St Mary's Catholic Cemetery, Kensal Green

St Mary's Catholic Cemetery

260px St Mary's Cemetery
Details
Established	1858
Location	Harrow Road, Kensal Green, London, NW10 5NU
Country	England
Coordinates
Type	Roman Catholic
Size	29 acres (12 ha)
Number of graves	165,000
Website	Official website
Find a Grave	1963391

File:Kensal Green, St Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery, A mortuary chapel - geograph.org.uk - 2093072.jpg

The Misa Mausoleum, built in 1870 for Manuel Misa y Bertemati, the Conde De Bayona and Marques De Misa

St Mary's Catholic Cemetery is located on Harrow Road, Kensal Green in London, England. It has its own Catholic chapel.

History

Established in 1858, the 29-acre (120,000 m²) site was built next door to Kensal Green Cemetery. It is the final resting place for more than 165,000 individuals of the Roman Catholic faith, and features a memorial to Belgian soldiers of the First World War, wounded in combat and evacuated to England, where they died in hospital.

There is also a War Memorial, in the form of a Cross of Sacrifice to the British, Irish, French, Czechoslovakian and Canadian servicemen. It is surrounded by a Screen Wall memorial and a low kerb listing Commonwealth service personnel of both World Wars whose graves in the cemetery could not be marked by headstones. In all, the cemetery contains 208 graves of Commonwealth service personnel of the First World War, and 107 graves of the Second World War. There are also many foreign nationality war graves that include, from First World War, 77 Belgians and six Germans, and from the Second, eight Czechoslovakian and six Polish war graves.

Many Irish migrants who came to England during the Great Famine are buried here.

Notable interments

• Peter Ashmun Ames (1888–1920), British spy
• Sir John Barbirolli (1899–1970), orchestral conductor
• Marmaduke Barton (1865–1938), pianist and professor at the Royal College of Music
• John Chippendall Montesquieu Bellew (1823-1874), Preacher, reciter, and author
• Prince Louis Lucien Bonaparte (1813–1891), statesman, philologist
• Frank Brangwyn (1867-1956), artist
• Lizzie Burns (1827–1878), wife of Friedrich Engels
• William Pitt Byrne (1806–1861), British newspaper editor and proprietor of The Morning Post
• George Carman QC (1929–2001), barrister
• General Sir John Cowans (1862–1921), Quartermaster-General to the Forces in World War I – buried at Terrace 130
• Anne Crawford (1920-1956), actress of stage, radio and film
• Major Thomas Crean (1873–1923), VC winner in Boer War
• Frances C. Fairman (1839–1923), English animal painter and illustrator
• James Grant (1822–1887), Scottish author, historian, artist and architect
• Marcus Garvey (1887-1940), Jamaican political activist - initially buried in catacombs beneath the chapel, later reburied in King George VI Memorial Park, Kingston, Jamaica.
• Gilbert Harding (1907–1960), journalist, radio and TV personality
• Percy Hardy (1880-1916), first-class cricketer; committed suicide while serving during World War I.
• Josef Jakobs (1898–1941), German spy – unmarked grave
• Andrzej Kowerski (aka Andrew Kennedy) (1912–1988), decorated Polish soldier and spy
• Danny La Rue (1927–2009), cabaret artist, nightclub owner, actor
• Edmonia Lewis (1844–1907), sculptor
• Father Vincent McNabb, O.P. (1868–1943), Irish scholar and priest
• Henry Edward Manning (1808–1892), Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster (later transferred to Westminster Cathedral)
• Alice Meynell (1847–1922), poet and essayist
• Victoria Monks (1884–1927), music hall singer
• Major General Sir Luke O'Connor (1831–1915), VC winner in Crimean War
• T. P. O'Connor (1848–1929), Irish journalist and politician
• Carlo Pellegrini (1839–1889), caricaturist
• Sir Max Pemberton (1863–1950), British author, journalist and editor
• Lieutenant Colonel James Henry Reynolds (1844–1932), VC winner and medical officer at Rorke's Drift
• Sax Rohmer (1883–1959), author, creator of "Dr. Fu Manchu"
• Mary Seacole (1805–1881) nurse, humanitarian
• Krystyna Skarbek (aka Christine Granville) (1908–1952), Polish SOE agent and World War II heroine
• Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (1793–1867), marine painter
• Władysław Studnicki (1867–1953), Polish politician and publicist
• Francis Thompson (1859–1907), poet, literary critic
• Louis Wain (1860–1939), artist
• Nicholas Wiseman (1802–1865), Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster (later transferred to Westminster Cathedral)

The chapel

• The cemetery's Catholic chapel is used for funeral and memorial services. The walls have many memorial plaques.
• The chapel was used in the filming of Miranda episode "Before I Die".

File:Kensal Green, St Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery, The Chapel - geograph.org.uk - 2092926.jpg

The Chapel

Access

The cemetery is open for visitors 365 days per year.

Summer Opening Hours
Monday to Saturday – 8am to 5pm
Sunday – 9am to 5pm

Winter Opening Hours
Monday to Saturday – 8am to 4pm
Sunday – 9am to 4pm

Christmas Day & Boxing Day – 9am to 1pm

The cemetery office

Office hours
Monday to Friday – 9am to 3pm
Visitors, especially those interested in their Catholic family history, may request the office staff consult the recently computerised records for all interments in St Mary's Catholic Cemetery (from 1858 to date).

Please note: The office is closed on Bank Holidays and Summer months closing times can vary. The Summer Opening Hours are in effect from early April to late October during UK British Summer Time. The Winter Opening Hours are for the rest of the year when the UK has Greenwich Mean Time.

External links

• Pastscape (English Heritage National Monuments record online)