An individual named Greftulke, who entertained a great dread of being buried alive, added to his will this clause: “I do not wish to be buried; but desire that my body be embalmed, and placed in a coffin, the lid of which shall be glazed; also I desire it be not nailed down, so that my body may not be deprived of air and light. Ultimately it may be buried, if the law permit.”
This will was proved October, 1867, and signed John Louis Greftulke.
Will of Thomas Hollis
This testator, Thomas Hollis of Cusicombe, Dorsetshire, England, ordered his corpse to be buried in one of his cornfields, ten feet below the surface, and the ground to be immediately ploughed, so that no trace of the spot might remain.
Will of Mrs. Maria Redding
This lady’s behests are sufficiently singular to be recorded here: “If,” she writes, “I should die away from Branksome, I desire that my remains, after being duly placed in the usual coffins (i.e. first a leaden and then an elm one), be enclosed in a plain deal box, and conveyed by goods train to Poole. Let no mention be made of the contents, as the conveyance will then not be charged more for than an ordinary package. From Poole station let it be brought in a cart to Branksome tower, and it will be found the easiest way to get the coffin out of the house will be to take out one of the diningroom windows.” This will was probated in 1870.
The Will of the Dowager Countess of Sandwich
This will provides against those useless inventions, which only serve to aggravate the grief of the survivors, and to swell the extortionate charges of the upholsterers of death. She therefore forbids “all grotesque paraphernalia, desiring only to be buried quietly and decently, with no scarfs, hatbands, or other excuses for fraud and cheating.”
Horror of Darkness
A Vienna millionnaire seemed to have a horror of darkness, for he provided that not only the vault in which his body was to be placed should be lighted by electricity, but the coffin should be similarly illumined.