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John Clarke

Historian of Brookwood Cemetery

The First Burials at Brookwood: November 1854

This article provides some analysis of the first burials at Brookwood, from 13th - 30th November 1854


The burial registers in 1854 list the following details for each burial: the burial number, name, place of death, date of burial, the age of the deceased, the priest who performed the burial service, the grant number (this often indicates that a memorial is likely to have been placed), from which parish the deceased was removed from, where the grave is (i.e. on the consecrated or unconsecrated side - no further details are listed), and a column for notes. The information that would be very useful but which is not recorded includes: a precise location for the grave (plot numbers had not been allocated in 1854), the date of death, and whether a memorial was actually placed, the grant number alone being no guarantee of this.


A basic analysis of the November 1854 burials may be found in Table 1; Table 2 gives a full transcription of the first month's burials at Brookwood, laid out in a similar manner to the register itself. A total of 43 burials took place in two and a half weeks, split almost equally between the Consecrated and Unconsecrated sections (21 to 22 respectively), and the division between males and females (22 each, due to the stillborn male twins) The youngest person buried (excluding stillborn children) was George Wicks, aged 3 days (No. 7); the oldest was Charlotte Edwards, aged 74 years (No. 4), buried on the first day of business. The maximum number of burials catered for on any one day was seven (28th November); whilst on two days, the 14th and 26th, no funerals took place.


A total of ten different London parishes are represented: St Saviour’s Southwark (16 burials), St Luke’s Chelsea (12), Islington (2), Clerkenwell (1), St Pancras (1), St Giles’s Bloomsbury (7), St James’s Clerkenwell (1), St Thomas’s Southwark (1), St Marylebone (1), and St Bartholomew (1). Of these parishes, only the first (St Saviour’s) has been positively identified, covering plots 89 and 90 on the Consecrated side and plots 116 and 117 on the Unconsecrated side. It is not yet known whether the other parishes had distinct sections and, if so, where these are or were.


The first burial took place in the Unconsecrated section, in the parish plot of St Saviour’s Southwark, so this can be traced to plot 116 or 117. However, the first burial in the Church of England section did not take place until 18th November, in the St Luke’s Chelsea area, which has yet to be identified. The first date when the number of Church of England burials exceeded those for Dissenters was 21st November. The priests who conducted the services were both employed by the Necropolis Company for the opening of the Cemetery. It is interesting to note that the Rev. Atchison conducted the funeral of Lt. Gen. Sir H. Goldfinch, when the executors might have chosen a member of the local clergy from St. Marylebone to officiate instead.


Some similar addresses recur for this month. 16 Canonbury Park Villas (Nos. 9 and 18) reveal that brother and sister were buried a few days from one another. Then there is Ewer Street (Nos. 1 and 6), and both these entries refer to stillborn children. A number of former inmates of the St. Saviour’s Workhouse are represented by Nos. 2, 3, 5, 7 and 40; and similarly for St Giles’ Workhouse in entries 37 and 38.


One of the most interesting features of these 43 burials (44 counting the stillborn twins) is that 42 (or 43) of them are almost certainly representative of pauper burials, and that none of these is positively identifiable today. Table 3 summarises the details of the ten parishes represented by the burials during this period.


The first burial

Fortunately the first burial in the London Necropolis is in an identifiable parish area, being somewhere in plot 116 or 117.


The first memorial

There are similar ambiguities concerning the first memorial in the cemetery. The burials which took place in November 1854 did result in one private grave, that of Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Goldfinch KCB (1781-1854). This was a private grave, Grant No. 1, with the implication that a permanent memorial was placed. The grave has been located in plot 27, facing onto St Chad’s Avenue. Goldfinch’s burial throws some interesting light on the recording of burials at the time. He is listed as burial No. 26 in the register, but further study shows that burial Nos. 27-29 inclusive pre-date Goldfinch, so that he was in fact the 29th person to be buried. Perhaps this discrepancy was caused by the entries in the register being written up some time afterwards.



Table 1: Analysis of Burials for November 1854




















































Copyright © 2011
















Notes to Table 1

(1) Includes twins

(2) First Church of England burial

(3) Assumed burial site

(4) First date when Church of England burials exceed Nonconformist

(5) First private grave

 *   Includes twins

Date

Total Burials

Nonconf. Burials

C of E Burials

Female

Male

Week 1






13

4

4

0

2

3* (1)

14

0

0

0

0

0

15

1

1

0

0

1

16

2

2

0

0

2* (1)

17

2

2

0

2

0

18

2

1

1

0

2 (2)

19

1

1? (3)

0

0

1

Summary

12

11

1

4

9







Week 2






20

4

3

1

2

2

21

4

1

3

1

3 (4)

22

4

2

2

4

0

23

1

0

1

0

1

24

3

1

2

1

2

25

1

0

1

0

1 (5)

26

0

0

0

0

0

Summary

17

7

10

8

9







Week 3






27

3

2

1

2

1

28

7

0

7

5

2

29

1

1

0

1

0

30

3

1

2

2

1

Summary

14

4

10

10

4







Summary for Nov

43

22

21

22

22*


Table 2: Burials at Brookwood in November 1854






































































































































































































Table 3: Parish burials at Brookwood  in November 1854



























Notes to Table 3

(1) Includes twins

Name

Place of Death

When Buried

Age

Service By

Grant No

Parish removed from

CoE

Non

Notes

1. Mrs Hore, still born twins (male)

74 Ewer Street, Boro’

Nov 13th




St Saviour’s Southwark


X

Buried at the expense of parish

2. Elizabeth Costello

St Saviour’s Workhouse

Nov 13th

3 mth

Rev. R G Lemaire


St Saviour’s Southwark


X

Buried at the expense of parish

3. Henry Smith

Workhouse

Nov 13th

31

Rev. R G Lemaire


St Saviour’s Southwark


X

Buried at the expense of parish

4. Charlotte Edwards

Chelsea

Nov 13th

74

Rev. R G Lemaire


St Luke’s Chelsea


X


5. Thomas Myrstall

Workhouse

Nov 15th

66

Rev. R G Lemaire


St Saviour’s Southwark


X

Buried at the expense of parish

6. Ann Sumners still born child (male)

64 Ewer Street

Nov-16th




St Saviour’s Southwark


X

Buried at the expense of parish

7. George Wicks

Workhouse

Nov 16th

3 days

Rev. R G Lemaire


St Saviour’s Southwark


X

Buried at the expense of parish

8. Amelia Jane Sharp

Little Guildford Street

Nov 17th

6 mths

Rev. R G Lemaire


St Saviour’s Southwark


X

Buried at the expense of parish

9. Edward Franks Preeston

16 Canonbury Park Villas North

Nov 18th

11



Islington


X


10. John Bowden

Clerkenwell Prison

Nov 19th


Rev. R G Lemaire


Clerkenwell




11. Matilda Sarah Akast

16 York Street

Nov 17th

6 mths

Rev. R G Lemaire


St Saviour’s Southwark


X

Buried at the expense of parish

12. Henry Read

Manor Street

Nov 18th

35

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Luke’s Chelsea

X


Buried at the expense of parish

13. Catherine Kirby

19 Fishmongers Alley

Nov 20th

63

Rev. R G Lemaire


St Saviour’s Southwark


X

Buried at the expense of parish

14. Henry Brown

20 Hatfield Place

Nov 20th

3 mths

Rev. R G Lemaire


St Saviour’s


X

Buried at the expense of parish

15. Henry Frederick Bacon

12 New Street

Nov 20th

2 mths

Rev. R G Lemaire


St Saviour’s


X

Buried at the expense of parish

16. Mary Carpenter

Workhouse

Nov 20th

63

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Luke’s Chelsea

X


Buried at the expense of parish

17. Eleanor Staneley

12 William Street, Hampstead Road

Nov 22nd

73

Rev. R G Lemaire


St Pancras


X


18. Rachael Ester Maria Preeston

16 Canonbury Park Villas North

Nov 21st

9



Islington


X


19. George Welch

29 Wellington Square

Nov 21st

14 mths

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Luke’s Chelsea

X


Buried at the expense of parish

20. William Russell

1 Mermaid Yard

Nov 21st

3

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Luke’s Chelsea

X


Buried at the expense of parish

21. John Bilson Crouch

5 Exeter Place

Nov 21st

1

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Luke’s Chelsea

X


Buried at the expense of parish

22.Mary Ann Toomey

Adams Place

Nov 22nd

2 mths

Rev. R G Lemaire


St Saviour’s Southwark


X

Buried at the expense of parish

23. Emma Barton

12 Exeter Buildings

Nov 22nd

9 wks

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Luke’s Chelsea

X


Buried at the expense of parish

24. Harriet Kitchen

12 Queen’s Street

Nov 22nd

2

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Luke’s Chelsea

X


Buried at the expense of parish

25. Charles Gaffe

Guy’s Hospital

Nov 23rd

53

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Thomas Southwark

X



26. Lt. Gen. Sir Henry Goldfinch KCB

11 Upper Wimpole Street

Nov 25th

73

Rev. H. Aitchison

No. 1

St Marylebone

X



27. Sara Ann Parry

Pitts Place

Nov 24th

19 mths

Rev. R G Lemaire


St Saviour’s Southwark


X

Buried at the expense of parish

28. John Talbot

9 Charlotte Street

Nov 24th

21 mths

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Luke’s Chelsea

X


Buried at the expense of parish

29. Robert Edward Till

87 New Road

Nov 24th

16 mths

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Luke’s Chelsea

X


Buried at the expense of parish

30. Charles Henry Charlton

2 Middlesex Bartholomew Close

Nov 27th

2y 8m

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Bartholomew the Great

X



31. Teresa Stevenson

35 George Street

Nov 27th

73

Rev. R G Lemaire


St Saviour’s Southwark


X

Buried at the expense of parish

32. Harriet Mayhew

6 Angel Court

Nov 27th

8 mths

Rev. R G Lemaire


St Saviour’s Southwark


X

Buried at the expense of parish

33. Samuel Watts

45 Charles Street, Drury Lane

Nov 28th

6 wks

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Giles’s Bloomsbury

X


Buried at the expense of parish

34. Willia Allen

25 Little Square, Andrew Street

Nov 28th

64

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Giles’s Bloomsbury

X


Buried at the expense of parish

35. Salina Merge

10 Cross Lane

Nov 28th

2

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Giles’s Bloomsbury

X


Buried at the expense of parish

36. Jane Read

7 Shaw Court

Nov 28th

8 mths

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Giles’s Bloomsbury

X


Buried at the expense of parish

37. Emma Dorien

Workhouse

Nov 28th

16

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Giles’s Bloomsbury

X


Buried at the expense of parish

38. Elizabeth Ewin

Workhouse

Nov 28th

7

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Giles’s Bloomsbury

X


Buried at the expense of parish

39. William Eddington

Star Court

Nov 28th

28

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Giles’s Bloomsbury

X


Buried at the expense of parish

40. Ann Maizey

Workhouse

Nov 29th

70

Rev. R G Lemaire


St Saviour’s Southwark


X

Buried at the expense of parish

41. Jane Watmore

6 Turnmill Street, Cow Cross

Nov 30th

33

Rev. R G Lemaire


St James Clerkenwell


X


42. Olive Lucy Huntley Nicholls

13 Doyley Street

Nov 30th

7 wks

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Luke’s Chelsea

X


Buried at the expense of parish

43. Thomas Ditch

5 Danvers Buildings

Nov 30th

19 mths

Rev. H. Aitchison


St Luke’s Chelsea

X


Buried at the expense of parish

Parish

C of E

Nonconf

Total

Female

Male

Total

Clerkenwell

?

?

1

0

1

1

Islington

0

2

2

1

1

2

St Bartholomew’s the Great

1

0

1

0

1

1

St Giles’s, Bloomsbury

7

0

7

5

2

7

St James’ Clerkenwell

0

1

1

1

0

1

St Luke’s, Chelsea

10

1

11

4

7

11

St Marylebone

1

0

1

0

1

1

St Pancras

0

1

1

1

0

1

St Savior’s, Southwark

0

17 (1)

17

9

8 (1)

17

St Thomas’s, Southwark

1

0

1

0

1

1