The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-05-16 00:00:00

THE NECROPOLIS.

FURTHER PROCEEDINGS BEFORE P. H.
HOLLAND, ESQ.

A Court was held yesterday by P. H. H Aland, Esq ,
Inspector, Burials Department of the Home-office, for
the purpose of instituting an inquiry with regard
to the St. James's Cemetery, and also of hearing
an application with regard to the Necropolis. On
the 'alter subject, the following advertisement had
been publ'shed in the local papers :—" Necropolis.—
Doctor Holland will hold a Public Court, in the Vice
Chancellor's Court, at St. George's Hall, (Friday), the
15th lilay instant, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon. Th
owners of vaults and graves, and friends of persons
interred, are invited to attend.---JOHN WOODRUFF, Chair-
man of the Investigation Committee.—Liverpool, May
13, 1857."

The enquiry was held in the Vice Chancellor's Court,
it. George's Hall, at eleven o'clock.
Mr. Hull attended on behalf of the committee appointed
at a meeting of grave-owners, held on the Ist of April
last. Mr Lace appeared for the trustees of the Necropolis.
Mr. M'Gowan represented the Health Committee, alorg
with Doctor Duncan and Mr. Fresh. Mr. Woodruff
attended as chairman of the meeting of grave-owners. Mr.
tairstow, Mr. Williams, Mr. Corbelly, Mr. Wriggles-
worth, Doctor M'lntyre, Mr. C. R. Hall, and a number of
other gentlemen interested in the question, were also
present. The room was crowded with grave-owners and
the eublie generally.
Mr. Holland, in taking his seat, observed, that the
advertisement which bad been published in reference to
the Necropolis was somewhat incorrect. The principal,
and indeed the only, object of his having come to told that
investigation was to make enquiry concerning Sr. James's
Cemetery. Some gentlemen concerned in the Necropolis
had, however, requested him to hear some representations
connected with that subject also, to which he had con-
sented. His time was rather limited as far as regarded
the Necropolis, inasmuch as he had fixed twelve o'clock for
the other enquiry, and he therefore requested gentlemen to
be as concise as possible.
Mr. Hull said it was with very great regret he found
himself obliged to appear before the inspector that day,
because it would be his duty, in giving a faithfel expression
to the feelings of his clients, to employ terms of somewhat
strong condemnation regarding gentlemen of very high
respectability, and some of whom he had the good fortune
to rank among his personal friends. On the of
March he appeared before the inspector, to represent
two gentlemen, for the purpose of laying before
him a subject affecting these gentlemen, whose relations
had been buried in the Necropolis. The investigation
which then took olane did not satisfy those gentlemen,
who thought it Their duty to lay the matter before a higher
authority; For that purpose they consulted him (Mr. Hall),
and he advised them that the best course would be to
address a memorial to Sir George Grey on the subject, for
the purpose of backing up the report which he felt the
Inspector would make on the evidence before him. A
mewing was, therefore, called, at the Clarendon Rooms,
for the purpose of having the question fully considered,
and having the memorial numerously and respectably
signed. An advertisement was issued for the purpose,
calling the meeting for Monday, the 21st of March ; but
on the previous Saturday, Mr. Henry Golding, one of the
committee of management of the Necropolis, called on Mr.
Patterson, one of Mr. Hull's clients, and stated that the
meeting was unnecessary, because the trustees had deter-
mined to give up any further profit from the ground, and
to hand over the management to any public board v hich
would be willing totakeit. Inconsequence of that, Mr. Mann,
Mr. Patterson, and he (Mr. Hull) called upon Mr. Lace,
and received from him a confirmtory assurance. A further
assurance to that effect was also given by Mr. James Lister,
one of the committee.of management, but who had since
resigned, and was one of the subscribers to the funds for
the prosecution of that case. The advertisement calling
the meeting was therefore countermanded. The original
advertisement, however, having been read much
more extensively than the countermand, a meeting
did actually take place in the Clarendon Rooms.
The parties who met were owners of vaults,
owners of graves, and the friends of persons buried
in the Necropolis. A meeting was c tiled for the purpose
of seeing that the offer of the p.evioas Saturday was
carried telt. Nine gentlemen formed th .t committee,
'Whom he (air. Hull) then represented.
The Inspector asked whether the meeting was come..
Posed solely of grave and vault owners.
Mr. Bull said he believed the meeting,
which consisted
i about 150 persons, fairly represented the grave and
v)e
au_la
,a
owners, and was called for that purpo,
rae Inspector: I suppose the doors were open to any-
body ?
Mr. Hull did not know that persons before going in
ane-e asked whether they were grave owners or ni t.
The Inspector : I do not ask there questions in reference
to the trustees. The trustees have forfeited, by their
neglect, all claim to consideration, but the owners of vaults
and graves have not done so. I frame my proceedings
with a view solely to what I believe to be the interest arid
the wishes of the grave-owners. I put the trustees entirely
aside. I only want to know whether you reallyedo repre-
sent those whose interests I have been trying to consult
and consider.
A Geneleraan present said—As a grave-owner Ido not
consider myself represented by that committee.
Mr. Late said there were about 4,000 private graves,
and he would ask whether anything like a regular invita-
tion had been sent to all the owners. He contended
that the committee did not at all represent the owners
generally.
Mr. Hull said he was
goirg on to state that at a subse-
quent meeting, called in the Concert-hall, of owners of ,
graves and vaults and friends of persons buried in the
Necropolis, where there were at least 1,300 or 1,400 per-
erns present, the committee was re-appointed. As soon
as the committee was first appointed, they made applica-
tion to Mr. Lace for permission to inspect the books, and
also for permission to attend a meeting of the shareholders
of the Necropolis which had been called for a day shortly
after. Mr. Lace very fairly allowed them to see all the books
belonging to the establishment, but his clients declined to
allow them to be present at the meeting. Therefore, of
what took place among the proprietors they were utterly
ignorant, except for the information afforded to them at
a meeting held at Mr. Lace's office, Consisting of a depute-
tion'from each committee. The gentlemen who met there
were on behalf of the grave-owners. Mr. Woodruff, chair-
man of the committee ; Mr. Patterson, Dr. Maclntyre,
Ma. Williams' and himself (Mr. Hull) ; and on the part
of the Necropolia proprietors, Mr Jones, Mr Golding, Mr.
Lister, and Mr. Lace. This meeting was held for the pur-
pose their being able to lay information before the public
meeting in the Concert Hall, which was fixed for Wednes-
day, the Ist of April. From the three gentlemen he had
mentioned, as representing the trustees of the Necropolis,
and from Mr. Lace, as their solicitor, they received an
assurance that the Necropolis should be handed over for
the future to the sole management of some public board
On that assurance he wrote to Mr. Lace a letter, on the
same day, the 30th of March, putting some questions in a
eategerical manner, among which were the following :
" Is it the intention of the company to continue to make
this burial ground a source of prcfit to the shareholders ?
Is the company ready, at once, to transfer the manage-
ment of the burial ground to the Corporation of Live pool,
or the Burial Board ? What is the company prepared to do ?"
le. reply he received from Mr. Lace an answer which ap
plied to those questions—" The proprietors are quite ready
to leave in the hands, and at the discretion of toe Central
Burial Board, the future use and management of the
Necropolis " This reply appeared to the committe then,
as it appeared to them still, to he an assent to what hid
been previoudy sated by Mr. Golding, and confirmed by
Mr. Lister and Mr. Lace, that the trustees were reads
to hand over the burial gratin:l either to the corporation of
Liverno( 1, or to the Burial Board. It would be observe)
that Mr. Lace used the words "the Central Burial Board
It so happened that there were two or three Burial Boards
in Liverpool. -There w-ts the Burial Board of Toxteth
Park, there was another having reference to the north
eatl, and there was the Central Burial Board. elected by
Parishioners in public vestry assembled. It was to this
latter board of which Mr. R. Gladstone was chairman, that
he (Mr. Hull) alluded, and to which he took it that Mr.
Lace alledsd. If that was not Mr. Lace's meaning, he
ceauld only say it was a great pity h's meaning had not
"en more distinctly conveyed. At the public meeting
whic4 took place in the Concert Hall, on the Ist of April.
m' Lace attended. The following resolution was put and
carried
sh " That the managers of the Necropolis have
own themselves incompetent to the decent conduct of
this burial ground, and have also violated the order of the
Queen in Council, and it is tee opinion of this meeting
that the ground should cease to be made a source of profit
to its proprietors, and should at once be put under the
control of some public board, which shall be satisfactory
to the body of proprietors of the family vaults and graves."
That resolution did not pass without discussion. Some
grave-owners were- of opinion that it would be as well to
have the management vested in some of the proprietors ;
and an amendment to that effect proposed by the Rev.
Mr. Buck, was put and lost, only three hands, he believed,
being held up in its support. The original motion was
carried all but unanimously. It was then considered that
the proper persons to take the charge of the ground would
be the Burial Board of Liverpool A difficulty presented
itself to his naiad, as he feared the assent of every indie
Tidal proprietor
might be required to such a transfer and
he therefore called upon Mr. Lace, and asked hint that
question, and whether the trustees would offer any obstacle.
Mr. Lace answered him in one round phrase that there
would be no difficulty in the matter. lie then wrote to

P 1

the chairman of the Central Burial Board of Liverpool to
ask whether that body would take charge of the g-ound.
The Inspector : Was that letter seen by the Necropolis
Committee ?

Mr. Hull replied in the negative. He thought the
proper course would be, in the first instance, before any
further communication with that committee, to ascertain
whether the Burial Board would undertake its ttise and
menag-ment. Some difficulty arose, however, in conse-
quence of some doubt a, to the legality of the constitution
of the Bitrial Board, which was finally decided by the
Court of Queen's Bench, on an application from Mr. tr-
quhart, a parishioner, for a quo warra nee, in favour of the
beard. The Secretary of the Burial Board. Mr. Ihrvey,
then intimated that the board were ready to consider the
question. A meeting of the board took place, but then he
understood one of the members stated, that Mr. Lace had
no authority on the part of the proprietors to make the
offer of transfer. The board, therefore, declined to take
the question into consideration until this point was decided.
A meetirg was held at Mr Harvey's office, at which Mr.
Lece attended. Mr Woodruff, Mr. M'Clowan, and he
(Mr Hell) beir g also present, for mutual explanation.
The mu ual explanation resulted in Mr. Lace's statit g
that ha was not prepared on the part of the
trustees, to hand over the ground to the Liverpool
Burial Board. He said he was prepared to hand it
over to the Central Burial Board. He (Mr. Hull)
then recollected Mr. Lane's having once asked him whether
there was not a Central Burial Board in London, to which he
answered that there was not, but beyond that it was per-
fectly clear that Mr. Lace had never conveyed to his mind
in the remotest degree, that the Burial Board of Liverpool
was not the body to whom it was proposed that the trans-
fer should be made, or that any unwillinghess existed to
hand over the g ound to that body. The committee, whom,
he (Mr. Hell) represented, considered the course pursued
as a repudiation of the promise previously made, and
therefore, they had instructed to him to declare that they
had no confidence whatever in those gentlemen. Mr.
Hull referred to the fact, that when the order in conacil
was issued in 1854, prohibiting the burial of more than
one body in each of the public graves, the committee of
the Necropolis immediately doubled the fees. The divi-
dend rose in 1855 from 203 to 30s, and it was
strange that no suspicion had occurred to the pro-
prietors when they found the divi lend risirg, although the
interments were limited. He contended that the trustees
had not shown a wiltingness to give all the information
required, and pointed to the fact, that when the witness
Simpson was being examined, Mr. Lae(' told him. not to
answer certain questions lest he should criminate himself
The Inspector : Would not you have done the same in
the same position ?
Mr. Hull said, if he were in the same position he would
have done the same, but while Mr. Lace was bound to do
so in justice to the witness and to his clients, it showed
that his clients were not prepared to give full information
Inasmuch as the ti tistees had professed an entire ignorance
of all the abominations which had been practised in the
burial ground, it was their duty to have come forward and
taken the initiative in probing to the bottom everything
which took place. (Hear, hear, and applause.) It was
their duty to have brought to justice everybody who could
be found to have been personally implicated in what took
place. There was a period of the enquiry when Lace
expressed the entire and natural disgust which rose to his
mind. Wily did not the trustees, after the 30th of March,
proceed to investigate and ascertain whit was in fault ? An
assurance was given that the trustees had dismissed Mr.
Kirkus ; bat at the meeting on the Ist of April an order
for interment was produced, signed by Mr. Kirkus, and
dated, as if in bravado, at two o'clock that very day.
Simpson, too, was still there in the exercise of his vocation,
and receiving the pay of those gentlemen A singular
sluggishness had been evinced by them, and however
respectable they were—and nob .ttly could doubt that the
gentlemen who composed that body stood foremost among
the ranks of Liverpool merchants and Liverpool eociee y—
that was no reason why they should not be held up to
public opprobrium if they did not discharge the duties
which they professed themselves waling to discharge upon
the 18th of March. (Applause.) The Inspector had the
power to recommend to the Secretary of State that the
place should be shut np. The committee of geave-owners
instructed him (Hr. Hull) to request the Inspector to
exercise his full powers, and to close the ground against
any burials until some satisfactory arrangement had been
made. It was hot their wish to see the place closed in
perpetuity, but they wished to see it closed until some
arrangement should be established.

A gentleman present asked if the proprietors of graves
were to understand that, if the ground were closed, any of
their relatives who might happen to die during the con-
tinuance of the order, could n t bo buried in the Necropolis,
but must be taken to some other grave-yard.
Mr. Lace : That would undoubtedly be the c ffect.
The Speaker : Then I, as a grave-owner, dissent entirely
from the proposal.
Several Voices : So do I. So do L
Mr. Hull : You cannot carry out any general principle
without some individual hardship. If that gentleman is
thinking only about himself, he may' speak for himself;
but his sentiments will not be echoed by the committee,
or those whom the committee represent,
Mr. Lace contended that there were not 100 owners of
private graves or vaults at the meeting in the Concert Hall.
He should not allude to a great deal.in Mr. Hull's speech,
which was more a st eeeh for the public than for the
Inspector. He only desired to put the trustees right, and
to show that they had been influenced solely by a desire to
act justly and fairly. In reference to the remark that
Simpson was still employed, he had to say, that the very
first question which the trustees had considered was
whether Simpson should be dismissed. It was fund
however, that he had so entire and accurate a knowledge
of the burial ground, that if he were dismissed it would be
utterly impossible to give information to the persons
coming, ten and twenty a day, to make enquiries as to
particular graves. He ventured to say himself, from what
he had seen in his own office, that had Simpson been
removed, there would have been only one scene of clamour
from one week's end to the other. For the ea isfaction of
those who had friends interred there, the committee of
management had to keep him on, and for no other purpose.
The real question with which' he had now to deal was,
whether the committee had failed to carry out what they
proposed. A committee of grave-owners was appointed at
the public meeting which Mr. Hull had mentioned, and a
subcommittee of shareholders was appointed. They met,
and a request was made that the Necropolis should
be handed over to the publicauthorities. Whatever might
have been the opinion of individual members of
the Necropolis committee, they, of course, could
do nothing without consulting the sha eholders.
They met the shareholders on the 31st of Mach,
when the letter from Ma Hull, which, as that gentleman
had said, put its questions rather categorically, was laid
before them. As regarded the shareholders generally,
the only material question was, what should be done with
the Necropolis in future. Some shareholders wished that
it should be handed over immediately to the corporation or
to the Liverpool Burial Board. Others were decidedly
opposed to such a course. He (51r. Lace) being ignorant
of the real Act, and believing that the department in the
Secretary of State's office was in itself a central burial
beard, suggested that the central Burial Board in London
would be the fairest tribunal to which the question could
be referred as to what ought to be done with the Necro-
polis in regard to its future management. This was
agreed to, and therefore, at his Rugg scion, the letter of the
31st of March was sent to Mr. Hull, in which he meant to
convey that the committee were willing to leave to the
central Burial board in London (which board he then
believed to exist, but had since ascertained d d not exist,)
to decide as to the future use and management of the Necro-
polis. On the 13th of April he received a letter from Mr Hull
which said, " We are going to call a meeting of the com-
mittee to-morrow afternoon, in order to consider the letter
we have received from the Government Inspector. We
should be glad to know what your clients propose to do
with the burial ground." Now, if there had been a distinct
proposal to hand over the ground to the Liverpool Burial
Board, why should Mr. Hull have asked that question ?
He wrote an answer to Mr. Hell the next day, in which
he said, " We mentioned to you in our letter of the 31st
of March, that our clients were willing to submit the future
use and management of the Necropolis to the discretion of
the Central Burial Board, and to that suggestion we have
not received any reply." Now, he asks, could there be
any doubt as to what he meant by that letter, even if there
had been any doubt as to the construction of the first ?
Mr. Hull : There is no Central B Ard. You might as
well have spoken of handing the ground over to the Man
in the Moon. (Laughter.)
Mr. Lace : Then why did you not. come to me at once
and state that there was no such board ?
Mr. Hull : I did so. I told you that there was not any
such board. I spoke to you of the Liverpool Burial
Board.
Mr. Lace : Did I accede to it ?
Mr. Hull : Well, I certainly understood it so.
The Inspector : To whom did you mean to give the local
management ?
Mr. Lace said in consequence of the excitement in Liver-
pool, it was thought that a satisfactory arrangement could
hardly be made ; but it was intended, if a government
inspector were ordered down, to submit to him what
should be the future management and mode of interment.
The Inspector : Will you do that now ? (Hear, hear.)
Mr. Lace said he had previously made a proposition on
behalf of his clients which he was now prepared to make
again. He would suggest that the ceme.ery should be
placed under the management of a committee of ten, to
consist of the Chairman and Deputy-Chairman, for the
time being, of the Liverpool Burial Board ; three of the
owners of graves or vaults, not being shareholders, to be

chosen by their own body; and five shareholders, to be
chosen by the body of shareholders.
Toe Inspector: Would you have any objection, as it
might be mare satisfactory to the public, that the five
shareholders shOuld be also owners of graves or vaults ?
Mr. Lace said none whatever. These propositions had
been approved of by the committee of shareholders;
they would, if agreed to now, ba recommended by the
committee to the proprietors at large, and pressed upon
them for acceptance, and he had no doubt they would be
accepted.
Mr. Williams said the proposition was a new oue, which
took the owners of graves entirely by surprise. It ap-
peared to him to be very unfair that the shareholders
should have such a prepondera;ing influence, and he,
therefore, suggested that a short time should be taken to
consider the question. He expressed some doubt whether
it would satisfy the public.
Mr. Lace thought it was a matter altogether for the
trustees, the shareholders, and-the millers of graves He
did not think the public was concerned in it except as
regarded the preservation of prib:ic deCency, and after
what h<d occO-red he did not think any fears need be
entert-!itle3 upon that se-4e for the future.
Mr. Woodruff contended that the 1)0E0 were deeply
eorcern!d in the q I,!stiop, The thousands who had paid for
single and separate interments.arid who appeared to be en-
tirely overlooked, had a right to exoress their complaints
at the abominations which had taken place. Ile main-
tained on public grounds the right of those who, al-
though they had not vaults and graves of their own, had
as much feeling fir the remains of their wives, and
farnili s, and hisb in's, quite as ninth e those who held
purchased ground, and could inter there again. He con-
tended that the limitation was unjust, and was nct right.
Ile protested against these persons being shut oat from a
participation in the course to be pursued by those who
had around and stamped documents for it against the
abominations which had been practised there. No com-
mittee should ever gag him or close his mouth until these
abominations were altered, and that portion- f the
committee which had allowed them was egpunged from
the board. (Applause.)

The Inspector said it was very true that the p Alio had
an interest, but they were an indefinite bony.
Mr. Lace said the committee had not the slightest ob-
jection to have persons Who had friends interred there in
the public graves selected:

Mr. Hull said the Burial B tard was elected annually by
the parishioners in general vestry assembled. It was
Open to the action of public opinion, and the members
might all be charged every year if they did not do thei-
daty. He would suggest that as the proper board to
whom the cemetery should be transferred (hear, hear )
The Inspector asied if Mr. Lace wiuld con ent that the
Home Secretary should be requested to nominate the
Board of Management.
Mr. Lace said he had no objection whatever.
Mr. Williams : After a fair representation on both

Mr. Woodruff said it was in the public ground that the
abominations took place. The committee dared not trample
upon the rights of those who had pftrchased ground, and
had documontg to show. The parties who had committed
the abominations must be brought to justice in some court
of law before the public were satisfie I.

Dr. Maclutyre . said be had been afraid that subject
would have been entirely overlooked. It had been
suggested that only grave and vaalt owners
on the one side, and shareholders on the other
side, were the parties interested. Pat it had been
very properly stated, by the chairman of the ttrave=owners'
Committee (Mr. Woodruff) that the public at large had a
very deep intotest ul the matter, and he wished just to add
one remark. The public at large, the great body of the
public of Liverpool, had been so thoroughly and completely
disgusts', that he wished to tell the inspector, as a stranger
coming there, the feeling had not in the least subsided,
but was quite as strong as ever; and the public would not
be satisfied until, either with the assistance of the present
trustees or without the.r assistance, the parties actually
guilty of the abomination, were brought to justice. (Cheers
and applause) He could assure the Inspector that the
committee might make an agreement with Mr. Lace and
his clients for the future management of the place, or thoy
might not ; but those gentlemen would have yet to, meet
the public upon much more serious grounds than the future
ruanagment, and the future benefit to result to the share-
holders from its use. (Cheers.) They would have to
meet the public in reference to these matters which had
so thoroughly stamped and stigmatized the town of Liver-
pool with the disgraceful and awful proceedings which
had lately come to light in connexion with that burial
ground. (Applause.)
The Inspector said, he had been informed by the
deputy. town clerk that the Health Committee had
instructed him to take counsel's opinion as to whether an
action would lie against any person, awl a •ainst whom.
Mr, MacGowan said, immediately after the subject bad
been properly investigated, and the evidence collected,
atid had had the consideration of the Health Committee,
steps would be taken to ascertain whether an indictment
could be preferred against any party, and if such a thing
Could be effected, no matter who the party was, the
Health Committee would do their duty. This was subject,
however, to the question whether the Home-office would
not think it their duty to take up the subject themselves,
as being a matter of national importance.
Mr. Hull said, on behalf of his clients he would under..
take, unless their decision was over-ridden by that of a
public meeting, to accept the suggestion, that Sir
George Grey shou'd nominate the future managing body.
The Inspector observed, that if the matter could be
so arranged, it would be well to avoid having public
meetings, which would only tend to keep up excitement.
He ale° remarked that he did not know whether Sir Gee.
Grey would accede to the request, as it was one which bad
never, he believed, leen made before. If, however, the
parties made a joint representation to him that it would be
for the advantage of the peace of the town, Sir George Grey
might probaly consent to nominate the managing body for
the future.

Mr. Bairstow asked if the committee of shareholders
would assure the town that the cemetery should not be
made a source of profit in future.
Mr. Lace said he did not think the cemetery would do
more for the future than pay for keeping up the staff.
Mr. Hull asked if he was to understand that Mr. Lace
assented to their making a joint representation to Sir
George Grey.
_ _

Mr. Lace-said, on the part of the committee, he aesented.
Mr C. R. Hall complained that parties deeply interested
—vault and grave-owners—had never been consulted.
• The Inspector asked if Mr. Hall objected to the proposed
arrangement.

Mi-Hall said he did not object to it, but he complained
that grave-owners had not been consulted. He requested
leave to address the inspector upon that point.
The Inspector said there were several hundred other
grave-owners, and if he hear] one he could not refuse to
hear all. He therefore declined hearing Mr. Hall on that
subject.

Mr. Hull said Mr. Hall made a speech of half an hone
on the subject at the Concert Hall meeting.
The discussion then closed.
Mr, Holland said that the discussion having now termi-
nated, he might refer to a matter somewhat personal to
himself. It had been frequently asked why it was he did
not recommend Sir George Grey to prosecute in this
matter. He would state the reason why he did not do so.
He was convinced that from the exposures which had
taken place, the parties guilty had been severely punished.
He felt that by the opprobrium and disgrace which had
fallen on theni in consequence of those disclosuref, they'had
in fact been punished more severely than any judge would
like to punish them He was satisfied also that what had
been done would, without any prosecution, effectually pro-
tect the interests of all parties for the future, and acting on
that bAlief, he had not recommended Sir George Grey to
prosecute. Ac to whether it would be expedien tto prosecute
at all, that would be a question for those on the spot. It
was no doubt an important question, but it could only be
determined by the local an horities. A case had been sub-
mitted by them to Counsel to know whether it was
possible for them to prosecute with success, and the
Health Committee were also considering the expediency
of a prosecution. Ile .del not m'sn to interfere with that,
which was a very important question to be considered by
the local authorities ; but everybody would allow that the
community were under great obligations to the Health
Committee for the very efficient manner in which they had
brought forward this question. (Hear, hear.) He himself
had received from the committee an unusual amount of
assistance. Generally he had to manage thbse case*
without any assistance, but in this ewe he had received a
great amount of assistance, and he could not but express
his sense of the efficient manner in which the enquiry had
been conducted by tin offir,.Pr3 of health in Liverpool.
(Hear, hear.) _ _ _

Mr. Hull flagged to ask Mr. Lace why Simpsrn was still
retained at the cemetery ?
Mr. Lace strongly recommended Mr. Hull to go and
discuss that question with the committee. _ _

Dr. Macintyre then proposed that the thanks of both
parties be given to Mr. Holland for the manner in which he
had mediated between them in the matter. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. Wrigglesworth seconded the motion, which was
carried by acclamation.
ST. ANNE'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CEMETERY.

Mr. M'Oowan said that he might mention publicly a
subject which had occupied Mr. Holland's attention for
some days, in order that all the proceedings connected
with the burial grounds in Liverpool might be known.
He refarred to St. Anne's Roman Catholic Cemetery,
Edge-hill. On examining its condition and area, Mr.
Holland felt perfectly satisfied that there was no room for
any more burials there, either in the churchyard or in the