Kensal Green Cemetery

Kensal Green Cemetery, located in Kensal Green, London, England, was incorporated in 1832, and is the oldest of the 'Magnificent Seven' cemeteries still in operation. It is the only Victorian cemetery established by an act of the British Parliament with a mandate that its bodies may not be exhumed and cremated or the land sold for development. Once the cemetery is filled the legislation requires that it must become a memorial park.

Related Topics:
Kensal Green - London - England - 1832 - Magnificent Seven - Victorian - British Parliament

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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. A garden style cemetery, Kensal Green is the oldest of seven private Victorian cemeteries located in the outskirts of London. Adjacent to Kensal Green is St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery.

Related Topics:
Dictionary of National Biography - St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery

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Interred at Kensal Green is Marigold Frances Churchill, the daughter of Sir Winston Churchill and Lady Clementine who died from a fever in 1921 at age three. Some of the other notable interred here are:

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• Henry Ainley (1879-1945), actor
• Charles Babbage, mathematician, computer scientist
• Robert Baden-Powell, soldier, writer and founder of the scouting movement
• George Birkbeck, doctor, academic and adult education pioneer
• Charles Blondin, acrobat, tightrope-walker
• Louis de la Bourdonnais, chess master
• Isambard Kingdom Brunel, engineer
• Marc Isambard Brunel, engineer
• Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), composer and conductor
• Wilkie Collins, author
• Thomas Hood, poet, humorist, journalist
• Fanny Kemble, actor, poet
• Alexander McDonnell, chess master
• Kitty Melrose, actress
• Freddie Mercury, singer
• Ras Andargachew Messai (1902-1981), Ethiopian ruler
• Iris Murdoch (1919-1999), author
• Robert Owen (memorial) (1771-1858), industrialist and major social reformer
• Sir William Siemens (1823–1883), industrialist
• William Henry Smith, businessman
• Princess Sophia (1777-1848), "wayward" daughter of King George III
• William Makepeace Thackeray, writer
• Therese Tietjens, famous opera singer
• Anthony Trollope, novelist
• William Vincent Wallace (1812-1865), composer
• John William Waterhouse (1849-1917), artist

At the centre is All Souls' Chapel, containing several tombs as well. There is also a catacomb currently not maintained.

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See also: List of famous cemeteries

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Kensal Green Cemetery: External links ►