until the late 19th century, cremation was seen by British peoples as a practice of heathens and pagans and also known to be practiced by the Hindu peoples in India which was under the rule of the British Empire.
the push for cremation sprang out of the British funeral reform movement of the late 19th century, which was spurred by the excesses of Victorian era funerals.
cremation became a very emotional topic much as is euthanasia is today.
the medical profession were among the advocates on sanitation arguments whilst the churches opposed it on the following arguments:
the main advocate of the cremationists in Australia was Dr John Mildred Creed.
in 1886, the Vatican issued a decree labeling it a pagan practice.
early non-indigenous cremations in Australia:
Mr Foo Choo, a Chinese leper was cremated in 1890 at the Quarantine Station in Portsea, Victoria, at the height of the White Australia policy for “hygiene reasons”.
in 1895, a Mr Singh, a Sikh, was the 1st consenting non-indigenous person to be cremated and this was done at Sandringham beach (a popular bathing beach) in Victoria without any permits.
later that year, a 83yr old piano teacher, Mrs Elizabeth Hennicker became the 1st European to be cremated in Australia - also at Sandrigham beach, performed by the undertaker Joseph Le Pine but the media attended and generated poor publicity as people could watch the remains burning.
outrage by locals later that year when a Hindu man was also cremated on the beach.
after years of political lobbying, crematoriums began to be built:
early coke-fired furnaces took a day and a half to cremate a body to ashes and bone (bone then had to be placed in a grinder)
until the 1950's the general public opinion regarded cremation as being for loopy radicals.
in 1963, the rising popularity of cremations pushed the Vatican to grant Catholics permission for cremation as long as the remains are not scattered but are buried or entombed.
in the 1960's, cremations began to overtake burials as the preferred option for Australians.
by 2000, Melbourne's Springvale Crematorium was processing an average 25 cremations each day (max. 50-60) with 5 burning at any one time.