Trifter

The magnificent seven cemeteries were a response to an 1832 Parliamentary Act which closed all inner London churchyards.

The Act was required to address a public health issue.  During the first half of the 19th century the population of London more than doubled from 1 million to 2.3 million.  The small parish churchyards were dangerously overcrowded.  Graves were being dug up prematurely for reuse.  The contamination was reaching the new sewer system.

Seven private commercial cemetries were established to address the need.  These were: 

• Kensal Green Cemetery – 1832
• West Norwood Cemetery – 1837
• Highgate Cemetery – 1839
• Abney Park Cemetery – 1840
• Nunhead Cemetery – 1840
• Brompton Cemetery – 1840
• Tower Hamlets Cemetery – 1841

Each of the commercial cemeteries contains some fine Victorian monuments and is the final resting place of some famous names.

By 1850 it was clear that even these cemeteries would soon overflow.  A new Act of Parliament encouraged the development of municipal cemetries.   

Kensal Green was the first commercial cemetery.  It is one of the magnificent seven to be still operated by the founding company, the General Cemetery Company.    The cemetery is the burial site of approximately 250,000 individuals in 65,000 graves, including upwards of 500 members of the British nobility and 550 people listed in the Dictionary of National Biography. The site includes extensive catacombs.

Kensal Green Cemetery – 1832

“For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen;Before we go to Paradise by way of Kensal Green” The Rolling English Road, G.K.Chesterton

The Duke of Sussex, sixth son of King George III was buried here in 1843, followed by his sister in 1848. The Duke was appalled by the bickering over protocol concerning the funeral of William IV at Windsor. He declared “I would not be buried there after this fashion for all the world” and stipulated burial at Kensal Green. 

Some of the other worthies buried at Kensal Green include:

•  Charles Babbage (1791–1871), mathematician, computer scientist
• Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859), engineer
• Marc Isambard Brunel (1769–1849), engineer
• Wilkie Collins (1824–1889), author
• Freddie Mercury (1946–1991), singer (cremated here; ashes scattered on the shores of Lake Geneva, near Montreux, Switzerland)
• Robert Owen (memorial) (1771–1858), industrialist and major social reformer
• Harold Pinter (1930–2008), playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, poet and political activist
• William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863), writer
• Anthony Trollope (1815–1882), novelist