When people think of death and funerals, common images come to mind: hearses, gravestones and cemeteries, coffins and the colour black, to name a few.
This fall, explore Victorian era 19th century death rituals and traditions at the Wellington County Museum and Archives.
Opening Sept. 8, Death: Rituals and Traditions will intrigue visitors young and old, museum officials say.
In every culture, rituals have emerged that bring meaning and order to the cycle of life and death. In 19th century Ontario, mourners wore black clothing, jewelry, hairpieces and armbands, depending on their gender and relationship to the deceased. What may seem a rigid focus on death’s rituals in fact allowed the bereaved to express their grief within an ordered time frame.
Flourishing industries developed around the etiquette of death and mourning and throughout Ontario – for example, people still witness the partnership of the furniture and funeral businesses. This tradition grew out of the practical skills of carpenters as coffin-makers who expanded their enterprises to embrace undertaking duties as well.
Every undertaking business provided the services of a horse-drawn hearse.
Highlighted in this exhibit is a 1905 hearse hand-made in Palmerston by craftsman and undertaker Austin Delaney. Finished in fine details and curved glass sides, the horse-drawn hearse is one of the treasures of the museum collection.
Museum officials are inviting the public to explore how their ancestors viewed and dealt with death and mourning. The exhibition runs until Nov. 4.
The galleries at the museum, located on Wellington Road 18 between Fergus and Elora, are open weekdays from 9:30am to 4:30pm and on weekends and holidays from 12 to 4pm.
