"By way of Kensal Green"

My friends will not go again or ape an ancient rage,

Or stretch the folly of our youth to be the shame of age,

But walk with clearer eyes and ears this path that wandereth,

And see undrugged in evening light the decent inn of death;

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" from The Flying Inn (1914) by G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

After my much-enjoyed visit to Highgate Cemetery, I decided to visit another of the great London Cemeteries--"The Magnificent Seven"--as suggested in the guide books, Kensal Green Cemetery. All of this cemetery is much like the new section of Highgate, with none of the evocative over-grown atmosphere of that Victorian resting place. Nevertheless, Kensal Green has some famous 'residents' and some spectacular monuments. Plus, as an added bonus, the BBC was making a film in Kensal Green Cemetery today.

Officially named the General Cemetery of All Souls, Kensal Green, it is called London's first garden cemetery. It was established by Act of Parliament in July 1832, held its first funeral in January 1833, and opened its first crematorium in 1939. It is still managed by the General Cemetery Company--from 1830--and is actively operating as a burial place. The Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery work towards restoration and preservation and conducts Sunday tours. This being a Monday, I am on my own, but I purchase a cemetery guide and find some of the monuments I hoped to see.

This memorial is for Henry Russell (1812-1900), the actor, and composer of 800 songs including Life on the Ocean Waves and My Old Armchair, the inspiration for this monument. The inscription reads as follows:

"I love it, I love it, and who shall dare

to chide me for loving this old armchair."

His songs like his acts encouraged the poor and inspired the rich. Beloved by all who knew him. He died as he lived in perfect peace.

Kensal Green lacks the over-growth of Highgate, but there are mausoleums that are falling down, and warning signs in the older section warning of falling monuments and cave-ins. Along the wall next to the canal, earth--presumably from newer graves--has been dumped on top of monuments, although it looks like these mounds are being cleared. Graves are jammed in everywhere, so that in the midst of Gothic monuments or great Victorian memorials, are ugly modern stones, often decked with plastic floral arrangements.

There are well-known writers here including William Makepeace Thackery (Vanity Fair) and Anthony Trollope, author of the "Barchester" and "Palliser" novels. Here is the grave of Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) the pioneer of detective fiction--The Woman in White, The Moonstone; a weather-beaten copy of one of his novels leans against the cross. Collins is buried here with his mistress, Caroline Graves.

The elaborate monument for William Holland (1779-1856) the manufacturer of fine furniture, found at homes such as Osborne and Balmoral; he was also a "society undertaker," which I presume means he made caskets for the well-to-do and maybe royalty.

The family mausoleum for Eustace Meredyth Martin. It seems he was a writer of religious travel books, most unlike my blog.

The tomb of HRH Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (1773-1848). The free-thinking sixth son of George III, was a Freemason, President of the Royal Society, and the first Royal to be buried in a public cemetery. This "coup" sealed the social cachet of Kensal Green for the rest of the century, so that now there are 650 members of titled nobility buried here. His second wife, Cecilia Letitia, Duchess of Inverness, is buried here with him.

The monument to HRH Princess Sophia (1777-1848), "the bookish fifth daughter of George III, spirited in her youth but isolated by disability in later life; clandestinely a mother, but never a wife." I wrote about George III's family when I blogged about Kew Palace at Kew Gardens.

There is an unusual mix of styles in Kensal Green, of all imaginable types. The most modern might be this stone portal; the ugliest are the black granite stones with gold lettering, quite recent, and often covered in garish "trinkets." To accommodate more interments, the Cemetery has even taken old pathways and buried people in them, so that amongst the rows of the oldest graves are mixed stones placed awkwardly in front of them.

The guidebook for the Tomb of the Paul Family reads:

"Bankers, both named Sir John Dean Paul: 1st Baronet (d. 1852) was the financial backer of the General Cemetery Company, a respected artist and writer; 2nd Baronet (1802-1868) was convicted of fraud in 1855 (deposited in Catacomb B)." As in "dumped"?

Although some greenery has been slashed, many mausoleums are in disrepair. Often, the doorways have been bricked in, perhaps after doors rotted away. I only saw one with restoration underway.

When I first arrived, wanting to see the oldest section, I was confronted by an apparent funeral, with a dozen or more mourners and the clergyman in his white C of E cloak. However, parked nearby were 6 or 10 large white trucks. I spoke to a gravedigger who told me that the BBC was filming a made-for-television film series, and that if I wandered close enough I might end up in the movie. I walked onto the "set" whilst the actors were having lunch and the film crew was setting up for another scene nearby. I wasn't intrusive enough to take photos of the actors or the scene of a burial.

The curious Andrew Ducrow (1793-1842) was called the "Colussus of Equestrians", a celebrated circus performer, star of elaborate equine dramas, and proprietor of Astley's Amphitheatre. His tomb is one of the largest and most decorated in the cemetery. The decoration is largely pagan, from Greek and Egyptian sources, and notably contains no Christian symbolism. It was designed by Ducrow's theatrical circus events designer, and was previously painted in bright colours that have since faded. (Ducrow was probably the inspiration for the horseback-riding performer in Tracey Chevalier's excellent novel about William Blake, Burning Bright. She gives credit to Astley's Amphitheatre and circus.)

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

GEORGE CRUIKSHANK

ARTIST

DESIGNER, ETCHER, PAINTER.

Born Sept. 27th 1792.

Died Feby. 1st 1878,

at 263 Hamstead Rd., London,

aged 86.

FOR 30 YEARS A TOTAL ABSTAINER,

AND ARDENT PIONEER AND CHAMPION

BY PENCIL, WORD AND PEN

OF

UNIVERSAL ABSTINENCE

FROM

INTOXICATING DRINKS.

HIS REMAINS

LAID IN THIS CEMETERY

FEBY. 9TH 1878

WERE REMOVED ON

NOVR. 29TH 1878

TO ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

WHERE THEY FINALLY REPOSE.

THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED

BY HIS AFFECTIONATE WIDOW

ELIZA CRUIKSHANK.

[Beneath, on a white plaque, we read: "Eliza Cruikshank--[with dates]--interred here." The guidebook takes an interesting approach to his re-burial in St. Paul's: "Remains TRANSLATED to St. Paul's Cathedral in 1878."

It is worth the reader's while to read the inscription for John St. John Long, the "sometime painter and fashionable quack doctor thrice convicted (and once acquitted) of manslaughter of his patients with caustic liniments."

IT IS THE FATE OF MOST MEN TO HAVE MANY ENEMIES, AND FEW FRIENDS.

THIS MONUMENTAL PILE

IS NOT INTENDED TO MARK THE CAREER

BUT TO SHEW

HOW MUCH ITS INHABITANT WAS RESPECTED

BY THOSE WHO KNEW HIS WORTH

AND THE BENEFITS

DERIVED FROM HIS REMEDIAL DISCOVERY.

HE IS NOW AT IS REST

AND FAIR BEYOND THE PRAISES AND CENSURES

OF THIS WORLD.

IN ANGER AS YOU RESPECT THIS RECEPTACLE FOR THE DEAD

AS ONE OF THE MANY THAT WILL REST HERE

READ THE NAME OF JOHN SAINT JOHN LONG

WITHOUT COMMENT.

The impressive monument of Edmund Molyneaux (1798-1864). He was a solicitor and diplomat, the British Consul to Savannah, Georgia from 1831-1864.

Mary Ellen Gibson (1854-1872) "died in a London hotel, possibly on a visit to a medical consultant." One can guess why an 18-year-old girl died so tragically. The baroque angels originally held a wreath.

The monument to Major General the Honourable Sir William Casement, K. C. B. He was in the Bengal Army and was a member of the Supreme Council of India. (He is actually buried in Calcutta, but other members of his family are entombed here.)

The most prominent "residents" in Kensal Green are buried on Central Avenue.

Henry Edward Kendall (1776-1875) was an architect who won a competition for the design of the chapels and gates of Kensal Green, with Gothic designs later rejected in favour of Neo-Classical plans.

The Brunel Family. The Brunels were famous engineers: Sir Marc Isambard Brunel "achieved innovations in tool-making and masterminded the first tunnel under water, beneath the Thames at Wapping. Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859) designed three remarkable steamships, 25 railways, over 120 railway bridges, eight piers and docks, and five suspension bridges."

The plaque is unreadable; the grave is not on the map of famous people; I'd guess he was a bricklayer.

In the Dissenters' section is the obelisk to Robert Owen, next to another called the Reformers' Memorial, erected by Joseph Corfield in 1885. Were all social activists and reformers Dissenters?

For some reason I studied Robert Owen in university; later, in a course I taught on Utopias in Literature and Life, his name (and others on these monuments to social activists) came up often.

The shabbiness of the Dissenters' Chapel illustrates how run-down Kensal has become.

A few monuments have not been stripped of all greenery. The only inscription refers to "Mary: wife of William Blew Jone." (Not Jones.)

I wanted to find the grave of John William Waterhouse, one of the painters of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, but called the "Modern Pre-Raphaelite." At home, framed, I have small copies of some of his works on my wall, including a favourite of mine, "I am half sick of shadows, said the Lady of Shallot" (1916) and "The Mermaid" (1901).

The stories behind the tombs or a mausoleum like this one, remain untold. The inscription reads:

In Loving Memory of my Husband Imre Kiralfy.

1st Jan. 1845--27 Apr 1919

At rest in family mausoleum. Green-Wood. New York, USA.

Erected for the interment of our children and grandchildren by Marie Kiralfy.

The tallest obelisk in the cemetery if that of Joseph Richardson (1790-1855) who was the creator of the "Rock Harminicon" and led the family Rock, Bell and Steel Band.

Captain Charles Spencer Ricketts (1788-1867) went to sea when he was seven, served under Horatio Nelson, and ultimately became High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire. Nelson's surgeon at Trafalgar, Sir William Beatty, rests in Catacomb A, exclusively for the placement of what are called "ornate triple-shell, lead-sealed coffins." Only Catacomb B is open to the public, and only for the tours on the first and third Sunday of each month.

Many famous people are buried in Kensal Green, including Blondin, the funambulist "whose feats on the tightrope included several crossings at Niagara Falls, variously blindfolded, on stilts, in a sack, with cooking apparatus, performing acrobatics, and carrying his agent on his back." (I did not find his monument, nor did I locate that of Lady Byron, wife of the poet, or the tomb of William Henry Smith, the stationer, whose name lives on as the bookseller WHSmith.)

I could find no reference to this monument, nor any inscription. It is opposite the little-used Royal, or Victoria Gate. Nearby is a non-descript grave for the singer and dancer called Samuel Collins (Samuel Vegg) who specialized in Irish characters and was proprietor of Collins' Music Hall on Islington Green.

Views of the predominant, Neo-Classical Anglican Chapel. Ugly and falling apart, although still in active use.

Under the Chapel are the catacombs and vaults. Here are buried the man who torched Washington, DC and took Napoleon to St. Helena, Admiral Sir George Cockburn (1772-1853), tragedian William Charles Macready, and Jane Griffin (later Lady Franklin--1792-1875) the traveler and widow of the ill-fated Arctic explorer.

I looked for and could not find several graves I wanted to see: As a huge Lewis Carroll fan I wanted to find the grave of Sir John Tenniel (1820-1914), whose illustrations for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Class are the iconic images for the Alice stories. Thrice I walked along the path where his ashes are interred, but didn't find the grave, which may be quite ordinary. I also looked for the playwright Harold Pinter, poet, screenwriter, actor, political activist and Nobel Laureate in Literature, who died in 2008. His grave was cluttered with film equipment.

Joseph Shaw was a Barrister of Inner Temple. He is buried here with his wife, in what looks like a small sheep enclosure. She died in 1897 and he lived until 1933.

Sir Samuel Wilson, MP, died in 1895 at age 63. He was an Irish-born pastoralist who spent many years in Australia but later returned to England where he was eventually elected to the House of Commons.

The unusual tombstone of Howard Staunton (1810-1874) the designer of the modern chess set and an editor of Shakespeare.

I didn't actually see the coffin below, but it was widely-reported in Eastern Canada in 2009. The casket was found inside a decrepit wooden crate in the vast vaults underneath the Anglican Chapel. No one knew why it was there, and eventually the crate was opened to reveal a good quality coffin. The metal plate attached to the lid read: "Gladys Winifred Fowler. Died 17th April, 1919. Aged 18 years." One of the volunteer Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery tracked down her death certificate and discovered she was the daughter of New Brunswick MP George William Fowler (later Canadian Senator), at that time a Lieutenant-Colonel serving with the 13th Battalion Canadian Infantry during the final months of World War 1. For some reason her coffin was never shipped home to Hammondvale, near Sussex, NB, where the family tombstone lists her name.

The good news is that in November 2009 the young lady was repatriated and buried with her family in New Brunswick.

Just outside the West Gate on Harrow Road is this pub. Quite fitting next to a cemetery filled with the craft of the stonemason.

The London Transport web page reported delays with the Bakerloo Undergound line--the only tube that could take me to the cemetery--so that might explain that there were almost no people of the subway up or back. It is likely risky to snap photos inside a full train, but since I was alone, I took this self-portrait before heading to The Regent's Park and Marylebone, the subjects of my next blog.