Burying in Woollen Acts explained

Short Title:	Burying in Woollen Act 1666
Type:	Act
Parliament:	Parliament of England
Long Title:	An Act for Burying in Woollen onely.
Year:	1666
Citation:	18 & 19 Cha. 2. c. 4
Royal Assent:	18 January 1667
Commencement:	25 March 1667
Repeal Date:	28 July 1863
Repealing Legislation:	Statute Law Revision Act 1863
Status:	repealed
Original Text:	https://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol5/p598a

Short Title:	Burying in Woollen Act 1678
Type:	Act
Parliament:	Parliament of England
Long Title:	An Act for burying in Woollen.
Year:	1678
Citation:	30 Cha. 2. c. 3
Royal Assent:	15 July 1678
Repealing Legislation:	Burying in Woollen Act 1814
Status:	repealed
Original Text:	https://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol5/pp885-886

Short Title:	Burying in Woollen Act 1680
Type:	Act
Parliament:	Parliament of England
Long Title:	An Additionall Act for burying in Woollen.
Year:	1680
Citation:	32 Cha. 2. c. 1
Royal Assent:	10 January 1681
Repealing Legislation:	Burying in Woollen Act 1814
Status:	repealed
Original Text:	https://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol5/p940

The Burying in Woollen Acts 1666–80 were Acts of the Parliament of England (citation 18 & 19 Cha. 2. c. 4 (1666),^{[1] [2]} 30 Cha. 2. c. 3 (1678)^[3] and 32 Cha. 2. c. 1 (1680)^[4]) which required the dead, except plague victims and the destitute, to be buried in pure English woollen shrouds to the exclusion of any foreign textiles.^[5]

Enforcement

It was a requirement that an affidavit be sworn in front of a justice of the peace (usually by a relative of the deceased), confirming burial in wool, with the punishment of a £5 fee for noncompliance. Burial entries in parish registers were marked with the word "affidavit" or its equivalent to confirm that affidavit had been sworn; it would be marked "naked" for those too poor to afford the woollen shroud.

The legislation was in force until 1814, but was generally ignored after 1770.^[6] The 1666 Act was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1863.^[7]

Use in genealogy

Burial records so annotated can be a source of genealogical information, providing evidence of economic status and relationships that may be otherwise unavailable or ambiguous.^{[8] [9]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: National Patterns, 1648–1815 > England, Scotland, and Ireland > England and Scotland > July 1664 . The Encyclopedia of World History . bartleby.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20021102220218/http://www.bartleby.com/67/675.html . 2001. 2002-11-02. 2013-03-19.
2. 'Charles II, 1666: An Act for Burying in Woollen only.', Statutes of the Realm: volume 5: 1628–80 (1819), p. 598. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47386. Date accessed: 6 March 2007.
3. 'Charles II, 1677 & 1678: An Act for burying in Woollen.', Statutes of the Realm: volume 5: 1628–80 (1819), pp. 885–886. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47475. Date accessed: 6 March 2007.
4. 'Charles II, 1680: An Additional Act for burying in Woollen.', Statutes of the Realm: volume 5: 1628–80 (1819), p. 940. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47486. Date accessed: 6 March 2007.
5. Book: Rivoli, Pietra . The Travels of a T-Shirt in The Global Economy . . New York . 2005 . first . 155 . 0-471-64849-3 . registration .
6. Web site: Dolan . Alice . The Fabric of Life: Linen and Life Cycle in England, 1678–1810 . University of Hertfordshire Research Archive . 30 March 2020 . 274.
7. https://books.google.com/books?id=u7ouAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA659 Statute Law Revision Act 1863
8. Ancestral Trails: The Complete Guide to British Genealogy and Family History, Second Edition, by Mark Herber in association with the Society of Genealogists, Sutton Publishing Limited, Baltimore, MD 2004 pp. 362–363.
9. http://www.traceyourpast.co.uk/woollenact.htm Burial In Woollen Act 1666–1680