Church blocks bid to dig up Wigan dad's grave

An extraordinary plan by a daughter to dig up her dead dad's ashes and reunite him with her mother in a shared grave has been blocked by church lawyers.
St Wilfrid's Church in StandishSt Wilfrid's Church in Standish
St Wilfrid's Church in Standish

A judge has refused Elaine Durrington’s plea to bury her father with his first wife – her mother - who died over half a century ago.

Instead Chancellor John W Bullimore, a leading church man, has stuck to the Church of England philosophy that a last resting place should be just that, and ruled that the man’s remains should stay where they are – buried next to his second wife.

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Cyril Halstead Cawthron was married to his first wife, Marion, for 15 years until she died in 1956.

Eight years later he was married to his second wife, Joan, and they were together for 28 years until Mr Cawthron died.

His first wife and his parents share a grave in St Wilfrid’s church yard at Standish but following his death Mr Cawthron’s ashes were placed in the same plot as his second wife.

However, when Mr Cawthron died in 1992 his ashes were buried in a separate plot in the church yard. His second wife’s remains were buried in a plot next to him when she died a short time later.

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But Mrs Durrington, the daughter of Mr Cawthron and his first wife asked the Church of England’s Consistory Court for permission to have her father’s remains exhumed and re-buried in the same grave as his first wife and his parents.

Now though Mr Bullimore, Chancellor of the Diocese of Blackburn, in his role as a judge of the Consistory Court, which will only approve exhumation from consecrated ground if there are “exceptional” circumstances has turned down the woman’s request.

In his 2,000 word ruling the Chancellor Bullimore said the daughter claimed that her father had always assumed he would be buried with his first wife. He said the daughter wanted to bring her father and mother together along with her father’s parents in the same grave.

But he said: “That pays insufficient attention to the history. Her parents’ marriage ended with her mother’s early death, and I have no doubt that that was a traumatic event for her and her father to cope with, and may have taken many years for them to come to terms with.”

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However, he said that after a period of around eight years Mr Cawthron and his second wife “committed themselves to one another and a new marriage relationship was established.”

“That remained in place for 28 years,” he added.

He said the Church took a clear stand on the issue of exhumation and would only permit that to take place in exceptional circumstances.

“The Church accepts a body or remains that are to be buried in a churchyard on the understanding they are to be placed in their final resting place, and remain there.”

In refusing permission he said: “I am satisfied there are no circumstances in this case that could be considered “exceptional” or such as to justify giving permission for the exhumation of

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Cyril’s remains from alongside those of his second wife, with a view to re-interment with those of his first wife. There is nothing in the circumstances put before me that even begins to indicate that the second marriage ought to be subordinated to the first, so it would not be right to proceed with an exhumation.”