The Birkenhead local authorities had to make arrangements after yielding to strong public opinion and pressure to end the scandal of deceased British soldiers and servicemen being interred in paupers graves. The Town Clerk and Cemetery committee considered the matter and instructed the cemeteries to provide free spaces in the 3 divisions of the cemeteries.
The Town Clerk reported the burials of a private nature were never charged for the grave but relatives were charged 30s for the excavation and filling in of the graves. Permission had to be granted from the Home Secretary to exhume those buried in paupers graves and this was a lengthy process. It was also reported Liverpool authorities had never charged a penny.
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
30 shillings in 1916 is equivalent to £112.50 now. 30 shillings was roughly the cost of a paupers funeral at the time which is what they tried to recover from the estate, relatives or friends (even though friends and relatives do not have to pay, they often tried it on).
Many people paid weekly into a friendly society to pay for their future funeral.
These days the Government pay for full military funerals for anyone that dies in active service. There are some conditional funds for veterans that die from active service.
We don't do charity in Germany, we pay taxes. Charity is a failure of governments' responsibilities - Henning Wehn
