Cremation is a significant part of the funeral industry. Australia has followed the UK model in that cremation has always been treated as an alternative to burial in a funeral ceremony. Whereas in the US it is categorised as an alternative to a funeral.
The first evidence of a cremation in Australia was discovered in the 1950s at Lake Mungo near Mildura when a container of cremated remains was discovered.
A familiar example of cremation is the Hindu rite of burning corpses on the banks of the Ganges and dispersing the ashes into the river.
In Europe in earlier times, it was the rite of disposal in Greece and with the amongst others. However, the advent of Christianity saw the Vikings end of cremation as a sanitarily form until cremation societies began to advocate it as more hygienic.
In the UK it was not practiced initially by Catholics but later flourishing probably thanks to Henry VIII creating the Protestant Church for his own needs.
Burke and Hare the notorious grave robbers who also killed to order to supply anatomy specimens biased families to cremation with deceased loved ones being kept at home until they were no longer suitable for dissection.
Cremation began in Australia in the 1870s 1880s with some backyard bonfires and these did nothing to enhance the cause due to odious smoke and odour. It was on May 13, 1903, in Adelaide that the first cremation in a crematorium in the southern hemisphere occurred at the West Terrace cemetery.
The venture was not a success due to limited Council finances resulting in poor design and equipment restricting operation to a maximum of only two cremations per day. In 1947 only 3.5% of funerals at West Terrace ended in cremation whilst interstate the cremation rate was 30%.
A facility located by the Unley/Mitcham conglomerate in the new Centennial Park had its first cremation in 1955 and in the next two years they performed as many cremations as had been done at West Terrace in the preceding 50 years. In 1965 Centennial Park chapels were overbooked continually and a second chapel was built. Considered unsafe through neglect, the West Terrace crematorium was closed shortly afterwards and demolished in 1969.
With the large developments in northern metro Adelaide, Enfield applied for a license to operate a crematorium. The first cremation at Enfield was on the 1st Dec 1969 and by 1st Dec 1970, 488 cremations had been performed, whilst state-wide by 1973, 60% of funerals were cremations.
In Gawler the long cortege to Enfield was unpopular as it split mourners and reduced fellowship. The matter was resolved by mimicking a crematorium chapel using drapes at the committal through which the coffin was wheeled from view. The first mimic chapel in Australia was at Elizabeth, and later in Gawler at the Cowan Street chapel with modifications to the building.
In Gawler, despite council opposition a license was granted in 1989 bringing a new industry nearer at Gawler Belt. The first cremation was in November 1989 and by May 1990 one hundred cremations had been carried out. This new enterprise was widely supported by other funeral directors as many still do after 28 years.
Over this time, cremations are carried out at Gawler for all funeral directors in SA. Cremations are even performed for Centennial Park and Enfield as the Gawler chambers are large enough to accommodate the ever-growing size of population. Since 1989, 45,000 cremations have been carried out with Gawler ensuring that families in the community can be looked after entirely.