Kent, Funeral Directors Registers 1909-1939

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These records are brought to you with thanks to North West Kent Family History Society.

The Funeral Directors Mackney & Sons had two parlours in Dartford, Kent, the main one at 74 Lowfield Street and the second at East Hill, catering to a wide area. A variety of coffins and services were provided at varying prices. The record set contains the transcriptions from six books dated from 1909 to 1935. The first three books dated 1909 to 1934 are almost certainly from Lowfield Street. 

During the early years many bodies were removed from Rotherhithe and buried in the Dartford area. In the 1880’s a wharf was built in Rotherhithe to convey smallpox victims, by ship, to Long Reach Hospital Ships, moored on the River Thames, at Dartford. Presumably the bodies that were removed from Rotherhithe by Mackney’s had died in the hospital before being transported to Long Reach. 

During the 1914-1918 war Mackney’s arranged funerals for German P.O.W.’s and Australian airmen. In 1919 there was a flu epidemic in Dartford, so it was most likely that the Germans and Australians died from flu and not war wounds. Between April and September 1919 coffins for 28 German P.O.W.’s were provided. 

In November 1919 the first Cremation is mentioned.