Brompton Cemetery
Encyclopedia
The Royal Parks
The Royal Parks is an organisation within the UK Government that manages the eight Royal Parks and certain other areas of garden and parkland in London.They are an executive agency of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
and is one of the Magnificent Seven
Magnificent Seven, London
The "Magnificent Seven" is an informal term applied to seven large cemeteries in London. They were established in the 19th century to alleviate overcrowding in existing parish burial grounds.-Background:...
. Established by Act of Parliament, it opened in 1840 and was originally known as the West of London and Westminster Cemetery.
Brompton Cemetery, consecrated by the Bishop of London
Bishop of London
The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...
in June 1840, is one of the Britain's oldest and most distinguished garden cemeteries. While the cemetery is still open for occasional new burials, today more people use it as a public park than as a place for mourning the dead.
Location
The official address of Brompton Cemetery is Old Brompton Road in West BromptonWest Brompton
West Brompton is an area of South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.-History:The name refers to the older locality of Brompton to the east, although the areas of South Kensington and Earl's Court separate West Brompton from its namesake...
, SW10, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is a central London borough of Royal borough status. After the City of Westminster, it is the wealthiest borough in England....
. The Main Gate (or North Gate) is near the junction with Kempsford Gardens. There is another gate (the South Gate), located on the Fulham Road
Fulham Road
Fulham Road is a street in London, England, that runs from the A219 road in right in the centre of Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, through Chelsea to Brompton Road Knightsbridge and the A4 in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.Fulham Road runs parallel...
near the junction with Hortensia Road.
History
Magnificent Seven, London
The "Magnificent Seven" is an informal term applied to seven large cemeteries in London. They were established in the 19th century to alleviate overcrowding in existing parish burial grounds.-Background:...
') forming a ring around the edge of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The inner city burial grounds, mostly churchyards, had long been unable to cope with the number of burials and were seen as a hazard to health and an undignified way to treat the dead.
Brompton Cemetery was designed by Benjamin Baud and has at its centre a modest domed chapel (in the style of the basilica of St. Peter's in Rome) at it southern end, reached by long colonnades, and flanked by catacombs. The chapel is dated 1839. The site, previously market gardens, was bought from Lord Kensington
William Edwardes, 2nd Baron Kensington
William Edwardes, 2nd Baron Kensington , was a British peer and Member of Parliament.Kensington was the son of William Edwardes, 1st Baron Kensington, who represented Haverfordwest in the House of Commons for over 50 years...
and is 39 acres (157,827.5 m²) in area. The cemetery is designed to give the feel of a large open air cathedral. It is rectangular in shape with the north end pointing to the northwest and the south end to the southeast. It has a central “nave” which runs from Old Brompton Road
Old Brompton Road
Old Brompton Road is a major street in the South Kensington district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London.It starts from South Kensington tube station and runs south-west, through a mainly residential area, until it reaches West Brompton and the area around Earl's Court tube station...
towards the central colonnade and chapel. Below the colonnades are catacombs which were originally conceived as a cheaper alternative burial to having a plot in the grounds of the cemetery. Unfortunately, the catacombs were not a success and only about 500 of the many thousands of places in them were sold. There is also an entrance on the south side from the Fulham Road
Fulham Road
Fulham Road is a street in London, England, that runs from the A219 road in right in the centre of Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, through Chelsea to Brompton Road Knightsbridge and the A4 in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.Fulham Road runs parallel...
. The Metropolitan Interments Act 1850 gave the government powers to purchase commercial cemeteries. The shareholders of the cemetery were relieved to be able to sell their shares as the cost of building the cemetery had over run and they had seen little return on their investment.
It is listed as Grade II* in the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England
National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens
In England, the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by English Heritage under the provisions of the National...
and five of the individual monuments are listed as Grade II.
Beatrix Potter
Beatrix Potter
Helen Beatrix Potter was an English author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist best known for her imaginative children’s books featuring animals such as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit which celebrated the British landscape and country life.Born into a privileged Unitarian...
, who lived in The Boltons nearby, took the names of many of her animal characters from tombstones in the cemetery and it is said that Mr. McGregor's walled garden was based on the colonnades. Names on headstones included Mr. Nutkins, Mr. McGregor, a Tod (with that unusual single 'd' spelling), Jeremiah Fisher, Tommy Brock - and even a Peter Rabbett.
The cemetery is today a cruising ground
Cruising for sex
Cruising for sex, or cruising is the act of walking or driving about a locality in search of a sex partner, usually of the anonymous, casual, one-time variety...
popular with West London's gay men scene.
Brompton Cemetery has featured in a number of films, including David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
's Eastern Promises (starring Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Peter Mortensen, Jr. is a Danish-American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter. He made his film debut in Peter Weir's 1985 thriller Witness, and subsequently appeared in many notable films of the 1990s, including The Indian Runner , Carlito's Way , Crimson Tide , Daylight , The...
), The Wisdom of Crocodiles
The Wisdom of Crocodiles
The Wisdom of Crocodiles is a 1998 romantic thriller by Po-Chih Leong starring Jude Law. It is based on the book of the same name by Paul Hoffman.-Cast:Jude Law - Steven Grlscz Elina Löwensohn - Anne Levels...
(Jude Law
Jude Law
David Jude Heyworth Law , known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989...
), Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes (2009 film)
Sherlock Holmes (2009 film)
Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 action-mystery film based on the character of the same name created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The film was directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey and Dan Lin. The screenplay by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon...
(also with Jude Law) as the location of 'Lord Blackwood's Tomb', Crush (Imelda Staunton
Imelda Staunton
Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton, OBE is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her performances in the British comedy television series Up the Garden Path, the Harry Potter film series and Vera Drake...
and Andie MacDowell
Andie MacDowell
Rosalie Anderson "Andie" MacDowell is an American model and actress. She has received the Golden Camera and an Honorary César.-Early life:...
), Stormbreaker (starring Alex Pettyfer
Alex Pettyfer
Alexander Richard "Alex" Pettyfer is an English actor and model. He appeared in school plays and on television before being cast as Alex Rider, the main character in the 2006 film version of Stormbreaker. Pettyfer was nominated for a Young Artist Award and an Empire Award for his role. He has been...
, Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
, Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
and Mickey Rourke
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke, Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man in action, drama, and thriller films....
), Finding Neverland
Finding Neverland
Finding Neverland is a 2004 semi-biographical film about playwright J. M. Barrie and his relationship with a family who inspired him to create Peter Pan, directed by Marc Forster. The screenplay by David Magee is based on the play The Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan Knee...
(starring Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
and Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet
Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...
) and Johnny English
Johnny English
Johnny English is a 2003 British action comedy film parodying the James Bond secret agent genre. The film stars Rowan Atkinson as the incompetent titular English spy, with John Malkovich, Natalie Imbruglia, Tim Pigott-Smith and Ben Miller in supporting roles...
(starring Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line...
); as well as being used as a location by photographers such as Bruce Weber
Bruce Weber (photographer)
Bruce Weber is an American fashion photographer and occasional filmmaker. He is most widely known for his ad campaigns for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Pirelli, Abercrombie & Fitch, Revlon, and Gianni Versace, as well as his work for Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Elle, Life, Interview, and Rolling Stone...
(see "The Chop Suey Club").
Notable interments
- Tomasz ArciszewskiTomasz ArciszewskiTomasz Arciszewski was a Polish socialist politician, a member of the Polish Socialist Party and the Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile in London from 1944 to 1947, presiding over the period when the government lost the recognition of the Western powers.-Early life:Tomasz Arciszewski...
- Polish socialist politician - James AtkinsonJames Atkinson (Persian scholar)James Atkinson was a surgeon, artist and Persian scholar - "a Renaissance man among Anglo-Indians" - Early life :Atkinson was born in Darlington, County Durham, England, the son of a woolcomber...
- surgeon, artist and Persian scholar - William Edward AyrtonWilliam Edward Ayrton-See also:*Henry Dyer*John Milne*Anglo-Japanese relations...
- British physicist - Samuel BakerSamuel BakerSir Samuel White Baker, KCB, FRS, FRGS was a British explorer, officer, naturalist, big game hunter, engineer, writer and abolitionist. He also held the titles of Pasha and Major-General in the Ottoman Empire and Egypt. He served as the Governor-General of the Equatorial Nile Basin between Apr....
- explorer - Sir Squire BancroftSquire BancroftSir Squire Bancroft , born Squire White Butterfield, was an English actor-manager. He and his wife Effie Bancroft are considered to have instigated a new form of drama known as 'drawing-room comedy' or 'cup and saucer drama', owing to the realism of their stage sets.-Early life and career:Bancroft...
- actor and theatre impresario - Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of SourozhMetropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of SourozhAntony of Sourozh was best known as a writer and broadcaster on prayer and the Christian life. He was a monk and Metropolitan bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church...
- Russian Orthodox émigré metropolitan archbishop and author* - Joseph Bonomi the YoungerJoseph Bonomi the YoungerJoseph Bonomi the Younger was an English sculptor, artist, Egyptologist and museum curator.-Early life:Bonomi was born in London into a family of architects...
- sculptorSculptureSculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, artistArtistAn artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, EgyptologistEgyptologyEgyptology is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious practices in the AD 4th century. A practitioner of the discipline is an “Egyptologist”...
and museumMuseumA museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
curatorCuratorA curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material... - George BorrowGeorge BorrowGeorge Henry Borrow was an English author who wrote novels and travelogues based on his own experiences around Europe. Over the course of his wanderings, he developed a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe. They figure prominently in his work...
- author, traveller and linguist - Fanny BrawneFanny BrawneFrances Brawne Lindon is most known for her betrothal to 19th-Century English Romantic poet John Keats, a fact largely unknown until 1878, when Keats' letters to her were published...
- John KeatsJohn KeatsJohn Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
' muse. She is buried under her married name, Frances Lindon. - Sir James BrowneJames Browne (engineer)Major-General Sir James Browne KCSI CB was a British military engineer and administrator in British India.He was the son of Robert Browne of Falkirk, Scotland...
- engineer - Francis Trevelyan BucklandFrancis Trevelyan BucklandFrancis Trevelyan Buckland was an English surgeon, zoologist, popular author and natural historian. He was the son of William Buckland, the noted geologist and palaeontologist.- Life :...
- zoologist - Henry James ByronHenry James ByronHenry James Byron was a prolific English dramatist, as well as an editor, journalist, director, theatre manager, novelist and actor....
- actor and dramatist - William Martin CafeWilliam Martin CafeGeneral William Martin Cafe VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
- Indian Mutiny hero and VC recipient - Marchesa Luisa CasatiLuisa CasatiLuisa, Marquise Casati Stampa di Soncino was an eccentric Italian heiress, muse, and patroness of the arts in early 20th century Europe...
- infamous Italian quaintrelle, muse, eccentric and patron of the arts - John Graham ChambersJohn Graham ChambersJohn Graham Chambers was a Welsh sportsman. He rowed for Cambridge, founded inter-varsity sports, became English Champion walker, coached four winning Boat-Race crews, devised the Queensberry Rules, staged the Cup Final and the Thames Regatta, instituted championships for billiards, boxing,...
- founder of the Amateur Athletic Association - Henry ColeHenry ColeSir Henry Cole was an English civil servant and inventor who facilitated many innovations in commerce and education in 19th century Britain...
- founder of the Victoria and Albert MuseumVictoria and Albert MuseumThe Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
, the Royal Albert HallRoyal Albert HallThe Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, the Royal College of MusicRoyal College of MusicThe Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
, the 1851 Great Exhibition and inventor of the Christmas cardChristmas cardA Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to the Christmas and holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during the weeks preceding Christmas Day by many people in Western... - Robert CoombesRobert CoombesRobert Coombes , celebrated professional oarsman and Champion Sculler, was born at Vauxhall, Surrey.-Early life:A waterman from an early age, Coombes spent his life on the river Thames...
- champion professional sculler - Joseph Thomas Clover - pioneer of anaesthesia
- Thomas Crofton CrokerThomas Crofton CrokerThomas Crofton Croker was an Irish antiquary, born at Cork. For some years, he held a position in the Admiralty, where his distant relative, John Wilson Croker, was his superior....
- Irish antiquary, devoted to the collection of Irish poetry and folkore - William CrookesWilliam CrookesSir William Crookes, OM, FRS was a British chemist and physicist who attended the Royal College of Chemistry, London, and worked on spectroscopy...
- chemist and physicist - Samuel CunardSamuel CunardSir Samuel Cunard, 1st Baronet was a British shipping magnate, born at Halifax, Nova Scotia, who founded the Cunard Line...
- founder of the Cunard LineCunard LineCunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century... - Thomas Cundy IIIThomas Cundy IIIThomas Cundy III joined his father's practice in the 1840s and was also surveyor of the Grosvenor Estate. He and his father were jointly responsible for a number of Gothic churches, including St Barnabas, Pimlico...
- British Architect, creator of England's main public buildings, also recorded as Thomas de Candie III. - Terence FeelyTerence FeelyTerence Feely was a British screenwriter, playwright and author. Though his work has spanned five decades, he is perhaps best remembered as the creator of the groundbreaking ITV drama series The Gentle Touch ....
- playwright and author - Charles FremantleCharles FremantleAdmiral Sir Charles Howe Fremantle GCB RN was a British Royal Navy officer. The city of Fremantle in Western Australia is named after him.-Early life:...
- founded the Swan River ColonySwan River ColonyThe Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...
(Western Australia) - Robert FortuneRobert FortuneRobert Fortune was a Scottish botanist and traveller best known for introducing tea plants from China to India.-Travels and botanical introductions to Europe:Fortune was born in Kelloe, Berwickshire...
- Scottish Botanist who introduced tea plant from China to India - John William GodwardJohn William GodwardJohn William Godward was an English painter from the end of the Pre-Raphaelite / Neo-Classicist era. He was a protégé of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema but his style of painting fell out of favour with the arrival of painters like Picasso...
- painter - George GodwinGeorge GodwinGeorge Godwin FRS was an influential architect, journalist, and editor of The Builder magazine.He was one of nine children of the architect George Godwin senior and trained at his father's architectural practice in Kensington where he set up in business with his brother Henry Godwin .Encouraged...
- architect, journalist, and editor of The Builder magazine - George GoldieGeorge Taubman GoldieSir George Dashwood Taubman Goldie was a Manx administrator who played a major role in the founding of Nigeria...
- "founded" NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in... - Brian GloverBrian GloverBrian Glover was an English character actor, writer and wrestler. Glover was a professional wrestler, teacher, and finally a film, television and stage actor. He once said, "You play to your strengths in this game. My strength is as a bald-headed, rough-looking Yorkshireman".-Early life:Glover was...
- television and film actor - Thomas Hancock - VCVictoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
recipient (unmarked grave) - Thomas HelmoreThomas HelmoreThomas Helmore was a choirmaster, writer about singing and author and editor of hymns and carols.Helmore's father was a congregationalist minister...
- choirmaster and author of books on plainsong - John JacksonJohn Jackson (boxer)"Gentleman" John Jackson was a celebrated pugilist of the late 18th century.He won the title Champion of England in a fight on 15 April 1795 in which he beat...
- boxer - Geraldine JewsburyGeraldine JewsburyGeraldine Endsor Jewsbury was an English novelist and woman of letters.-Life and family:Jewsbury was born in Measham, then in Derbyshire, now in Leicestershire. She was the daughter of Thomas Jewsbury , a cotton manufacturer and merchant, and his wife Maria, née Smith,...
- writer - Mary Anne KeeleyMary Anne KeeleyMary Anne Keeley, née Goward was an English actress and actor-manager.She was born at Ipswich, her father being a brazier and tinman. After some experience in the provinces, she first appeared on the stage in London on July 2, 1825, in the opera Rosina...
- actress - Robert KeeleyRobert Keeley (comedian)Robert Keeley was an actor-manager, comedian and female impersonator of the nineteenth century. In 1823 he originated the role of 'Fritz' in Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein, a stage adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein.-Early life:Robert Keeley was born in London as one of...
- actor and comedian - William Claude KirbyClaude KirbyWilliam Claude Kirby was a British businessman, amateur sportsman and association football executive.Kirby was the first chairman of Chelsea Football Club, assuming the position shortly after their foundation in March 1905. He kept the job until his death in 1935. He lived in Fulham - 22 Wardo...
- first chairman of Chelsea Football ClubChelsea F.C.Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four... - Constant LambertConstant LambertLeonard Constant Lambert was a British composer and conductor.-Early life:Lambert, the son of Russian-born Australian painter George Lambert, was educated at Christ's Hospital and the Royal College of Music...
- composer and conductor - Kit LambertKit LambertChristopher "Kit" Sebastian Lambert was a record producer and the manager for The Who.-Early life:Kit Lambert was the son of noted composer, Constant Lambert...
- music producer and original manager of The WhoThe WhoThe Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction... - Percy E. LambertPercy E. LambertPercy Edgar Lambert was the first person to drive an automobile a hundred miles in an hour.-World record:The record was set at Brooklands on 15 February 1913 when driving his 4.5 litre sidevalve Talbot. He actually covered 103 miles and 1470 yards in sixty minutes...
- racing car driver - Nat LanghamNat LanghamNat Langham was an English middleweight bare-knuckle prize fighter. He had the distinction of being the only opponent ever to beat the legendary Thomas Sayers.-Early life:...
- middleweight bare-knuckle fighter - Frederick Richards LeylandFrederick Richards LeylandFrederick Richards Leyland was a Liverpool shipowner and art collector.-Career:Leyland served as an apprentice in the firm of John Bibby, Sons & Co, where he rose to become a partner. In 1867 he took on the tenancy of Speke Hall, Liverpool and in 1869 bought a house in London at 49 Princes Gate...
- Liverpool shipowner and art collector - Bernard LevinBernard LevinHenry Bernard Levin CBE was an English journalist, author and broadcaster, described by The Times as "the most famous journalist of his day". The son of a poor Jewish family in London, he won a scholarship to the independent school Christ's Hospital and went on to the London School of Economics,...
- journalist, author and broadcaster - Archibald LowArchibald LowArchibald Montgomery Low was an English consulting engineer, research physicist and inventor, and author of more than 40 books....
- Inventor and author of science books - Henry McGeeHenry McGeeHenry McGee was a British actor, best known as straight man to Benny Hill for many years. McGee was also often the announcer on Hill's TV programme, delivering the upbeat intro "Yes! It's The Benny Hill Show!"...
- actor - Henry Augustus MearsGus MearsHenry Augustus "Gus" Mears was an English businessman, most notable for founding Chelsea Football Club.He was born in 1873, the son of Joseph and Charlotte Mears....
- founder of Chelsea Football ClubChelsea F.C.Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four... - Lionel MoncktonLionel MoncktonLionel John Alexander Monckton was an English writer and composer of musical theatre. He was Britain's most popular musical theatre composer of the early years of the 20th century.-Early life:...
– composer of Edwardian Musical Comedies - Henrietta MoraesHenrietta MoraesHenrietta Moraes was a British artists' model, bohémienne, and memoirist. During the 1950s and '60s, she was the muse and inspiration for many artists of the Soho subculture, like Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon, and known for her marriages and love affairs.A femme fatale and a bon vivant, she was...
- writer, artist's model and muse to Francis Bacon - Roderick MurchisonRoderick MurchisonSir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet KCB DCL FRS FRSE FLS PRGS PBA MRIA was a Scottish geologist who first described and investigated the Silurian system.-Early life and work:...
- geologist, originator of the SilurianSilurianThe Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician Period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Devonian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...
system - Adelaide NeilsonAdelaide NeilsonLilian Adelaide Neilson , born Elizabeth Ann Brown, was an English stage actress.-Early life:Neilson was the daughter of a strolling actress, named Brown, and was born, out of wedlock, at 35 St Peters Square Leeds in the West Riding of Yorkshire...
- English actress - William Gustavus Nicholson, 1st Baron Nicholson - First Chief of the Imperial General Staff
- Eugène OudinEugène OudinEugène Esperance Oudin was an American baritone, composer and translator of the Victorian era.-Early years:...
- American baritone - Sydney Owenson, Lady MorganLady MorganSydney, Lady Morgan , was an Irish novelist, best known as the author of The Wild Irish Girl.-Early life:...
- Anglo-Irish writer - Sir William PalliserWilliam PalliserMajor Sir William Palliser CB MP was an Irish-born politician and inventor, Member of Parliament for Taunton from 1880 until his death.-Early life:...
- Inventor and builder of Barons CourtBarons Court tube stationBarons Court is a London Underground station in West Kensington, Greater London. This station services the District Line and the Piccadilly Line. The station is located on Gliddon Road, a short distance from Talgarth Road in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham... - Emmeline PankhurstEmmeline PankhurstEmmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote...
- Britain's leading suffragetteSuffragette"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union... - Sir John Lysaght Pennefather - British general
- Percy Sinclair Pilcher - inventor and pioneering aviator
- Valentine Cameron PrinsepValentine Cameron PrinsepValentine Cameron Prinsep, often known as Val Princep, was a British painter of the Pre-Raphaelite school.-Early life:...
- Pre-Raphaelite painter - Fanny RonaldsFanny RonaldsMary Frances "Fanny" Ronalds , was an American socialite and amateur singer who is best known for her long affair with the composer Arthur Sullivan in London in the last decades of the nineteenth century....
- American socialite and singer - Blanche RooseveltBlanche RooseveltBlanche Roosevelt , was an American opera singer and author. Her father was state Senator Tucker of Wisconsin.-Early life and opera career:...
- American opera singer and author - Tim RoseTim RoseTimothy Alan Patrick Rose , best known professionally as Tim Rose, was an American singer-songwriter, who spent much of his life in London, England and had more success in Europe than in his native country...
- American singer-songwriter - William Howard RussellWilliam Howard RussellWilliam Howard Russell was an Irish reporter with The Times, and is considered to have been one of the first modern war correspondents, after he spent 22 months covering the Crimean War including the Charge of the Light Brigade.-Career:As a young reporter, Russell reported on a brief military...
- journalist and war correspondent - William SiborneWilliam SiborneWilliam Siborne, Sibourne or Siborn was a British officer and military historian whose most notable work was a history of the Waterloo campaign.-Early life:...
- Army officer and military historian, maker of the Siborne model - Samuel SmilesSamuel Smiles-Early life:Born in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, the son of Samuel Smiles of Haddington and Janet Wilson of Dalkeith, Smiles was one of eleven surviving children. The family were strict Cameronians, though when Smiles grew up he was not one of them...
- biographer and inventor of "self-help" - Albert Richard SmithAlbert Richard SmithAlbert Richard Smith , was an English author, entertainer, and mountaineer.-Biography:Smith was born at Chertsey, Surrey. The son of a surgeon, he studied medicine in London and in Paris, and his first literary effort was an account of his life there, which appeared in the Mirror. He gradually...
- writer - John SnowJohn Snow (physician)John Snow was an English physician and a leader in the adoption of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered to be one of the fathers of epidemiology, because of his work in tracing the source of a cholera outbreak in Soho, England, in 1854.-Early life and education:Snow was born 15 March...
- anaesthetist and epidemiologist, who demonstrated the link between cholera and infected water - H.F. Stephens - light railway pioneer
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fame. It was originally planned that Arthur would also be buried there until Queen Victoria insisted on his interment in St Paul's CathedralSt Paul's CathedralSt Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
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- chess master
The American Sioux Indian chief, Long Wolf, a veteran of the Sioux wars was buried here on June 13, 1892 having died age 59 of bronchial pneumonia while taking part in the European tour of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. He shared the grave with a 17 month old Indian girl named Star Ghost Dog believed to have fallen from her mother's arms while on horseback. 105 years later a British woman named Elizabeth Knight traced his family and campaigned with them to have his remains returned to the land of his birth. In 1997, Chief Long Wolf was finally moved to a new plot in the Wolf Creek Community Cemetery (ancestral burial ground of the Oglala Sioux tribe) at Pine Ridge, South Dakota.
His great grandson John Black Feather said "Back then, they had burials at sea, they did ask his wife if she wanted to take him home and she figured that as soon as they hit the water they would throw him overboard, so that's why they left him here."
Gallery
Brompton Cemetery is one of the Magnificent SevenMagnificent Seven, London
The "Magnificent Seven" is an informal term applied to seven large cemeteries in London. They were established in the 19th century to alleviate overcrowding in existing parish burial grounds.-Background:...
cemeteries, and is adjacent to Stamford Bridge, the home ground of Chelsea Football Club.
Further reading
- Meller, Hugh & Brian Parsons, London Cemeteries: an illustrated guide and gazetteer, The History Press, 2008, ISBN 9780750946223.
- Beach, Darren, London's Cemeteries, Metro Guides, 2006, ISBN 1-902910-23-0
- Culbertson, Judi & Tom Randall, Permanent Londoners: An Illustrated Guide to the Cemeteries of London. Post Mills, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 1991.