I live in a parish just outside of Southampton on the mainland. There is a spot on the corner of our parish boundary which is known as Woolls Grave. Tradition has it that a man named Wooll hung himself in the neighbouring parish and he was buried on the parish boundary with a stake through his heart. Unfortunately there is no documentation for this as far as I know, but it must have taken place at least 250 years ago as the place is marked as Woolls Grave on an 18th century map. Sandra ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: "Alison Baker" <[email protected]>; "Isle of Wight Mailing List" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 4:00 PM Subject: Re: [IoW] Sep 1867 Snippet > Greetings All, > I have also heard that a suicide had a stake driven > through the heart before burial. > Regards, > Anne Vinnicombe > > > > > > ======================================== > Message Received: May 16 2008, 04:08 AM > From: "Alison Baker" > To: "Isle of Wight Mailing List" > Cc: > Subject: Re: [IoW] Sep 1867 Snippet > > Hi, > > In the middle of the 19th century suicide was still considered a criminal > act. In fact it > didn't become illegal until 1961. Suicide was also considered by some to > be an act of > evil, and usually the deceased person had been driven by Satan to perform > the act on > themselves. Suicides were buried quickly and usually in unconsecrated > ground. Quite > often at a crossroads as it was believed that the crossroads would help > diffuse the evil > influence of the body in different directions, making it less harmful to > the living. > > I couldn't find a reference to why the burial was done after midnight, but > I think it was > actually a law. The following reference from a book by Clare Gittings on > Google books > mentions the law: > > "........must have been one of the last carried out before the Act was > passed allowing > suicides to be buried in the churchyard between the hours of nine and > twelve at night......." > > Some suicides were also buried within the churchyards, but in the northern > corners where > they also buried unbaptised infants etc. > > I think the speediness of the burial was probably a spiritual thing. They > may have been > scared of the body and thought it evil? I'm not sure. It's interesting > though. Not much > comes up on Google about it. > > Hope this helps. > Cheers, > Alison Baker, > Sunny Melbourne, Australia. > Researching on the IOW: ATTRILL, BOURNE, PAIN > > Peter & Angela McMurtry wrote: >> Can anyone tell me why suicide victims had to be buried so quickly and >> after midnight? >> >> > > ************************************** > You can contact the Isle of Wight List Administrator by emailing: > [email protected] > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > ************************************** > You can contact the Isle of Wight List Administrator by emailing: > [email protected] > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 8.0.100 / Virus Database: 269.23.16/1445 - Release Date: 15/05/2008 19:25