authority, and direct the same to be buried within a time to be limited in such order; and unless the friends or relations of the deceased undertake to bury the body within the time so limited, and do bury the same, it shall be the duty of the relieving officer to bury such body at the expense of the poor rate, but any expense so incurred may be recovered by the relieving officer in a summary manner from any person legally liable to pay the expense of such burial.
“Any person obstructing the execution of an order made by a justice under this section shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 142).
From these clauses it would appear that a mortuary or mortuaries are an absolute essential in every town, although it does not appear necessary to have a separate mortuary for any “body of one who has died of any infectious disease,” but it may be taken to the mortuary which has been provided for the reception of dead bodies generally. It may also be assumed that bodies may be viewed by a coroner’s jury in the mortuary, although a post-mortem examination cannot be made in it, as by the following section:
“Any local authority may provide and maintain a proper place (otherwise than at a workhouse or at a mortuary) for the reception of dead bodies during the time required to conduct any post-mortem examination ordered by a coroner or other constituted authority, and may make regulations with respect to the management of such place; and where any such place has been provided, a coroner or other constituted authority may order the removal of the body to and from such place for carrying out such post-mortem examination, such costs of removal to be paid in the same manner and out of the same fund as the costs and fees for post-mortem examinations when ordered by the coroner (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 143).”
It will be observed that the above clause apparently forbids a post-mortem room being provided at the mortuary, although this would appear to be the most appropriate situation for it, and indeed such a room is frequently provided at or near the mortuary. The reason for this prohibition, especially as it is associated with a workhouse, is evidently to overcome the prejudice which would exist in the minds of the ignorant that the fact of taking a body to a mortuary necessitated dissection: a practice which is looked upon with much disfavour by such persons.
Mortuaries in this country generally consist of one of the following descriptions:
(1.) Elaborate groups of buildings, comprising mortuary chapel, coroner’s room, post-mortem room, dead house, waiting rooms, &c., and the necessary care-taker’s rooms, and offices.
(2.) Mortuaries in connection with infectious hospitals.