Their duty to bury paupers.] It shall be lawful for guardians, or where there are no guardians for the overseers, to bury the body of any poor person which may be within their parish or union respectively, and to charge the expense thereof to any parish under their control to which such person may have been chargeable, or in which he may have died, or otherwise in which such body may be; and unless the guardians, in compliance with the desire expressed by such person in his lifetime, or by any of his relations, or for any other cause, direct the body of such poor person to be buried in the churchyard or burial ground of the parish to which such person has been chargeable (which they are hereby authorized to do), every dead body which the guardians or any of their officers duly authorized shall direct to be buried at the expense of the poor rates, shall (unless the deceased person, or the husband or wife or next of kin of such deceased person, have otherwise desired,) be buried in the churchyard or other consecrated burial ground in or belonging to the parish, division of parish, chapelry, or place in which the death may have occurred; and in all cases of burial under the direction of the guardians or overseers as aforesaid, the fee or fees payable by the custom of the place in which the burial may take place, or under the provisions of any Act of parliament, shall be paid out of the poor rates, for the burial of each such body, to the person or persons who by such custom or under such Act may be entitled to receive any fee; provided always, that it shall not be lawful for any officer connected with the relief of the poor, to receive any money for the burial of the body of any poor person which may be within the parish, division of parish, chapelry, or place in which the death may have occurred, or to act as undertaker for personal gain or reward in the burial of any such body, or to receive any money from any dissecting school or school of anatomy, or hospital, or from any person or persons to whom any such body may be delivered, or to derive any personal emolument whatever for or in respect of the burial or disposal of any such body; and any such officer offending as aforesaid shall, on conviction thereof before any two justices, forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding five pounds (h). Or where the public burial ground of such parish has been closed and no other provided, or where, in consequence of the crowded state of such burial ground, the guardians or overseers are of opinion that the burial of such dead body therein would be improper, it shall be lawful to bury such body in a public burial ground (some part of which has been conse (h) 7 & 8 Vict. c. 101, s. 31. crated) of or in some other parish as near as conveniently may be to the parish wherein the burial would have been required to take place according to the provisions of the above Act (i). In the case of a destitute wayfarer, or wanderer, or foundling, dying in a union, the costs of burial are to be charged to the common fund of the union (j). And by stat. 13 & 14 Vict. c. 101, s. 2, it shall be lawful for the guardians of any union to contribute out of the common fund, or for the guardians of any parish to contribute out of the poor rates of such parish,—such sum of money as the poor law board shall approve, towards the enlargement of any churchyard or consecrated public burial ground in the parish wherein the workhouse shall be situated, or in any other parish of the union, or towards the obtaining of any such consecrated public burial ground; and where any such burial ground shall be enlarged or obtained with the aid of such contribution, it shall be lawful for them to bury therein the dead body of any poor person dying in such workhouse-provided always, that nothing in this Act contained shall discharge or vary the obligation now imposed by law upon the guardians to bury the dead body of such poor person elsewhere, in case the deceased person, or the husband, or wife, or next of kin of such deceased person, shall have so requested :-provided also, that in all cases of burial under the direction of the guardians as aforesaid, the fee or fees payable by the custom of the place where the burial may be, or under the provisions of any Act of parliament, shall be paid by the said guardians for the burial of each such body to the person or persons who by such custom or under such Act shall be entitled to receive such fee or fees, and charged by them in like manner as the relief to the deceased when living was last chargeable. Also, by stat. 18 & 19 Vict. c. 79, s. 2, the guardians of any union or parish, or the overseers of any parish not under a board of guardians, may from time to time enter into agreements with the proprietors of any cemetery established under the authority of parliament, or with any burial board duly constituted under the statutes in that behalf, for the burial of the dead bodies of any poor persons which such guardians or overseers may undertake to bury, or towards the burial whereof they may render assistance; and thereupon the burial of any such body, under the directions of the said guardians or their officer, or of such overseers, or with their aid respectively, in such cemetery, or in the burial ground of such burial board, (unless the deceased person, or the husband or (i) 18 & 19 Vict. c. 79, s. 1. (j) 11 & 12 Vict. c. 110, s. 1; 12 & 13 Vict. c. 103, s. 1. wife or next of kin of such deceased person, have otherwise expressly desired,) shall be lawful: provided however, that no such agreement shall be valid unless made in such form and with such stipulations as the poor law board shall approve. Their certificate.] It shall be lawful for any board of guardians or district board, at any meeting thereof, to make a certificate in the form or to the effect contained in the schedule of this Act (vide infra), and that every such certificate, and every copy of a minute of any order, complaint, claim, application, or authority of any such board of guardians or district board, purporting respectively to be signed by the presiding chairman of such guardians or district board, and to be sealed with their seal, and to be countersigned by their clerk, shall, unless the contrary be shown, be taken to be sufficient proof of the truth of all the statements contained in such certificate, and of the directions respecting such order, complaint, claim, or application having been given as alleged in the copy of such minute, and shall be received in evidence accordingly by and before all courts of justice and all justices,“ without any proof of the signatures or of the official characters of the persons signing the same, or of such seal, or of such meeting; and that for the purpose of making any order of removal or other order, no further or other evidence of chargeability than such certificate shall be required, provided that every such order bear date within twenty-one days next after the day of the date of such certificate (k). And by stat. 11 & 12 Vict. c. 110, s. 11, such a certificate of chargeability shall be evidence thereof in all courts, and before any justice or justices, and for all purposes, for twentyone days from the date thereof. Form of the Certificate. The board of guardians of the poor of the parish of] do hereby certify, that on the union [or day of A. B., and his wife C. B., and his child E. B., became chargeable to the parish of · said union]. in the said union [or to the In testimony whereof the common seal of the said guardians is hereunto affixed at a meeting of their board this day of 18-. (Countersigned) W. J., presiding chairman of the said board. C. D., clerk [or acting as clerk] to the board of guardians of (k) 7 & 8 Vict. c. 101, s. 69. What costs, &c., they may pay.] It shall be lawful for any board of guardians or district board to pay out of the funds in their hands the reasonable costs of the apprehension and of the prosecution of any person who, according to the laws in force at the time being, is charged with refusing or neglecting to maintain himself or his family, or with running away and leaving his family chargeable, or whereby such family has become chargeable,—or with wilfully neglecting or disobeying the rules, orders, and regulations of the poor law commissioners, or with any offence or misbehaviour in any workhouse, or with deserting or running away from any workhouse, and carrying away clothes, linen, or other goods or things belonging to any workhouse, or given or procured or provided as or for relief,-or with neglect or disobedience of the reasonable and lawful orders of justices or guardians, or of any district board, in the administration of the laws relating to the relief of the poor,-or with obstructing or assaulting any officer engaged in the administration of the laws for relief of the poor, or with fraudulently obtaining, stealing, purloining, embezzling, wasting, or injuring, or wilfully misapplying, any property applicable to or connected with the relief of the poor, or with any offence directly affecting the administration of the laws for the relief of the poor,-and the reasonable costs of apprehending and prosecuting any officer who may have been employed in the administration of the laws for the relief of the poor, for any neglect or breach of any duty of his office, or for any maltreatment or abuse of any poor person; and, subject to the approval of the said commissioners, every board of guardians or district board shall pay the costs of all legal proceedings taken by the auditor, or under his direction, for the protection of the poor rates or property of any parish, union, or district, or taken by any other person whom the board of guardians or district board have authorized or directed to institute such prosecution or legal proceedings; and to the extent to which any such costs may not be repaid by the offending or other party, or from the county, liberty, or borough rates, the guardians of any union then may, in any of the cases aforesaid, having due regard to the circumstances of the case, and subject to the approval of the poor law commissioners, charge such expenses, either to the common funds of the union, or to any parish or parishes comprised therein; and the district board of any district may, having like regard to the circumstances of the case, and subject to the like approval of the poor law commissioners, charge such expenses, either to the funds of the whole of such district, or on any one or more of the unions and parishes comprised therein (2). (1) 7 & 8 Vict. c. 101, s. 59. See post, under the title "Auditing of the Accounts." In what cases, SECTION II. Guardians for single Parishes. 31. Parishes divided into wards, 31. In what cases.] If the commissioners shall, by any order under their hands and seal, direct that the administration of the laws for the relief of the poor of any single parish should be governed and administered by a board of guardians, then such board shall be elected and constituted, and authorized and entitled to act, for such single parish, in like manner in all respects as is hereinbefore enacted and provided in respect to a board of guardians for united parishes; and every justice of the peace resident therein, [or any extra-parochial place the boundary line of which, or the greater part of the boundary line of which, is included within or coincident with the boundary line of such parish (m),] and acting for the county, riding, or division in which the same is situated, shall be and may act as an ex officio member of such board (n). Parishes divided into wards.] And în every case in which a parish, in which guardians are to be elected under the provisions of the said first-recited Act, contains more than twenty thousand persons, according to the enumeration of the population then last published by authority of parliament, it shall be lawful for the said commissioners, by order under their hands and seal, for the purpose of conducting the election of guardians, to divide such parish into such and so many wards as they may deem expedient, so that no such ward shall contain a number of rated houses less than four hundred, and to determine the number of guardians to be elected for every such ward, having due regard to the value of the rateable property therein; and each such ward shall, for the purpose of every election of guardians, so far as the said commissioners may direct, be considered as a separate parish (0). The guardians of wards shall have the same qualification as guardians of parishes; but no person shall be elected for more wards than one, or if he be nominated for more, he shall elect for which he will stand (p). Votes must be in re (m) 7 & 8 Vict. c. 101, s. 24. (n) 4 & 5 W. 4, c. 76, s. 39. See R. v. Poor Law Comm., 6 Ad. & (0) 7 & 8 Vict. c. 101, s. 19. |