Upper Hale Cemetery (also known as Hale Cemetery) is the burial ground for the district of

Hale Hale may refer to: Places Australia *Hale, Northern Territory, a locality *Hale River, in southeastern Northern Territory Canada *Hale, Ontario, in Algoma District United Kingdom * Hale, Cumbria, a hamlet near Beetham, Cumbria *Hale, Greater Man ...

Farnham Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a trib ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. Hale grew rapidly after 1854 when the British Army became established in nearby

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. At this time many people came to the area seeking employment in building Aldershot and the military barracks. As the cottages spread, those nearer to Aldershot formed a separate village, which became known as Heath End. As more homes were built and the local population expanded it soon became obvious that a new burial ground at Hale was needed as the churchyard at

St John the Evangelist Church St. John the Evangelist Church refers to churches honoring John the Apostle, also known as John the Divine or John of Patmos, as their patron saint but distinguished from John the Baptist. Thus, the designation may refer to: Australia * St John ...

in Hale gradually began to fill. Locals could also be buried at the new cemetery at West Street Cemetery in town, also known as Farnham Cemetery, and at

Badshot Lea Badshot Lea is a small village in Surrey, England, and close to Aldershot. Badshot Lea has access in either direction to the A31 and A331 and is connected to railway stations in the nearby towns with regular bus services. The village is part o ...

Cemetery. However, Farnham Burial Board advised St John the Evangelist church in Hale to apply for Common land from the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

. Funds to purchase the land for a new cemetery and to build the two small chapels came from the Hale Poor rates and in 1872 the War Office provided of land as a burial ground for the people of Upper Hale. The church of St Mark the Evangelist was built opposite the cemetery in 1883. Hale Cemetery Farnham chapels

It took 8 months to convert the rough land into ground suitable for a cemetery and to build the two chapels in addition to walling the area and marking out the land. Upper Hale Cemetery was consecrated by

Samuel Wilberforce Samuel Wilberforce, FRS (7 September 1805 – 19 July 1873) was an English bishop in the Church of England, and the third son of William Wilberforce. Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public speakers of his day.Natural Hi ...

, the

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except dur ...

on 1 November 1872 and the first burial took place two weeks later on 27 November 1872. The two small chapels in the cemetery have now been partially demolished and a garden created in their place. Upper Hale Cemetery has 20 burials from the two World Wars – 16 from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and 4 from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

with their distinctive

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

headstones. Among the WWII burials is Pte. Maud Rose Payne (1925–1945) of the

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 Februa ...

who was from Farnham.

Notable burials

* William Ellis (1831–1913), served in the

11th Hussars The 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 10th Royal Hussars (Pri ...

during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

and is said to have taken part in the

Charge of the Light Brigade The Charge of the Light Brigade was a failed military action involving the British light cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. Lord Raglan had intended to se ...

in 1854. The military historians

William Lummis Canon William Murrell Lummis MC (4 June 1886 – 2 November 1985) was a British military historian most noted for the research he conducted on the Victoria Cross, the Charge of the Light Brigade, and Rorke's Drift.Roy Dutton''Forgotten Her ...

and E. J. Boys wrote that Ellis 'probably charged'; Lummis, who met him, described him as a 'simple man'. His gravestone was bought by his old regiment and bears the regimental crest. The inscription reads: ‘He served in the XI Hussars and rode in the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava on October 25th 1854’.Visiting our Cemeteries – Farnham Town Council website
/ref>Glenn Christodoulou, 'Forgotten Men of the Light Brigade', ''The War Correspondent'': Journal of the

Crimean War Research Society The Crimean War Research Society (CWRS) is an international society of professional and amateur historians who research the Crimean War of 1854–56. The Society aims to bring previously unpublished or under researched material concerning the Crim ...

(October 1986)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Upper Hale Cemetery, Farnham Farnham Cemeteries in Surrey Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in England Buildings and structures in Farnham 1872 establishments