Victorian Undertaker

by Trevor May

The Victorians were, were relatively at ease with death and there is much in this book to interest social historians, those interested in historical costume and transport enthusiasts, as there is a section on the development of the horse-drawn hearse.

Genres: History, Death, Nonfiction, Historical, Victorian

32 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1997

Reviews

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on Victorian funeral customs and mourning etc but unfortunately doesn't focus very much on the actual undertakers, despite the title (I was hoping for more detail on this for research). My edition also seems to be missing some text.

[Claudia Loureiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

At only 32 pages, this little book is going to be in great danger of getting lost on my shelves. The book was wonderfully descriptive, accompanied by great diagrams/photographs and when read all in, gave the reader a real picture into the times that sadly would have been lost had Trevor not conducted the research. All in a cracking read and one that research wise is a great way to get into the time period.

[Tristram · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly shallow and hardly anything revolutionary. Better for a noob I guess. Seemed to be mostly composed of illustrations and captions rather than actual substance. Meh. Good for financial statistics (costs of certain things within a service, and so forth).

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good resource for Victorian death customs. I liked seeing the ads and illustrations, especially for the mourning cards.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

As helpful as anything else I’ve found on this topic. It’s a more elusive topic than one might expect. I would also suggest this is more of a pamphlet than an actual book.

[Rhiannon Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Accessible and well-illustrated exploration which was a good addition to my visit to the Coffin Works Museum in Birmingham.