Public funerals and the Treasury Solicitor

Public funerals

The Council provides an extremely simple public funeral for deceased people who have no relatives or friends to carry out this for them. We do not offer a low cost or free funeral service for people who are unable to afford a funeral for a loved one. See the GOV.UK  webpages for information on help with funeral costs

We are allowed to recover the costs of the funeral from the persons estate and if there are any funds left exceeding £500, we then pass the details of the estate to the Treasury Solicitor. Our role then ceases at that point and we do not administer the estate if there is one.

The funeral provided is extremely simple but dignified. It is usually the first or second time booking at Salisbury Crematorium; there are no flowers or hymns but we do let close friends know when the funeral is so they may attend.

Treasury Solicitor

In some instances the council is required to arrange the funerals of persons where no relatives can be found or no-one is willing to arrange the funeral.

Where the estate of the deceased is worth more than £500, the Treasury Solicitor will take responsibility for winding up the estate. We have some instances where we are approached by multiple parties for information and documents. We will engage with the party who is seeking probate in connection with the estate in question.

Recently we have received an increased number of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests for public funeral information. To meet demand, the council have created this web resource to make available a list of public funerals and other information frequently requested by will hunters and researchers.

By doing this the council has fulfilled its obligation under section 19 (publication scheme), section 21 (publish information) and section 22 (future planned publication) of the FOI Act. From this point forward the council will refuse all FOI requests relating to this and applicants will be referred to this web page.

All organisations working to trace next of kin are treated equally and have access to the same information at the same time.

This will ensure all organisations working to trace next of kin are treated equally and have access to the same information at the same time. This change will also significantly reduce the burden to local tax payers of responding to large numbers of FOI requests to businesses and organisations.

The table below lists the instances in the county where the council has become involved. This page is updated regularly, but an individual's information is not published until at least three months after their death.

Information about home burial.

Council arranged funerals
NameDate of birthDate of deathLast known addressDate of funeralPassed to treasury solicitor?
Robert Alan JAMES06.12.195223.10.2019Westbury07.01.2020No
Valerie REES21.03.193904.11.2019Chippenham14.01.2020No
Bianca COLLINS21.05.197530.11.2019Calne04.02.2020No
Ivor Alan SALTER28.02.194306.02.2020Salisbury20.03.2020No
Bettina SHERRARD23.04.192719.12.2019Chippenham03.03.2020No
Ronald SKINNER02.02.194220.12.2019Corsham05.02.2020No
Gerta MAIDMENT30.03.194415.01.2020Royal Wotton Bassett21.02.2020No
Wilfred Alexander ROTCHELL24.06.194423.04.2020Devizes11.05.2020No
George WYLDER26.08.192922.04.2020Salisbury02.06.2020No
Pamela CARTER21.12.194629.06.2020Salisbury29.07.2020No
Paul C BERESFORD23.07.196109.07.2020Bath07.08.2020No
Julian John CHALLONER20.12.195012.07.2020Chippenham11.09.2020No
Rowland Clive NORRIS10.09.193225.07.2020Bath27.08.2020No
Ernest Larry PRINCE11.10.194131.10.2020Westbury23.11.2020No
Ann SUTHERLAND30.01.195601.12.2020Amesbury08.01.2021No
Kevin Anthony WAITE02.10.197003.12.2020Tisbury07.01.2021No
James MORRISON11.12.194523.12.2020Salisbury20.01.2021No
Geoffrey McLEOD16.03.195730.12.2020Warminster20.01.2021No
Alan Frank NORTON17.05.194211.01.2021Petersfinger09.02.2021No
James Stephen SHIPP25.12.194818.01.2021Chippenham08.03.2021No
Terrie Ronald DEAN22.01.195016.01.2021Devizes03.03.2021No
John VAREY22.05.192918.01.2021Salisbury24.02.2021No
Paul JOHNSON25.10.195724.01.2021Salisbury02.03.2021No
Samantha Jane WHITE10.08.196830.10.2020Trowbridge16.03.2021No
Bruce Dransfield YORKE12 11 194819 02 2021Corsham18.03.2021No
John James THEOBALD06.01.197205.01.2021Cricklade26.05.2021No
Bruce Adrian McFarland RUSSELL24.08.196111.02.2021Warminster13.04.2021No
Sylvie Catherine DUBOIS24.07.195608.02.2021Chippenham13.05.2021No
Desmond Keith TEMBLETT15.10.195210.06.2021Marlborough05.01.2022No
Ronald Henry George GAPE01.06.193717.06.2021Salisbury27.07.2021No
Patricia Ann JONES18.08.195607.07.2021Salisbury01.10.2021No
Robert J BARKER20.06.195426.07.2021Devizes20.08.2021No
Allan MERRIFIELD23.01.194925.07.2021Shaftesbury24.08.2021No
Michael ELLOWAY01.07.193822.08.2021Melksham13.10.2021No
David P A FIELDING10.03.195510.09.2021Salisbury20.10.2021Yes
Peter McPARTLAND12.11.196917.09.2021Melksham21.10.2021No
Donald PANTING31.03.193803.10.2021Swindon01.12.2021No
Trevor LEDBURY02.05.195123.09.2021Crockerton12.11.2021No
Martin Simon CHERRY27.04.196701.10.2021Calne13.01.2022No
Catherine Anne Bridget CRAMER26.10.194208.11.2021Warminster22.12.2021No
Colin JORDAN23.09.194323.11.2021Shaftesbury05.01.2022No
David ROWLAND28.08.195830.10.2021Bradford-on-Avon17.02.2022No
Diane Joan LAUDER10.05.194906.01.2022Westbury11.03.2022No
Francis Richard CHINNERY15.05.193521.02.2022Westbury16.06.2022No
Stephen WILLIAMS14.09.196822.02.2022Melksham30.03.2022Yes
Graham NICHOLAS07.03.194724.03.2022Salisbury20.04.2022No
Timothy Clifford AU-YOUNG12.03.196719.03.2022Salisbury06.05.2022No
Danuta ROGOWY-02.05.2022Westbury01.07.2022No
Stephen William Marian LANGTON05.04.195426.04.2022Salisbury14.06.2022No
Graham George RUFFELL01.02.194018.05.2022Marlborough05.07.2022No
Paul Martin CADAGAN01.08.195314.05.2022Calne08.19.2022No
Michael FORD (Previously Duane GIDLEY)22.07.202220.05.2022Ludgershall22.07.2022No
Simon Charles MINJOODT 12.11.194527.05.2022Salisbury18.07.2022No
William Hamilton REA17.08.194707.06.2022Warminster10.08.2022No
Dr Gerald Edward GREGORY12.10.193503.07.2022Chippenham08.09.2022No
Valentino Frederick BARTHOLOMEW 27.05.193713.08.2022Salisbury22.09.2022No
Keith WEEKES25.05.194821.08.2022Bradford-on-Avon08.11.2022No
Patricia LITTLER03.05.193928.08.2022Salisbury20.09.2022Yes

If you believe you may have an interest in the estate or for further information please contact the Treasury Solicitor on 020 7210 4700 or visit their website.

Financial data

To enable the council to safeguard public health by providing funerals, the council is able to recover the cost of a funeral from the estate of the deceased. Most of the those who the council provides funerals for are often vulnerable or destitute individuals with no assets, meaning in most cases no costs can be recovered.

Funeral expenditure, and recovered costs
Time periodExpenditure on funeralsTotal recovered from estatesTotal expenditure
2010 - 2011£13,955.56£7,227.65£6,727.91
2011 - 2012£17,164.23£1,154.91£16,009.32
2012 - 2013£12,281.00£1962.72£10,318.28
2013 - 2014£25,395.94£1,107.79£24,288.15
2014 - 2015£12,464.05£1,134.32£11,368.73
2015 - 2016£27,257.81£19,359.96£7,897.85
2016 - 2017£25,310.00£20,287.59£5,022.41
2017 - 2018£26,283.06£26,086.18£193.88
2018 - 2019£19,041.25£17,761.29-£1,279.96
2019 - 2020£26,370.32£31,029.45£4,659.13

The figures for the last two financial years include an estimate of officer costs. These have not been included previously.

Public funerals requested

Number of public funerals during each financial year
2008 - 20092009 - 20102010 - 20112011 - 20122012 - 20132013 - 20142014 - 20152015 - 20162016 - 20172017 - 20182018 - 20192019 - 2020
51311322825333232          412232

Prior to the formation of Wiltshire as a unitary council in April 2009, public funerals were administered by the respective district councils. Each council maintained their own recording systems and procedures for public funerals meaning data prior to 2008 - 2009 is not available.

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