Funeral white rolls Royces

[Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain]

Just on bus going past a huge funeral with what looks like 10 rolls Royces in attendance plus a white horse drawn carriage. Must be a big one eh?

While white is often used for children its not only for them. I arranged a funeral for a 93 year old gentleman, he had a white coffin with a white horse drawn hearse last week. A 12 year old boy had a black coffin in a standard black hearse.

There are no rules with colours or hearse choice

Traditionally white may have been for innocents but it's not always the case in modern times. Travellers love the white, they love the gold but also are happy with the traditional black.

You can never tell really and that's how it should be. A choice for all.

I'm around your age @Thecows and have never heard this either.
No funeral directors in our area have white cars.

No.

I've never heard that said.

To answer your later posts - I'm English (with some Welsh heritage) so not 'from another continent' and I am in my 60s, so I think it unlikely I am younger than you.

First time I've heard any connection between the colour of the coffin and the age of the person who has died.
I've seen white coffins for adults. Fortunately I've never attended the funeral of anyone under 18.

Showy funerals tend to be travellers ime

I’m in my 50s and didn’t know

. The history
for interested parties

White coffins for children have been used for nearly two centuries. They became widely standardized during the Victorian era (mid-to-late 1800s). Traditionally, white symbolized innocence, purity, and the belief that the child had been spared from earthly sins. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

History of White Coffins for Children

The Victorian Era (1800s): Due to high child mortality rates during this time, mourning became highly ritualized. Dark woods were reserved for adults, while children were buried in white coffins or caskets, often covered in white fabric like wool or satin. White, silver, or light-colored fittings (handles and nameplates) were specifically designed for them to reflect innocence.

Cultural Symbolism: Historically, while black and dark colors represented deep grief and mourning in Western culture, white was explicitly linked to the preservation of purity and the concept of a peaceful transition to heaven.

Modern Evolution: Today, white coffins and caskets remain a popular and traditional choice. Discussions of their appropriateness are common, as families view them as a gentle, comforting choice regardless of age

My mum ( born early 30s ) said siblings who died were always buried in little white coffins

White coffins, yes. I don't think the Victorians were using white Rolls Royces.

No
nothing on carriages ( Rolls Royce didn’t exist in the Victorian era )

maybe white horses ? 🤷‍♀️.

I don’t think I have ever seen white funeral cars.

It’s interesting they chose this church for the funeral. It’s quite modern and there’s an elaborate gothic style Catholic Church 5 minutes drive away which is much nicer.

These were Rolls Royces so not funeral cars as such.

This has been an interesting and educational discussion. It seems that it isn't common knowledge at all that a white hearse is for a child. I didn't know, and I am old enough to receive a state pension. I have never seen a horse and carriage hearse round here either. It probably wouldn't be safe on our narrow, winding country roads.

It is several miles to the nearest crematorium, and a bit of a trek to the church as well if it is a burial.

I’ve never seen a horse and carriage hearse in real life only on tv

You get them quite a lot round the London area. My DB used to live in Hackney and I’ve seen them over there when I was visiting him. This one today was 6 white horses and I think I’ve only seen black horses in the past.

I have quite often seen
a horse drawn hearse.
In different locations passing by or stationary.
And often in white or pale colours with matching plumes.
The drivers are usually women.
In traditional attire.
I don't think I've seen a white funeral motor car.

My grandparents first son died when he was 4 years old, I never asked them how they coped from being a family of 3 to becoming parents of a deceased child but as an adult I often wonder how the coped. I remember my Grandmother telling me how she couldn’t go back to the house where they lived and moved. My grandparents are both buried with their son - our brother and uncle

Sadly it was the norm for many families to lose a child at, I’m guessing in your case, early 20th century

My dad was born in approx 1930 and he was the third child in the family given the same first name. The other two having died young. He told me once he went to school and came home to find another sister had died. They lost 5 children in total.
My grandad and grandmothers family lost it seems as many as survived. One family two in one day to Bronchitus and another 3 year old to ‘falling in the fire’, all in one year.
If we go back to the 19th century it was even worse
Thankfully for most of us we will never see such huge deaths in our families of young children.

So you saw a funeral cortege, saw a picture of a child and came on to say must be a big one eh?

I dont understand that.

I just thought it was a big funeral. I had no idea until I saw how many white rolls Royce’s there were that it was actually a big funeral. The cars were coming one by one and a few were already in the church car park (I couldn’t see them at that point). In my experience of funerals in the past there aren’t many cars, certainly not 10 like there were here. I’ve read up though and as it was traveller funeral apparently the whole community attend to pay their respects, hence the big numbers. I’ve never seen a traveller funeral before.

I saw the moving picture montage on a vehicle after the bus passed the church not before, so I had no idea it was a child’s funeral before that.

So was it projected onto a vehicle that you went past? That seems very odd

Gosh. Some posters are being really snippy.

@Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain if I had seen such a funeral cortege it would have been worthy of comment simply because I have never seen anything like what you describe.

I'm sorry they lost a child.

No, it was on a sort of square/rectangular box on wheels, not a vehicle.

I’ve never seen this either. I used to work years ago in Valley Park (Purley way) and you’d see the burned out gipsy caravans there sometimes, I saw them, asked a colleague and he said yes they do that, burn the caravan. These were modern ones too, not old style wooden ones. But I never saw a huge traveller/gipsy funeral. For me it’s touching as the whole community comes out to honour and respect the family and the dead person but in this case it was tragic as it was a boy say 10-12 years old at a guess, on the photos he was just with his siblings. Chelsea colours and football badges, scarves were there too so he liked Chelsea. It was just so tragic. If it’s an older person (which I originally thought) then I’d be surprised at the scale of it but I know now that’s what travellers/gipsies do. Turn out as a community. It reminds me of Catholic funerals my stepdad and some of our family in England go to in Ireland. My stepdad who’s a lapsed Catholic often says he thinks it’s nice the community respect the family and dead person. My step-grandma in Ireland sent a mass card and had candles lit for when my dad died when I was 22, which was touching, they didn’t know my dad.