Wikiepedia:
In England, an ancient custom was the ringing of bells at three specific times before and after death. Sometimes a passing bell was first rung when the person was still dying, [1][2] then the death knell upon the death, [3] and finally the lych bell, which was rung at the funeral as the procession approached the church. The ringing of the lych bell is now called the funeral toll.[4] The canon law of the Church of England also permitted tolling after the funeral.
During the reign of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, Statutes regulated death knell,[5][6] but the immediate ringing after death fell into disuse. It was customary in some places by the end of the 19th century to ring the death knell as soon as notice reached the clerk of the church (parish clerk) or sexton, unless the sun had set, in which case it was rung at an early hour the following morning.[7]
Elsewhere, it was customary to postpone the death knell and tellers to the evening preceding the funeral, or early in the morning on the day of the funeral to give warning of the ceremony.[9]
The use of the passing bell for sick persons is indicated in the advertisements of Queen Elizabeth in 1564: "[W]here any Christian bodie is in passing, that the bell be tolled, and that the curate be specially called for to comfort the sick person".[10]
Manner of ringing
The manner of ringing the knell varied in different parishes. Sometimes the age of the departed was signified by the number of chimes (or strokes) of the bell, but the use of "tellers" to denote the sex was almost universal. For instance in the greater number of churches in the counties of Kent and Surrey they used the customary number of tellers, viz., three times three strokes for a man, and three times two for a woman; with a varying usage for children. The word "tellers" became changed into "Tailors".[11] J. C. L. Stahlschmidt described of the practices at each church in Kent and Surrey in his two books about the bells of those counties.[12][13] It is also features in Dorothy L. Sayers' mystery novel The Nine Tailors.
Mum was raised in deepest Norfolk. Her Dad was the Grave Digger so she was very involved with Church matters.
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Topic: Historical announcement by bell ringing when a resident dies (Read 4027 times)