g. _byrgels_, whence _byriels_, wrongly
taken as a plural, and so Mid. Eng. _buryel_, from O. Eng. _byrgan_,
properly to protect, cover, to bury). The main lines of the law of burial
in England may be stated very shortly. Every person has the right to be
buried in the churchyard or burial ground of the parish where he dies, with
the exception of executed felons, who are buried in the precincts of the
prison or in a place appointed by the home office. At common law the person
under whose roof a death takes place has a duty to provide for the body
being carried to the grave decently covered; and the executors or legal
representatives of the deceased are bound to bury or dispose of the body in
a manner becoming the estate of the deceased, according to their
discretion, and they are not bound to fulfil the wishes he may have
expressed in this respect. The disposal must be such as will not expose the
body to violation, or offend the feelings or endanger the health of the
living; and cremation under proper restrictions is allowable. In the case
of paupers dying in a parish house, or shipwrecked persons whose bodies are
cast ashore, the overseers or guardians are responsible for their burial;
and in the case of suicides the coroner has a similar duty. The expenses of
burial are payable out of the deceased's estate in priority to all other
debts. A husband liable for the maintenance of his wife is liable for her
funeral expenses; the parents for those of their children, if they have the
means of paying. Legislation has principally affected (1) places of burial,
(2) mode of burial, (3) fees for burial, and (4) disinterment.

1. The overcrowded state of churchyards and burial grounds gradually led to
the passing of a group of statutes known as the Burial Acts, extending from
1852 up to 1900. By these acts a general system was set up, the aim of
which was to remedy the existing deficiencies of accommodation by providing
new burial grounds and closing old ones which should be dangerous to
health, and to establish a central authority, the home office (now for most
purposes the Local Government Board) to superintend all burial grounds with
a view to the protection of the public health and the maintenance of public
decency in burials. The Local Government Board thus has the power to obtain
by order in council the closing of any burial ground it thinks fit, while
its consent is necessary to the opening of any new burial ground; and it
al