Death is the one certainty that we can ever have in our lives and when it comes to visit us many people are not ever truly prepared. However, today we do see people trying to prepare for this eventuality by making wills and bequeathing their goods, taking out life insurance and even planning their own funerals.
In the 19th century there was a rise in worry about death – not about the event itself but more about what happened afterwards. People wanted a ‘good death’, a ‘good funeral’ and, crucially, to make sure that plans were in place to avoid the shame of a ‘pauper funeral’.This talk covers one method of preparation for death undertaken by some of the poorer classes in the 19th century, that of a ‘burial club’. It will outline the purpose of a burial club, why burial clubs were needed then and, importantly, why studying them now is useful for historical and social researchers
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About the Speaker
Kathryn Berry
Kathryn Berry is studying for a PhD focusing on Victorian rural death. Her thesis is interdisciplinary and includes investigations of primary sources such as ecclesiastical records, vernacular sources and burial club records.
Kathryn’s other deathly research interests also include biker funerals, post-mortem tattoo removal and Zoroastrian funeral rites. She is the PGR Representative for the Association of Death and Society and coordinates meetings, knowledge exchange and support within this group.
A secondary school English and RPE teacher, Kathryn likes to ride around on motorbikes, owns a Pinzgauer army truck and reads a ridiculous number of books.
