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Cemetery Reserves Management Ordinance 1870

4. The Cemetery Reserves Management Ordinance 1870

[23^rd March 1870.]

Whereas by authority of the “Public Reserves Act 1854” certain lands have been and are now vested in the Superintendent of the Province of Canterbury upon trust for Public Cemeteries And whereas by the said “Public Reserves Act 1854” it is provided that the Superintendent and Provincial Council of any Province may by any Act or Ordinance duly passed in that behalf regulate the management and administration of the lands vested in the Superintendent as aforesaid and whereas it is expedient to make provision for such management and administration of all such reserves as are now vested in the Superintendent for the purposes aforesaid.

Be it therefore enacted by the Superintendent of the said Province with the advice and consent of the Provincial Council thereof as follows:

1. Superintendent with advice of Executive Council may appoint persons to be managers of reserves.

It shall be lawful for the Superintendent with the advice of the Executive Council from time to time to appoint so many persons as he may think fit to be Managers of all or any of the said reserves and to remove from the said management any person so appointed as and when it shall be deemed proper and upon the death resignation or removal of any Manager to appoint another in his stead and every such appointment and removal shall be published in the Provincial Government Gazette.

2. Managers of Cemetery shall have power to enclose some or any part thereof: to lay out and ornament same: and preserve and maintain same in proper order and expend moneys in their hands in such matters and in burial of poor persons.

The Managers of any such Reserve and Cemetery shall have power to enclose power to enclose the whole or any part of the land reserved or set apart for such purposes as aforesaid with proper and sufficient walls rails fences or palisades and to erect suitable gates and entrances and to lay out and ornament such Cemetery in such manner as may be most convenient and suitable for the burial of the dead and to embellish the same with such walks avenues roads and shrubs as may to them seem fitting and proper and to preserve maintain and keep in a cleanly and orderly state and condition and cause to be so maintained and kept the whole of any such Cemetery and its walls and fences and all monuments tomb-stones enclosures buildings erections walks and shrubberies therein and belonging thereto and shall lay out and expend subject to the directions of the Superintendent with the advice aforesaid the moneys in their hands from time to time to be received by them under this Ordinance in and about the matters aforesaid and in the burial of poor persons.

3. Managers may make rules and regulations to be submitted to the

Superintendent and Executive Council and published in Gazette.

The Managers of any such Cemetery shall have power and authority to make such rules and regulations and to do and perform all such acts matters and things as may be necessary and proper for any of the purposes aforesaid for directing the positions of all graves vaults monuments and tomb-stones to be made erected and placed in the said Cemetery the depths of graves the construction of coffins to be admitted into vaults and the covering of vaults so as to prevent the escape of any noxious exhalation or evaporation in the said Cemetery and for protecting the buildings monuments shrubberies plantations and enclosures therein and thereof from destruction or damage and for prosecuting all persons who shall or may at any time do or cause to be done any damage to any such buildings monuments tombstones shrubberies plantations or enclosures : Provided that no such rule or regulation shall be in force until the same has been submitted to the Superintendent and Executive Council and published in the Provincial Government Gazette.

4. Managers not to interfere with performance of any religious ceremony: Minister to have free access and admission to portion of specially set apart for his denomination.

The said Managers shall not by any rule or regulation or any act matter or thing at any time interfere directly or indirectly with the performance of any religious ceremony in the burial of the dead according to the usage of the communion to which the deceased may have belonged: And it shall be lawful for any Minister of any denomination for which any portion of such Cemeteries shall be specially set apart to have free access and admission to such portion of the said Cemeteries at all times as they respectively shall think fit and freely to exercise their spiritual functions therein without any hindrance or disturbance from the Managers of any such Cemetery or any person whatever.

5. Managers may permit graves or vaults to be dug or made and monuments and tombstones to be erected or placed in Cemetery upon payment to them of such fees as they may establish: Register to be kept of graves vaults monuments or tombstones.

It shall be lawful for the Managers of any such Cemetery to permit any grave or vault to be dug and made in such Cemetery and any monument or tomb-stone to be erected or placed in any parts of such Cemetery as they may think proper upon payment to them by the person desiring to dig and make such grave or vault and to erect or place such monument or tomb-stone of such fees as shall from time to time be established by the said Managers and any person so digging making erecting or placing such grave vault monument or tomb-stone by and with such permission and upon payment of the fees as aforesaid shall be entitled to have such grave vault monument or tombstone reserved maintained and kept up according to the terms of such permission to and for the sole and separate use of such person and his representatives for ever Provided that a plan of every monument proposed to be erected and placed shall be exhibited to the said Managers before such permission is given and that the said Managers shall be at liberty to withhold such permission and to prevent the erection of any monument or tombstone which shall appear to them to be inappropriate or unbecoming and shall determine and fix the position of any monument or tombstone which may be proposed to be erected or placed according to the description size and character thereof having reference to the general plan for ornamenting the said Cemetery in an appropriate manner A Register of such permissions and of the terms and conditions thereof shall be kept by the Managers and within fourteen days after any such permission has been given an entry of the date thereof and of the parties thereto and a proper description of the ground set apart for such grave or vault so as the situation thereof may be ascertained shall be made in the said Register by the Managers or their Clerk for making which entry a fee not exceeding two shillings and sixpence may be charged to the person receiving such permission and the said Register may be perused by any person at all reasonable times upon payment to the Managers of a fee of one shilling.

6. Fees to be according to a scale made by Managers with the consent of the Superintendent and Executive Council and published in Gazette.

The fees to be established by the Managers of any such Cemetery and paid by the person desiring to dig and make any grave or vault or to erect or place any tombstone or monument in the said Cemetery as aforesaid shall be according to a scale of all such fees to be made by the said Managers with the consent of the Superintendent and Executive Council and published in the Provincial Government Gazette Provided that nothing herein contained shall be deemed to prevent the said Managers from allowing the burial of any poor person in such Cemetery free from any charge whatsoever.

7. Before any corpse shall be permitted to be interred in any vault or grave evidence may be required that the person, if any, in whom for the time being the exclusive right of burial or interment therein is vested has consented thereto.

Before any corpse shall be permitted to be interred in any vault brick grave or in any place of burial the exclusive right of burial or interment wherein shall have been sold or granted by the said Managers as a family or private burial place it shall be lawful for the said Managers or any officer employed by them to require and they or he shall be entitled to have to them or him satisfactory evidence that the person for the time entitled as owner to the exclusive right of burial or interment in such vault brick grave or other burial place has consented or would not object to such interment taking place therein.

8. Managers may take down and remove any tombstone monuments or other erections placed or built contrary to terms and conditions.

It shall be lawful for the said Managers to take down and remove any tombstones monuments or other erections which shall have been placed erected or built contrary to the terms and conditions upon which permission to place erect or construct the same was granted or in case such terms and conditions as well as the regulations of the said Cemetery shall not have been complied with.

9. Managers may set apart portions of Cemetery for religious denominations such portions may be consecrated and Mortuary Chapel may be built.

It shall be lawful for the Managers of any Reserve on the application of members of any religious denomination whose principles demand that land used for the burial of their dead should be consecrated to set apart a portion of the said Reserve for the burial of the dead according to the rites of such denomination And the Managers shall permit such portion so set aside to be consecrated according to the rites of the particular denomination and the part which is so consecrated shall be used only for burials according to the rites of the particular denomination And the Managers shall define by suitable marks not being dividing fence the portions so set aside or consecrated Provided that if the Managers shall be of opinion that the members of the religious denomination residing in the Town or District for the use of which Town or District the Cemetery is set apart are inconsiderable in number it shall be lawful for the Managers to refuse the application and the members so applying as aforesaid may thereupon appeal to the Superintendent against the decision of the Managers and the Superintendent with the advice of his Executive Council shall consider the appeal and make such order thereupon as shall seem to meet the justice of the case And the Managers of any such Cemetery may out of any funds at their disposal which may accrue erect a Mortuary Chapel for general use and may allow the members of any religious denomination at their own expense to erect and build within such part of the said Cemetery as shall be specially set apart to be consecrated for that denomination a suitable Mortuary Chapel for the performance of the rites and ceremonies in the burial of the dead according to the usage of such denomination. Provided that the plans specifications elevations and models thereof with lodges and other buildings and conveniences thereto shall be first submitted for the approval of the said Managers and shall be approved by them.

10. Meetings of Managers.

All meetings of the Managers of any such Cemetery shall be convened according to the rules to be adopted by them for such purpose and all questions matters and things which shall be discussed or considered at any such meeting shall be decided and determined by the majority in number of the Managers then present; provided that the said Managers being three or more in number shall not be competent to proceed to business unless there be at least three of them present and all such Managers shall have power to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary for their own guidance and management.

11. Managers may appoint grave diggers and other servants and pay same. The Managers may appoint grave diggers and other servants necessary for the care and use of the Cemetery and may pay them such wages and allowance as they think fit out of the fees and other moneys received by the Managers under this Ordinance and may remove them or any of them at their pleasure.

12. Managers to keep full and particular account of all sums of money received and expended by them.

A full and particular account shall be kept by the Managers of every such Cemetery of all sums of money received and expended by them and an abstract of such account shall be made up from the day of their first appointment to the Thirty-first day of December in the first year of their appointment and from the first day of January to the Thirty-first day of December both inclusive in each subsequent year and such account and abstract shall be transmitted to the Superintendent as early as practicable and not later than the Twentieth day of January in every year and shall be verified respectively by a declaration by three at least of such Managers to be made before a Justice of the Peace of the

Colony of New Zealand and every such abstract shall be published in some newspaper circulating in the district and if such Managers shall omit to make and transmit such accounts and abstracts they shall forfeit and pay for every such offence a sum not exceeding five pounds.

13. Manager to send to Superintendent along with accounts a statement of the condition of Cemetery.

The said Managers shall send to the Superintendent along with such accounts a statement of the condition of such Cemetery as to repairs order and ornament and suggestions as to the work or alterations necessary or expedient in the ensuing year for such repairs order and ornament and an estimate of the expense which may probably be incurred in effecting the same.

14. Proceedings to be taken and fines and penalties recovered in a summary way.

All proceedings under this Ordinance shall be had and taken and all fines and penalties shall be recovered in a summary way.

15. Title.

This Ordinance shall be termed and may be cited and referred to as the “Cemetery Reserves Management Ordinance 1870.”