'mort' - Burial Register - Genealogists' Forum

scuda · #1 15-09-11, 13:32

I have a 1772 burial register entry (transcription), which gives the man's name followed by the word 'mort'. The same appears for a few other people around this time - what did it mean? By my reckoning 'mort' is 'dead' so would have applied to everyone in the burial register!

scuda

kiterunner · #2 15-09-11, 13:38

Is it Scottish by any chance, Scuda? In which case it may refer to the "mortcloth" being hired.

scuda · #3 15-09-11, 15:58

No, not Scottish - Berkshire (Reading).

scuda

scuda · #4 17-09-11, 09:19

Do you think mort stands for mortuary? If so what would it imply - a sudden, unexplained death?

scuda

anne fraser · #5 17-09-11, 09:53

I found this again from Scotland http://www.shottshistorygroup.co.uk/...extracts_f.htm

Olde Crone · #6 17-09-11, 10:21

Wasn't there some kind of burial tax in force at the time?

OC

scuda · #7 17-09-11, 10:22

That's interesting, Anne, thanks, but was there a similar system south of the border? I've googled and can't see anything about it in relation to England, so maybe it's something totally different.

scuda

Chris in Sussex · #8 20-09-11, 17:28

Scuda

Don't know if you have already found the answer but have a look at this...

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.co...-08/1249774575

Page 122 of Ancestral Trials, I checked!

Chris

scuda · #9 20-09-11, 18:59

Oh, well done, Chris, that looks quite likely. If so, then I suppose the implication is that anyone with 'mort' after their name was relatively well off, as they were paying a form of duty/tax. Very interesting, thanks.

Just thought, is this the tax you had in mind, OC?

scuda