Historedia
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First Legal Cremation

When
26 March 1885
Where
Woking Crematorium
Part of
Jeanette Pickersgill's cremation: first legal cremation in England

Jeanette Pickersgill was cremated at Woking Crematorium on 26 March 1885, becoming the first person legally cremated in the UK.

The cremation took place at Woking Crematorium in Surrey. It occurred after cremation was declared lawful in February 1884. Pickersgill died on 20 March 1885. Her ashes were later moved to Kensal Green Cemetery.

Sources

  1. Jeanette Pickersgill Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-07
  2. Woking Crematorium Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-01
  3. Cremation Society of Great Britain Wikipedia, revision of 2025-10-16

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.