Rookwood Rail Line

    I accidentally found this interesting post on the blog Past/Lives about the history of the rail line at Rookwood.  It's actually one of the better sources of information on this that I have come across so far.

    So check it out via the link below, it has a lot of good photos and information not found elsewhere:

http://pastlivesofthenearfuture.com/2012/07/08/rookwood-necropolis-railway-lidcombe-nsw/

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Mortuary Station

    Here's some photos of Mortuary Station in the CBD from the rail lines. Currently Mortuary Station is  closed to the public, as it is on an active rail line and under renovation. But if you catch the right train you can get some pretty close photos of it, some other lines get even closer than this.

Books about the Australian Funeral Industry

    Here are three good books which look at the history and changes to the Australian funeral landscape.   These books have been an invaluable source for my thesis, and generally understanding the industry as it is today.  The books look at social changes with death, in terms of attitudes, customs, demographics, and so on.  Through knowing how dying and grieving have changed we can understand the funeral industry and funerals in general.

    Anyone studying (or simply interested in) the funeral industry ro funerals anywhere in the world should have a look at these books.

Griffin, G.M., & Tobin, D. (1997). In the Midst of Life: The Australian Response to Death: Melbourne University Publishing.

Jalland, Patricia. (2006). Changing Ways of Death in Twentieth Century Australia : War, Medicine and the Funeral Business. Sydney: Sydney University of NSW Press.

Kellehear, A. (2000). Death and Dying in Australia: Oxford University Press Australia.

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Origins of the American Funeral

    The American funeral has an interesting history, which is unfortunately difficult to follow and mostly based on rumours and anecdotes.  It is not a new idea by any means, but is one which has changed over time.

Rookwood Cemetery Station - All Saints Church Canberra

    A while ago I visited the All Saints Church in Canberra which was originally Cemetery Station No.1 at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney.  And finally, I have found time to put together a post about the trip!  This is mostly a picture post, I know it's been a while.

Lack of History About the Australian Hearse

    Recently I put together this short history of the funeral industry, in it I note that there is a serious absence of the hearse.   In this post I discuss this absence of such an important part of the industry.

Short History of the Australian Funeral Industry

    As part of my honours research I have been looking into the history of the funeral industry, which might be interesting to a few people.  In doing so I have also discovered many sources are long and dense, or difficult to find.  So here is a short summary of what I know so far, everything in one place, and put simply!

WNBull History

    This year WNBull turned 120 years old, a rather significant event for the company.  But WNBull is not very effective at describing itself to others.

    Seeing as I have been looking into the history of the funeral industry I thought it only appropriate to write a post with everything I know about Bulls rich history.

Historic NZ Funeral Bill From 1981

    While going through paperwork at my grandmothers we cam across this interesting receipt.  It's from an old funeral in New Zealand, dated 1981.  I found this document fairly interesting and useful.

The Facts of Death Documentary

    This is a rather good documentary on what happens after death.  It looks at many aspects of the funeral industry and what happens after death.  The most interesting part for me was the way the industry has changed in such recent years.

The Facts of Death - Part 1 of 6

    The promotion of the companies at the start was also interesting.  It really sums up the way things work, that this documentary was funded by these companies thus it needs to advertise them.  So I wonder how bias it could be, does the documentary skip things that would make the companies look bad?  Does it emphasise things that make the companies look good?  I doubt it, from what I saw it was relatively unbiased and just looked at the funeral system rather than companies.  Yet because of the ads at the start I am left wondering how directed this documentary was by the companies.

    Either way, a rare and insightful look into funeral and the funeral system!

An~~