What was life like for a mortician/undertaker in Victorian England?

Question

Can anyone help me out with what types of houses they lived in, what they wore, and what their diet was like? Thanks!

Answer 1

This question is way too specialised for Yahoo! Answers.


1. INTERNET
If you can find anything at all on the internet, it will be be just segments, not a whole webpage.
a) Have a look around this website, to see if there are any snippets of useful information.
http://www.victorianweb.org/history/sochistov.html
b) Try searching yourself, using a variety of different search terms.


2. BOOKS
See if you can get copies of these books:

a) The Victorian Undertaker by Trevor May
"The author presents an overview of undertakers, funeral processions, burial, and mourning in Victorian and Edwardian England. It is the best source we've found on the subject."
It is available to be purchased online at Amazon, and other websites, including some museums...
(i) Museum of Funeral Customs, Springfield Illinois, USA
http://funeralmuseum.org/sunshop/index.php?action=item&id=41&prevaction=pricelist
(ii) New Forest Museum, Lyndhurst, Hampshire, UK
http://www.newforestmuseum.org.uk/shop/general-history5.html

b) The Victorian Celebration of Death by James Curl
"It is almost impossible to imagine how this book could have been improved upon"
http://www.suziesbookpages.co.uk/book.php?id=186
It's also available at Amazon and other websites, including these specialist sites:
(i) Museum of Funeral Customs (as above)
http://funeralmuseum.org/sunshop/index.php?action=item&id=40&prevaction=pricelist
(ii) The Federation of Cemetery Friends [UK]
http://www.cemeteryfriends.org.uk/16.html


3. Whatever the source, you might be able to find information about their work clothes / uniform, but it is unlikely that their housing and diet differed in any way from those of other people of their same social class.

Answer 2

Victorian Undertaker