St Mary's Catholic Cemetery, Kensal Green

St Mary's Catholic Cemetery is located at Kensal Green in London, and has its own Catholic Chapel. Coordinates: 51°31′41″N 0°14′02″W / 51.528°N 0.234°W / 51.528; -0.234

History

Established in 1858, the 29 acre (120,000 m²) site was built next door to Kensal Green Cemetery. It is the final resting place for more than 165,000 individuals of the Roman Catholic faith, and features a memorial to Belgian soldiers of the First World War, wounded in combat and evacuated to England, where they died in hospital.

There is also a War Memorial, in the form of a Cross of Sacrifice to the British, Irish, French and Canadian servicemen. It is surrounded by a Screen Wall memorial and a low kerb listing Commonwealth service personnel of both World Wars whose graves in the cemetery could not be marked by headstones. In all, the cemetery contains 208 graves of Commonwealth service personnel of the First World War, and 107 graves of the Second World War. There are also many foreign nationality war graves that include, from First World War, 77 Belgians and six Germans, and from the Second, eight Czechoslovakian and six Polish war graves^[1]

Many Irish migrants who came to England during the Great Famine are buried here.^[2]

Notable interments

• Sir John Barbirolli (1899–1970), orchestral conductor
• Marmaduke Barton (1865–1938), pianist and professor at the Royal College of Music
• Prince Louis Lucien Bonaparte (1813–1891), statesman, philologist
• Lizzie Burns (1827–1878), wife of Friedrich Engels
• William Pitt Byrne (1806–1861), British newspaper editor and proprietor of The Morning Post
• General Sir John Cowans (1862-1921), Quartermaster-General to the Forces in World War I - buried at Terrace 130.^[3]
• Major Thomas Crean (1873–1923), VC winner in Boer War
• Dr Charles James Fox (1799–1874), medical doctor
• James Grant (1822-1887), Scottish author, historian, artist and architect
• Gilbert Harding (1907–1960), journalist, radio and TV personality
• Josef Jakobs (1898–1941), German spy - unmarked grave.
• Andrzej Kowerski (aka Andrew Kennedy) (1912–1988), decorated Polish soldier and spy
• Danny La Rue (1927–2009), cabaret artist, nightclub owner, actor
• Edmonia Lewis (1844-1907), sculptor
• Henry Edward Manning (1808–1892), Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster (later transferred to Westminster Cathedral)
• Alice Meynell (1847–1922), poet and essayist
• Victoria Monks (1884–1927), music hall singer
• Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (1793–1867), marine painter
• Mary Seacole (1805–1881) nurse, humanitarian
• Carlo Pellegrini (1839–1889), caricaturist
• Francis Thompson (1859–1907), poet, literary critic
• Major General Sir Luke O'Connor (1831–1915), VC winner in Crimean War
• T.P. O'Connor (1848–1929), Irish journalist and politician
• Lieutenant Colonel James Henry Reynolds (1844–1932), VC winner and medical officer at Rorke's Drift
• Louis Wain (1860–1939), artist
• Father Vincent McNabb, O.P. (1868–1943), Irish scholar and priest
• Sir Max Pemberton (1863–1950), British author, journalist and editor
• Krystyna Skarbek (aka Christine Granville) (1915–1952), Polish SOE agent and World War II heroine
• Sax Rohmer (1883–1959), author, creator of "Dr. Fu Manchu"
• George Carman QC (1929–2001), barrister
• Nicholas Wiseman (1802–1865), Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster (later transferred to Westminster Cathedral)

The chapel

• The cemetery's Catholic chapel is used for funeral and memorial services. The walls have many memorial plaques.
• The chapel was used in the filming of Miranda episode "Before I die".
• The chapel has one of two working coffin lifts in England, the other is in the Anglican Chapel of Kensal Green Cemetery. The coffin lift is used to lower coffins from the chapel into the lower catacombs which are located directly underneath the chapel.^[4]

Access

The cemetery is open for visitors 365 days per year Monday - Saturday: 8am to 4pm (5pm April - October) Sunday: 9am to 4pm (5pm April - October)

Christmas Day & Boxing Day: 9am - 1pm

The cemetery office

All enquires should be directed to the Superintendent. Office hours: Monday - Friday: 9am - 3:30pm (4:30pm April - October). Visitors, especially those interested in their Catholic family history, may request the office staff consult the recently computerised records for all interments in St Mary's Catholic Cemetery (from 1858 to date).

References

1. ↑ CWGC Cemetery Report Breakdown of foreign war graves from casualty record.
2. ↑ "Kensal Green". British History Online. English Heritage. St Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery, Harrow Road. Retrieved 7 July 2010. 
3. ↑ CWGC Casualty record, John Steven Cowans.
4. ↑

External links

• St Mary's Cemetery Official Website
• Pastscape (English Heritage National Monuments record online)
• "Illustrated description and cemetery map - London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham" (PDF).