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Kensal Green Cemetery, History of

^{(home page:- Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery http://www.kensalgreen.co.uk)}

CEMETERIES. The General Cemetery, Kensal Green, Harrow Road. A cemetery for the interment of persons of all religious persuasions has been lately established here, under the sanction of an act of Parliament, on an elevated and beautiful site, at a distance of three miles from Oxford Street. It contains nearly fifty acres of ground, surrounded on three sides by a high and massive wall, and, on the remaining side, in order to admit a view of the scenery of the adjoining country, by a handsome iron railing, of equal height with the wall, the enclosed area being planted, and laid out in walks, after the manner of Père la Chaise at Paris. The greater part has been consecrated, and a small chapel has been erected for the performance of the burial service, according to the forms of the established church, to which office a clergyman of the Church of England has been appointed. In the unconsecrated part, which is appropriated to the use of such persons as object to the burial service of the established church, an elegant Doric chapel has been erected, where the burial rites of every religious sect may be solemnized. This was the first mortuary of its kind established in the vicinity of the metropolis, and its success has led to the formation of five others viz., one at High gate; another at Norwood, in Surrey ; Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington; the Tower Hamlets Cemetery, Mile End Road; and London Cemetery, Nunhead, near Peckham. The Dissenters' Cemetery, better known as Bunhill Fields Burying-ground, is wholly appropriated to the reception of Dissenters, and is situated north of the Artillery Ground in Bunhill Row.

Mogg's New Picture of London and Visitor's Guide to it Sights, 1844

KENSAL GREEN CEMETERY, HARROW ROAD. A public burial-ground about two miles and a half from the Paddington Station of the Great Western Railway. It was formed by a joint-stock company in the year 1832, and is the only one of the suburban cemeteries yielding a good dividend to the proprietors. There is a great deal of bad taste in art exhibited in the cemetery, and four of the most conspicuous tombs are to St. John Long, the quack doctor; Ducrow, the rider; Morrison, the pill-man; and George Robins, the auctioneer. Eminent Persons interred in.- Duke of Sussex, son of George III, (d.1843), and the Princess Sophia, daughter of George III (d.1848). The Royal Family are buried in the royal vault at Windsor, but the Duke of Sussex left particular directions that he should be buried in the cemetery at Kensal Green. The duke's grave is near the chapel, and is marked by an enormous granite tomb. - Anne Scott, and Sophia Lockhart, daughters of the Author of Waverley, and John Hugh Lockhart, the "Hugh Littlejohn" of the Tales of a Grandfather; monument in inner circle - Allan Cunningham (d. 1842) author of the Lives of British Painters, Sculptors &c.; monument in the north-west corner of cemetery. - John Murray, of Albemarle-street, the publisher, and friend of Lord Byron (d.1843); monument in inner circle - Rev. Sydney Smith, (Peter Plymley); in the public vault, catacomb B. - Thomas Barnes (d.1841), for many years editor of the Times newspaper; altar-tomb. - Tom Hood, the poet and wit (d.1845), buried near Ducrow's monument. - John Liston, the actor, the original Paul Pry, (d. 1845); altar-tomb, surmounted by an urn, on the left of the chapel. - J.C.Loudon, (d.1843), celebrated for his works on gardening, altar-tomb. - George Dyer, the historian of Cambridge, and the "G.D." of Charles Lamb, (d.1841). - Sir Augustus Callcott, the landscape painter (d.1844); flat stone. - Dr. Birkbeck, the well-known promoter of Mechanics Institutions, (d. 1841). - Sir William Batty (d.1842). Nelson's surgeon at the battle of Trafalgar; taken in colonnade. - Thomas Daniell, R.A., the landscape painter, (d.1840); altar-tomb; the inscription was written by Allan Cunningham at the request of Sir David Wilkie.

Peter Cunningham, Hand-Book of London, 1850

see also Edmund Yates in The Business of Pleasure - click here

KENSAL-GREEN CEMETERY, Harrow-road, is about two miles and a half from the Paddington station of the Great Western Railway, and was formed by a joint-stock company in 1832. The Duke of Sussex (died 1843) and the Princess Sophia (died 1848) are both buried here; another instance - at least as far as the will of the first is concerned - that his sympathies were with the people, even in his death. But there are other tombs even more interesting. Anne Scott, the daughter of the novelist, Sir Walter; Allan Cunningham; John Murray, the eminent publisher; Thomas Barnes, many years editor of the Times; Rev. Sydney Smith (Peter Plymley); Thomas Hood; John Liston, the original Paul Pry of Poole's play; J.C. Loudon, the well-known writer on gardening; Dr. Birkbeck, the founder of the Mechanic's Institutions - have all their graves here; while the most conspicuous monuments are those erected to Ducrow, the actor; Morison, the Hygeist; George Robins, the auctioneer; Soyer, the cook; and St. John Long, the quack!

Routledge's Popular Guide to London, [c.1873]

KENSAL GREEN CEMETERY.

Kensal Green Cemetery, which was laid out in 1832 is situated to the north-west of Paddington, between the Grand Junction Canal and the London and North-Western Railway. It extends over sixty acres, and contains some seventy thousand graves. The Cemetery is remarkable less for its beauty than for the number of famous people who are buried therein, including, to mention just a few, Sydney Smith, Tom Hood, Leigh Hunt, Thackerav, Buckle, Mulreadv, Eastlake, Leech, Gibson, Kemble, Charles Mathews, Macready, Liston, Mme. Tietjens, Mme. Vestris, and Brunel. The Duke of Sussex was buried here at his own request, so disgusted was he with the formalities attending the funeral of William IV. at Windsor. In the adjoining Roman Catholic cemetery the remains of Cardinals Wiseman and Manning were interred.