Now I don't want to upset folk etc.My mother was cremated 14 years ago,we recieved her ashes in a jar.Four years ago my brother was cremated he was twice the size of my late mum etc ,bone wise etc.Both had the same sized jars of ashes.I hope ,I really hope that remains are not being dumped.

The typical weight of ashes varies from 4 pounds for the avearge sized female to 6 pounds for the avearge sized male. However in the UK it is mandatory that the coffin is cremated with the body remaining inside, thus the overall weight of ashes will be more. After the cremation service, a label is attached to each coffin prior to cremation in order to ensure that there is no error. Each coffin is cremated separately and the ashes must be completely removed into a "jar" before the next cremation takes place. As part of this procedure, any metallic content (such as the coffin hinges) are removed - for instance a string magnet is used to remove the iron content.
There seems to be little doubt that the "jars" do contain all the remains and that any breach would be regarded as exremely serious.

The organist at my church is also an undertaker and I know him well. He arranged for the cremation of both of my parents and I have complete trust in him.

They tend to cremate  a few people at a time.They just shovel up the ashes and place them in urns.So you probably end up with a mixture .

This is a link to the official Code of Cremation Pactice

Section 8 deals with the treatment od the cremated ashes and reads as follows
:
8. CREMATED REMAINS The utmost care shall be taken to ensure that the Cremated Remains, following their removal from the cremator, shall be kept separate and suitably identified. The Cremated Remains shall placed in a separate container awaiting final disposal. If the Cremated Remains are to be disposed of in a Garden of Remembrance, this shall be conducted with reverence and respect..

Clearly, if what Bojangles says is correct, then this is very serious breach of the Code. If anyone has reason to suppose that this is happened this should be reported, I would suggest to the local council responsible for issuing licesnces to the crematoria, so that this can be investigated and appropriate action taken.

Does it really matter whether you get the right ashes back in their entirety?  Bodies are usually dissected during post mortem examinations, and are presumably not fully intact when they are released for burial anyway.  I have heard very differing stories about the cremation of bodies, but even if the remains are removed after each cremation, is it really possible to make sure that every bit of ash is scooped up and that Uncle George's left toe hasn't got left behind and mixed up with someone else's remains?  When my father died, the last thing I wanted was to have anything to do with his ashes - they were plonked into a hole by the side of the family grave so that we have a token place to put flowers each year.  I've never particularly believed that my father's ashes were 100% complete, and really couldn't care less - my father wasn't in those ashes any more once he had died. The important thing was to come to terms with the loss of a much loved relative not worry about his remains and whether a bit of the woman next door had got scooped up in his urn.

I'm in the process of sorting out buying a gravestone.

We can buy gravestones... it's a plot in a cemetary you can't come by here!



Coffins are burnt, but an undertaker I know told me that wood ash and most body ash is so light it goes up the chimney.  Most of what you get in the urn is ground down bones that don't burn. Ever notices how lush the grass is when ashes have been scattered?

Oh  and the 'more than one at a time' is rubbish (at our crem anyway... my hubby's seen inside the furnace)

I knew a fella who worked in the cremetoriums and the boxes never got burnt....
What I don't understand about that Digi place, why did they dump the urns and not just sling the ash out?....

what happened to them, Stonks?  New handles and bit of recycling?    Makes sense...

I don't know Kaff he just said they took the people out before they went into the furnace....

Makes you wonder though, Stonks, eh?   He didn't have a wee sideline selling polished designer firewood by chance? 

You'd never know Kaff..

Stonks, I see you are based in Ireland and I don't know what the rules are there, but in the UK the body is not permitted to be out of the coffin before cremation.

Of course coffins do not need to be made out of wood, cardboard and seagrass coffins come to mind.

This was when I lived in England..Cremation is'nt very popular here....

Stonks, if you know where your friend worked, then you should report what you were told to the appropriate council so that they can investigate and if the practice of taking the bodies out of the coffins so that the coffins are not burned is still going on, then the cramatorium can be closed down and those responsible can be sacked.

That's right! In my first job a few decades ago, we had a tour/inspection. You probably wouldn't get more than one coffin in each furnace anyway. They then put the remnants in a grinder and produce the ash. There may be slight traces of someone else but one would think that you have a "sweet jar" 99% pure, as it were.

I'm with Growley on this...I really can' see that it matters...getting the ashes in an urn is only a token anyway.

they don't do mass cremating anymore...

I would'nt do that EL, knowing him he could have been winding me up....