Society’s changing attitudes to death examined during talk by funeral director and historian

Chris Scott from Wilton Funeral Service in Carrickfergus (formerly McConnell’s) was invited to speak to St Colman’s Ladies Group, Carrickfergus last Wednesday evening (November 1). Chris was accompanied by Angela Cole, a funeral arranger with Wilton’s.

Since his teenage years, Chris has had a keen interest in local history, and at an early age interviewed older members of the community and recorded their stories for posterity.

A “late joiner” to the funeral profession, Chris started out as funeral arranger and progressed to a funeral director.

He recently uncovered several original Wilton Funeral Day books covering the period May 1929 to December 1933. “These registers provide an invaluable insight into aspects of the funeral business and our social history almost one hundred years ago,” Chris said.

"I have carried out an analysis of the books, revealing some stark facts about aspects of our ancestors’ lives across Belfast and beyond in the ‘Hungry Thirties’. In fact, one of the first entries in the burial register relates to a Carrickfergus resident.”

The talk at St. Colman’s encompassed the early history of Wilton Funeral Service in the late 1920s and early 1930s, touching on the extensive history of the Wilton family. “I uncovered some strange tales relating to the funeral business from the 1930s,” Chris added. “From my early teenage years, I have amassed a wealth of stories and ‘come-all-ye’s’ from previous generations throughout the community.

“It was an era when the clocks were stopped, the mirrors covered and the windows opened when a death occurred in the family home. It was a time when people closed their blinds and temporarily closed their business as a funeral cortege passed by.”

One of the items on display was a postcard from Chris’s personal collection, posted to an address in the Ballysillan area and postmarked February 12, 1915.

The postcard was penned at North Road in Carrickfergus, and the message announced the passing of a baby the previous day.

After some extensive research using census records, street directories, birth, marriage and death records and newspaper notices, Chris traced the family and located the burial place at Victoria Cemetery. Elizabeth Hodkinson died on February 11, 1915, aged 16 months.

Also on display was information relating to undertakers in the Carrickfergus area dating back to 1887. In April of that year, Edward Davey, proprietor of the Victoria Hotel in High Street announced that he was adding funeral undertaking to his posting business.

As a token of thanks for the presentation, the ladies kindly handed over a donation to Chris, to be forwarded to Marie Curie Hospice.

Chris, who can be contacted at at [email protected], will be available in the future to visit other church groups, organisations, historical societies or other interested parties on a mutually agreed date.

Later this month, he will be speaking to North Street Presbyterian Ladies Group, Carrickfergus Historical Society and Gilnahirk Presbyterian Ladies Group.