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London Cemeteries: an illustrated guide and gazeteer by Hugh Mellor and Brian Parsons

The Glades of Remembrance, Brookwood Cemetery by Brian Parsons, Erkin Guney and John Clarke

The London Way of Death by Brian Parsons

J H Kenyon: the first 125 years by Brian Parsons

Committed to the Cleansing Flame by Brian Parsons

Frederick W Paine: the first 125 years by Brian Parsons

Evolution of the British Funeral Industry

Welcome to Brian Parsons’ Website

Brian Parsons at the opening of the Tamar Valley Crematorium on 24 April 2026

With the Bishop of Plymouth at the opening of the Tamar Valley Crematorium on 24 April 2026

Hello, and welcome to my website.

I work freelance providing a training, consultancy and research service under the banner of Funeral Service Training (London).

My website provides further information about me, my publications and my lectures. Links to all of these can be found above.

Meanwhile, you can contact me by emailing info@brianparsons.org.uk

My New Book: From Dust to Ashes: The Development of Cremation in England and Wales 1874 - 2024

From Dust to Ashes: The Development of Cremation in England and Wales, 1874 - 2024 (with Peter Jupp) has now been published by Springer.

The second edition of From Dust to Ashes brings up-to-date this classic text investigating the replacement of burial by cremation in England and Wales. Cremation was promoted seriously in 1874 but the first cremation did not take place until eleven years later. The response by the public was cautious. Despite the provision of crematoria, by 1939, less than 4 percent of deaths were followed by cremation. The Second World War and the immediate post-war welfare state period brought drastic change to the extent that by 1967 the number of cremations first exceeded burials. Today, the proportion is just over 80 per cent. The final chapter addresses the enormous changes in the last twenty-five years in the disposal of our dead.

This book discusses the activities of the Cremation Society, the establishment of early crematoria, and the promotion of cremation against the background of social and economic change before outlining the reasons why bereaved families chose to accept it and, finally, the social, economic and religious pressures that facilitated its adoption.

Price £119.99 (eBook £95.50) from Springer.