Rules and Regulations of Forgan [Vicarsford] Cemetery, 1894
[The document refers to the cemetery as Forgan Cemetery, now it is Vicarsford Cemetery]
Rules and Regulations of FORGAN CEMETERY, provided for the PARISH OF FORGAN.
Cemetery declared open 4th September, 1894.
Dundee : Printed by J. Durham, Son & Kinnoch, 49 High Street and 13 Overgate
Rules and Regulations of the Forgan Cemetery.
I. The General Management, Regulation, and Control of the Cemetery being, in terms of the Acts of Parliament made in that behalf, vested in the Parochial Board of the Parish of Forgan subject to the provisions of the said Acts and the regulations to be made under the same, the immediate charge and management of the Cemetery shall be exercised by a Cemetery Committee to be annually appointed by the said Parochial Board, with all or such of the Board's powers as may be conferred, and such Committee shall have power to appoint such Sub-Committees with such powers as may be deemed necessary. Three members of the Cemetery Committee shall form a quorum at all meetings. The first Committee shall be the Committee appointed at the half-yearly Statutory Meeting of the Board held on 24th May, 1894, and shall subsist up to the 15th day of May, 1895.
II. Under the Board and the Cemetery Committee, the Management, Regulation, and Control of the Cemetery shall be exercised by the Clerk appointed by the Board or such other Official as may be appointed (such Clerk or other official to be appointed being throughout these Regulations referred to as 'the said Clerk') and through the said Clerk all orders and instructions shall be conveyed to the Superintendent of the Cemetery, and to all workmen and others employed in the Cemetery.
III. The said Clerk shall keep the Register Book required by the 31st Section of 'The Burial Grounds (Scotland? Act, 1855,' and shall enter therein all burials which shall be made in the ground, specifying the name and age of each person interred, and distinguishing the exact portion of the ground in which each body is buried, the date of the burial, and the depth of the grave, and shall certify the entry by his signature. The said Clerk shall also, when registering each burial, mark the compartment in which it takes place by the distinguishing letter, and the particular grave space occupied by the distinguishing number. The said Register Book will be open to the inspection of any ratepayer or proprietor of ground in the Cemetery during business hours without any fee being payable for such inspection.
IV. For the purpose of distinguishing the portions of the ground in which bodies are buried, the area of the Cemetery, is divided into various Compartments, which are delineated and shown on the General Plan of the Cemetery. The said Compartments are marked with distinguishing letters, and each particular grave space, both in the Free ground and in the ground set aside for Sale, so far as these are yet laid out for Burial, is marked by a distinguishing number.
V. Burials in the Free ground shall take place in such parts thereof as may be pointed out by the Superintendent under the direction of the Board or the Cemetery Committee.
VI. Persons desirous of obtaining the exclusive right of Burial in any of the Compartments which are laid out for Burial may purchase or acquire Private Sites or Burial Places, at the Prices specified in Schedule I, annexed hereto, and each Purchaser of such Site or Burial-Place shall, on payment of the price, be furnished with a Registry Certificate, in or as nearly as may be in the form of Schedule IV annexed hereto, under the hand of the said Clerk, describing the Burial Place so purchased, which Certificate must be recorded in the Register Book of Sales to be kept by the Board, and the person whose name is so recorded shall be held to be the Proprietor thereof. The Fee for each such Registry Certificate shall be Two Shillings and Sixpence.
VII. One Person only shall be recorded as the Proprietor of a Site or Burial Place, and joint proprietorship is prohibited. The following Rules shall apply to all ground purchased :—
(1) If a Proprietor die leaving lawful children, such children, so long as they shall not be forisfamiliated, and if he leave a widow, such widow shall respectively have right of sepulture in the Burial-Place for themselves only, and the right of property therein shall descend to the eldest son; failing sons, the eldest daughter shall succeed; and failing children the deceased's heir at-law according to the rules of succession to heritage by the Law of Scotland, shall succeed.
(2) Notwithstanding the above provision the Proprietor of a Site or Burial-Place shall be entitled to bequeath the same to any member of his family or to any stranger, but always subject to the provision against joint proprietorship above-mentioned, and declaring that if he shall bequeath the Site or Burial-Place to a plurality of individuals such a bequest shall be disregarded and the above rules as to succession shall be applied and take effect, unless such individuals shall concur, in a way approved of by the Board or the Cemetery Committee, in transferring the site to one person who shall be registered as sole proprietor.
(3) No person claiming right to succeed to a deceased proprietor shall be recognised or the name inserted in the Register Book of Sales as proprietor, without adducing to the Board or Cemetery Committee evidence to their satisfaction that the claimant is entitled to succeed. When application is made by a person claiming to succeed, the Board or the Cemetery Committee may order such public or other notice of the application to be made as they may judge proper, the expense whereof shall be paid by the applicant.
(4) No transfer by an inter vivos deed shall be valid or effectual unless sanctioned by the Board or the Cemetery Committee, who shall have the right of pre-emption, at the price originally paid for the Site or Burial-Place.
(5) No person claiming a Site or Burial Place, either by succession or transfer, shall be recognised or have the name inserted without production of the Certificate or document granted to the original proprietor or such other evidence as may satisfy the Board or the Cemetery Committee.
(6) Assignations by a Proprietor deceased of any site or Burial-Place must be recorded in the Register Book within twelve months after the death of the last recorded proprietor, otherwise the deed, in so far as regards such Site or Burial-Place, shall ba ineffectual, but with power if the Board see cause to give effect to the assignation. The Fee for recording a transfer shall be Five Shillings, and
(7) No removal of remains shall be allowed unless with the express approval of the Board or the Cemetery Committee.
VIII. Notice of Interment must be given to the said Clerk as early as possible, and not later than twelve o'clock of the lawful day immediately preceding the day fixed for the Interment. Such notice shall be made by filling up and subscribing the Form which will be obtained at the Office of the said Clerk, stating the name, trade or profession if any, residence, place of birth, and age of the deceased, the disease, or the cause, and the place and date of death, and the particular day and hour fixed for the Interment. The necessary orders for digging the grave will then be issued upon payment of the fees specified in Schedule II, annexed hereto. Undertakers are not to give directions to or in any way interfere with the servants of the Board after the Coffin is laid in the grave.
IX. No Coffin shall be nearer to the surface of the ground than four feet (except in the case of a child under seven years of age laid above another coffin) and no grave in which a coffin has been laid so near as four feet from the surface shall be allowed to be opened within ten years after the last interment, without special consent had and obtained from the Board or the Cemetery Committee. No more than two full-sized coffins shall be allowed to be interred in one grave, unless at the first opening the grave shall have been made of an extra depth : and no coffin shall be permitted to be removed from any grave, with the view of making room for a new interment.
X. The Purchaser of a private Burial-Place, shall be entitled to erect any fence, monument, gravestone, or tablet previously approved of as after provided, but no such erection shall be permitted in the Free Ground, and no mound shall be allowed in any part of the Cemetery.
XL In purchased sites or Burial Places ground space is given for erecting Tombstones or Monuments at the head of each lot, but no Tombstone, Monument, Inscription, Rail, Fence, Chain, or Erection of any kind, shall be permitted till approved of by the Board or the Cemetery Committee, to whom a specific written statement, with a drawing of the monument and inscription must be submitted and written sanction obtained before the work is commenced. All such work, as well as all planting of shrubs or flowers, must be performed at the sight and to the satisfaction of the Superintendent. Tombstones, Monuments, etc., must be founded at such a depth and in such a manner as may be approved of by the Superintendent. Unless expressly approved of by the Board or the Cemetery Committee, no Monument or other erection shall be built or fitted in the walls, nor, unless so approved of, shall any Monument erected near the walls exceed the height of the walls. All Enclosures and all Tombstones, Monuments, Railings, and other erections must be kept in good order and repair at the expense of the proprietors or persons erecting the same, and they shall be obliged to make any repair called for by the Superintendent wiithin thirty days after written notice to do so, failing which the Superintendent shall make such repair at the expense of the Proprietor, and no interment shall take place in the ground of any Proprietor liable in such expense until the same shall have been paid. The dressing and decorating of Burial Places, when desired, by the planting of Flowers or Shrubs, or otherwise, shall be performed only by the Board's Servants, and a charge made against Proprietors for doing so, according to Schedule III., annexed hereto.
XII. Free passage over ground purchased is reserved for the purpose of opening graves, and to enable Funerals to be conducted in the Cemetery and persons freely to attend thereat, and for erecting and repairing Monuments, etc., and dressing the whole Grounds. Further, the Board reserve power to prune all plants and shrubs and even remove such, if it shall be the opinion of the Superintendent of the Grounds that, by the spreading of the roots, branches, or otherwise, injury may be done to the adjoining grounds. Proprietors are prohibited removing or disposing of plants or shrubs without the special consent of the Board or the Cemetery Committee.
XIII. No hewing or dressing of stones, nor operations of any kind will be permitted within the Cemetery, or any of the approaches thereto, unless specially sanctioned by the Board or Cemetery Committee; and all rubbish or refuse remaining after the erection of monuments or other operations, duly sanctioned, must be immediately removed under the direction of the Superintendent at the expense of the owner of the ground or of the person executing the work.
XIV. Visitors to the ground shall on no account walk upon the Grass or pull the Flowers, or in any way injure the Shrubs or Trees. No person shall enter or depart from the grounds by any other way than by the entrance gates, and children under twelve years of age must be accompanied by their parents, or others in charge of them. No inebriated or disorderly persons will be admitted, and no dogs, unless led, will be allowed to enter the Cemetery. Any person contravening the terms of this article shall be liable to be prosecuted.
XV. The Cemetery shall be open to the Public daily during such hours as the Board or the Cemetery Committee may from time to time fix and determine ; and, in the meantime, these hours shall be as follows:— During Week Days from seven o'clock a.m., until sunset ; and on Sundays from one o'clock p.m., till sunset.
XVI. The Superintendent or other person in charge shall be entitled to remove any person or persons conducting themselves improperly, and to prevent persons entering the Cemetery during prohibited hours.
XVII. The Board reserve power to alter all or any of the Rules, Prices of Burial Places, Fees of Interment, and charges for dressing private Burial Places, when deemed expedient, and to enact others in their place ; and should any difference or dispute arise as to the real intent, meaning, or interpretation of these Rules and Regulations, Prices of Burial Places, Interment Fees, charges foresaid, or otherwise, the same shall be taken up and disposed of by the Cemetery Committee, with an appeal to the Board, whose decision shall be final and conclusive.
Newport, 8th November, 1894.
The foregoing Rules and Regulations and the four relative Schedules annexed hereto, were approved of and adopted by the Parochial Board of the Parish of Forgan at the half-yearly statutory meeting of the said Board held on this date.
ALEX SCOTT, Chairman.
SCHEDULE I, SCALES OF PRICES FOR PRIVATE BURIAL PLACES.
| COMPARTMENTS. | A. | Free Ground. |
| B. | £1-5-0 per Lair. | |
| C. | £0-15-0 '' [changed to £1-0-0] | |
| D. | £1-0-0 '' | |
| E. | £5-0-0 '' | |
| F. | £1-10-0 '' | |
| G. | £6-0-0 '' | |
| H. | Not Priced. | |
| J. | £4-0-0 per Lair. | |
| K. | £3-0-0 '' | |
| L. | £2-0-0 '' | |
| M. | £2-10-0 '' | |
| N. | £3-10-0 '' | |
| O. | Free Ground. |
The prices of corner or other special lots are not included in the above charges On being applied for, such lots, as regards price and otherwise, will form the subject of special arrangement.
NOTE. — Saleable Ground approved of in Sheriff Court, Cupar, 25th September, 1894.
SCHEDULE II. FEES AND PAYMENTS IN RESPECT OF INTERMENTS.
| Scale of Fees and Payments. | ||||
| In the case of Interments where the Price of Lair does not exceed | For Children under 7 years of age | For Children over 7 and under 12 | For persons of 12 years and upwards | |
| £-s-d | £-s-d | £-s-d | £-s-d | |
| 6-0-0 | 0-12-0 | 0-14-0 | 1-6-0 | |
| 5-0-0 | 0-11-0 | 0-12-0 | 1-2-0 | |
| 4-0-0 | 0-7-0 | 0-8-6 | 0-16-0 | |
| 3-0-0 | 0-6-0 | 0-7-0 | 0-13-0 | |
| 2-10-0 | 0-5-6 | 0-6-0 | 0-11-0 | |
| 2-0-0 | 0-5-0 | 0-5-6 | 0-10-0 | |
| 1-10-0 | 0-4-6 | 0-5-0 | 0-9-0 | |
| 1-5-0 | 0-4-6 | 0-5-0 | 0-9-0 | |
| 0-15-0 [changed to £1-0-0] | 0-4-0 | 0-4-6 | 0-8-0 | |
| Free Ground | 0-5-0 | 0-5-6 | 0-10-0 | |
| Do. Paupers | 0-3-0 | 0-3-6 | 0-6-6 | |
The above charges for Interment are for graves not exceeding six feet in depth. For graves exceeding six feet in depth there shall be charged for the first additional foot Two Shillings; for the second, Five Shillings; for the third, Ten Shillings; and for the fourth, Fifteen Shillings. Any person not resident in the Parish purchasing ground in the Cemetery shall pay Fifty per cent more than the above charges.
NOTE. These Fees and Payments approved of in Sheriff Court, Cupar, 25th September, 1894.
SCHEDULE III, CHARGES FOR DRESSING PRIVATE BURIAL PLACES.
| One Lair of £1-5-0 and under | £0-1-0 |
| Two of such Lairs | 0-1-6 |
| Three of such Lairs | 0-2-0 |
| One Lair above £1-5-0 and under £3 | 0-1-6 |
| Two of such Lairs | 0-2-6 |
| Three of such Lairs | 0-3-6 |
| One Lair of £3 and under £5 | 0-3-0 |
| Two of such Lairs | 0-4-0 |
| Three of such Lairs | 0-5-0 |
| One Lair of £5 and upwards | 0-4-0 |
| Two of such Lairs | 0-4-6 |
| Three of such Lairs | 0-5-6 |
The above charges are for keeping in order and decorating Private Burial Places, but do not include the cost of Plants or Flowers. Where there are more than three Lairs, or in the case of corner lots, special arrangements can be made.
SCHEDULE IV. FORM OF REGISTRY CERTIFICATE
At Newport, Fife, the ... day of ... 18.. years.
The Parochial Board of Forgan, Fife, acting under 'The Burial Grounds (Scotland) Act, 1855,' on the application of .... and on payment of .... have registered the said .... as entitled to the exclusive right of Burial, in perpetuity, in those Burial Places of the Forgan Cemetery lying in Compartment ... and numbered ... on the Plan of said Cemetery, provided always that the said exclusive right of burial is subject to all the Rules and Regulations made or to be made by the said Board for the management of the said Cemetery.
Originals: cover, p.1, p.2-3, p.4-5, p.6-7
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