How Much Did It Cost?

Karori Cemetery opened in 1891 and formally closed in 1965. The earliest sections represent Victorian and Edwardian funeral customs and memorials, which are often not well documented. One area where knowledge is scarce is the cost associated with interments in the early years of the cemetery. How affordable were these costs relative to wages at the time, and what burden might they may have placed on the bereaved families?

There are few records available on this subject and advertisements by undertakers and monumental masons do not generally include prices. Information has to be pieced together from various sources to help build a picture of some of the costs associated with interment. The time period of focus for this research is between 1890 – 1930 approximately, representing the first 40 years of the cemetery.

In addition plot purchase, funeral and headstone costs, consideration also needs to be made for other costs such as doctor’s visits, death certificates, flowers, funeral notices and any new mourning clothes required.

Currency

The researched costs have been converted to 2017 Pounds Sterling (£ ) values using the National Archives UK currency convertor https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency-converter/

A note on the pre-decimal currency used: £1 is equivalent to 20 shillings, and each shilling was divided into 12 pence, making 240 pence to the pound.

Plot Purchase Cost

The staff at the Karori Cemetery office have provided some examples of early plot purchase prices, found in the register of purchased ground.

The location of the plot did not affect its value. A plot located along the road edge cost the same price as one in the back row.

Year	Plot Size (width)	Price (£) pounds / (s) shillings / (d) pence	Converted 2017
1892	3’	£2 5s 0d	£185
	6’	£4 10s 0d	£370
	9’	£6 15s 0d	£554
	24’	£18	£1,477
1920	4’	£3	£87
	6’	£5	£145
1925	3’6”	£3	£123
	6’	£5	£205
	9’	£8	£328

How much did people earn?

To put these prices into context, this table represents some of the average weekly wages in Wellington in 1890:

General labourer (with board)	£0 8s
Needlewoman	£0 16s 6d
Farm labourer	£1 15s
Dressmaker	£2
Tailor	£2 10s
Plumber	£3

Generally speaking, a single sized plot could be purchased with 2 – 3 weeks worth of wages, by a person in the lowest wage range.

Source: https://www3.stats.govt.nz/historic_publications/1890-official-handbook/1890-official-handbook.html

Funeral Costs

E. Morris Junior Ltd, funeral directors, operated in Wellington since about 1880. E. Morris Junior Ltd’s funeral arrangement sheets dated between 1903 and 1958 were deposited with the Alexander Turnbull Library and are a useful source of information. These can be viewed on microfilm in the Katherine Mansfield Reading Room (reference: Series 1 E Morris Junior Ltd, Funeral Directors, Series-1128).

The information contained on each funeral card varies. Some cards are annotated with a value in £, which is assumed to be the total cost charged to the family. Below are the names on some of the early cards where the interment took place at Karori Cemetery, to provide examples of funeral costs.

Where additional services were provided, these are recorded also in the Notes column.

Name	Age	Profession	Year	Plot	Price	Notes	(Cost Converted to 2017 Value)
Lilly Rasmussen	9	(father Niels was a baker)	1903	Ch Eng/F/32	£7 15s	3 Cabs & 1 for minister	£608
Sophia Wykes	45		1903	Ch Eng/F/18	£9 5	3 Cabs & 1 for clergyman	£726
Mavis Moir Morrison	8 weeks		1909	ROM CATH/O/340	£3 5s		£255
Frances Ann Florence	5 weeks		1910	Public 2/K/176	£3 10		£274
Elsie Ellen Brocklebank	41		1911	ROM CATH/Q/16	£9 5		£726
Charles Herman Kniggs	71	Cook	1911	Public/L/18	£10 5s	2 Cabs at his funeral	£801
Henry Staff	36	Carpenter	1911	Public 2/N/120	£9 1s	2 Cabs cost £1 5s	£789
John Frederick Jones	41	Furniture Packer	1911	Public 2/N/113	£8	1 Cab hire was 15s	£625
Edward Hales	67	Retired	1911	Ch Eng/Z/127	£12 10s	Death notices 6/- (£23 in 2017) Cemetery fees 17/6 (£68 in 2017)	£977
Daniel Lynch	78	Messenger	1911	ROM CATH/O/308	£15 2s 6d		£1,182
Annie Elizabeth Whear	53		1912	Public 2/G/157	£19 6s	Cabs £3 15s Cemetery Fee 15s Notice 10s Coffin £12	£1,508
Hannah Olsen	Stillborn		1912	Public/M/138	£1		£78
John Ernest Hooley Hatton	24	Draper	1917	Ch Eng 2/D/126	£13 13s		£1,067
William Brickley	68	Fireman	1917	Public 2/H/134	£18 18s		£1,477
Ruth Amelia Montgomery	48		1918	Public 2/H/336	£11 11s		£681
Thomas Snow	85		1918	Ch Eng 2/C/2	£11 11s	Died at Home for the Aged Needy	£681
Emily Downes	46		1918	Ch Eng 2/D/309	£11 11s		£681
Mary Alicia Thompson	38	Science Instructress	1918	Ch Eng/X/268	£11 11s		£681
Edward Murphy	67	Engine Driver	1919	ROM CATH/W/37	£15 15s		£929
Patrick O’Shea	73	Labourer	1919	ROM CATH/W/38	£11 11s	3 cars	£681
Henry Thompson	77	Retired Civil Servant	1919	Ch Eng/X/268	£13 18s	Two cars	£819

Costs From Wills & Probates

From time to time when researching using wills and probate files, an estate may itemise various expenses associated with the death. Of these, the probates for John Martin (died 1911) and Walter Johnston (died 1907) given an indication of the cost of forming a plot with concrete and a headstone.

Visitors to the cemetery often comment on the numerous unmarked graves and question why they were left by families with no markers. Archival information does not document why a grave was unmarked. We presume it was due to the costs, especially after the purchase of the plot and the funeral had been paid for.

Disinterments

Karori Cemetery began to run out of space in the early 1930’s. In 1933 the City Council drew up a list of all plots used between 1892 and 1928 that had not been paid for (ref: Wellington City Council Archives, 00001-7/379 Part 1). Letters were sent to addresses of relatives held on file and an advertisement was placed in newspapers requesting that relatives pay for the plot. This was printed in 1935 in Auckland, New Plymouth, Whangarei, Napier, Christchurch, Greymouth, Dunedin, Westport and Invercargill.

From the unpaid plot list, there is another list of about 160 names of plots not paid for, but for which Walter Mansfield (monumental mason) had concrete walls around the plots. In two cases, Mansfield had guaranteed the plot purchase but had never done so. This shows how complicated and confused the arrangements around purchase were.

A small number of people came forward and paid for their family plot. Of the unpaid plots, many were disinterred into common ground within the same denominational area and the plot was re-sold. Whether the family could not afford the plot purchase cost at the time, or whether they assumed it was included in the funeral costs is unclear. As can be seen in the table on this page, plot purchase costs were not necessarily prohibitive for most.