City of Westminster Cemetery, Hanwell 02

City of Westminster (Hanwell) Cemetery is a cemetery located in Hanwell, Ealing, west London. It is owned and managed by the City of Westminster's Parks Service.

History

By the 1840s, the cemeteries of London were full and almost overflowing. The Bayswater Road Cemetery and St Mark's, North Audley Street were under the control of the St. George's Hanover Square Burial Board, who were unable to find a solution until the Metropolitan Interment Act of 1850 became law. In 1853, the board purchased in Hanwell for their exclusive use. Robert Jerrard was appointed as architect, who designed the church and administration buildings in a

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

Gothic revival architecture style.

Consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on 6 July 1854, by the Bishop of London Charles Blomfield, the total cost of cemetery and buildings was £14,741 17s 11d. The first interment took place on 2 August 1854. In 1883, and additional were purchased, making a total size of today of . In 1889, the cemetery was transferred to the Metropolitan Borough of the City of Westminster. The cemetery suffered extensive damage during World War Two, and at the end of the war in Europe a gift was given to the cemetery in the form of the renewal of the chapel's south side stained glass window, depicting a miscellany of some 30 biblical emblems. In 1965, the cemetery came under new management in light of local government reorganisation. In 1987, the cemetery was one of three that

Shirley Porter Shirley, Lady Porter (''née'' Cohen; born 29 November 1930), styled between 1991 and 2003 as Dame Shirley Porter, is a British politician who led Westminster City Council in London, representing the Conservative Party. She is the daughter and ...

's Westminster City Council controversially sold to land developers for 15p. However, like East Finchley and Mill Hill, it was reacquired by the new City of Westminster in 1990, and renamed at that point as their Hanwell Cemetery. The council undertook extensive restoration of the central buildings in 1994, and in 2001 replaced the entire roof and cleaned the exterior walls, as well as making all provisions required under the Disability Discrimination Act.

War graves

Memorial to City of Westminster killed, Hanwell

There are 84 graves administered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission – 55 from World War I and 29 from World War II – located throughout the cemetery.http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/42409/HANWELL%20CEMETERY CWGC cemetery report. There is also a Royal British Legion memorial cross in the centre of the cemetery. A number of people killed during World War II in air raids were buried temporarily during the conflict, and then reburied afterwards. 200 residents of the City of Westminster are remembered on the civilian memorial, located near the centre of the grounds. Unveiled in 1950, it houses the grave of popular singer Al Bowlly, who was killed at his flat in Jermyn Street during an air raid on 17 April 1941.

Transport links

The cemetery is well connected to London's transport network, with buses E3, E8, 83 and

207 Year 207 ( CCVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Maximus and Severus (or, less frequently, year 960 '' Ab urbe con ...

stopping outside. The nearest London Underground stations are Ealing Broadway,

Acton Town Acton Town is a London Underground station in the south-west corner of Acton, West London, in the London Borough of Ealing, close to the border with the London Borough of Hounslow. The station is served by the District and Piccadilly lines a ...

and Boston Manor. TfL Rail services stop at Hanwell station from

London Paddington Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services pro ...

Notable interments

Violet Bland Violet Ann Bland (17 December 1863 – 21 March 1940) was an English suffragette and hotelier who wrote about her experiences being force fed in prison. Early life and career Bland was born in Bayston Hill, Shropshire, the oldest of nine child ...

(1863-1940), English Suffragette * Al Bowlly, singer. Killed in The Blitz, buried in the mass grave in the centre of the grounds *

Marta Cunningham Marta Cunningham CBE (December 1869 – June 25, 1937) was an American-born European-based soprano. Born in 1869 in Brazos County, Texas, United States, her parents were Albert Baxter and Martha Minerva Tharp Cunningham, both from DeSoto Parish, ...

CBE, American soprano singer and philanthropist, founder of the

Not Forgotten Association The Not Forgotten Association (known as 'The Not Forgotten') is a British Armed Forces registered charity for serving and ex-servicemen and women that operates throughout the United Kingdom. The Not Forgotten combats isolation and loneliness in the ...

. *

Freddie Frinton Freddie Frinton (born Frederick Bittiner Coo;According to the NDR, and the General Record Office (Births, Marriages, Deaths) Frinton's birth name was Coo.General Register Office: Register of Births – Mar 1909 7a _7 Grimsby – Frederick Bi ...

, comedian * Sir John Ackerman K.C.M.G, Mayor of Pietermaritzsburg *Dr

Robert Mortimer Glover Dr Robert Mortimer Glover FRSE (1815-1859) was an English physician. In 1838 he co-founded the Paris Medical Society and served as its first Vice President. He won the Medical Society of London’s Fothergill Gold Medal in 1846 for his lecture ...

, chloroform pioneer (unmarked grave) * Ian Nairn, architectural critic and broadcaster *

Richard Bullen Newton Richard Bullen Newton, ISO, (23 February 1854 - 23 January 1926) was a British paleontologist who was between 1910 and 1912 president of the Malacological Society of London and the Conchological Society of Great Britain & Ireland. Newton is buri ...

, Paleontologist at the British Museum * Col. Sir David Semple, First Director of Research India. Founder of the Pasteur Institute at Kasauli India. * Sir John Hunt O.B.E, First Town Clerk of the City of Westminster *The Rev Andrew Charles Albert McLaglen, son Fred Charles McLaglen and wife Lillian Marian McLaglen all relatives of 1935 Oscar winner Victor McLaglen.

References

External links

Hanwell Cemetery
at the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...