Image Right - Egyptian Avenue Highgate Cemetery.

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Highgate Cemetery is one of the London cemeteries, situated at the Top of Highgate Hill in North London, is 37 acre and was built in 1839. It was originaly one of a hoop of 7 private burial grounds built when London expanded and the old "town burial grounds" could no longer cope.

It is divided into the Western (original) Cemetery and the Eastern (built 1854) separated by Swains Lane. Originally there was a tunnel beneath Swains Lane where, after a funeral, a coffin could be lowered from the Anglican Chapel on the West side for burial on the East.

There are about 167,000 people buried in the Cemetery in 52,000 graves. The Western Cemetery contains several Grade II listed buildings. Whilst it's most famous occupant is probably Karl Marx a number of prominent Victorians are also buried there (Funerals still take place and recent internments include Sir Ralph Richardson, Sir Michael Redgrave, Patrick Wymark and the cabaret artiste "Hutch" as well as Philip Harben the original TV chef, Dr. Y.D. Dadoo (First Chairman of the African National Congress) and Professor Jacob Bronowski, (scientist and TV personality).

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Graves

East Cemetery

• Anatoly Kuznetsov, Soviet writer
• Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and other novels
• Harriet Maria Ankerson (Walker) (17 Ot 1855-1946)
• Farzad Bazoft, journalist, executed by Saddam Hussein's regime
• Jeremy Beadle, television presenter
• Herbert George de Burgh-Canning, 2nd Marquess of Clanricarde #37272, born on 30 November 1832, son of Sir Ulick John de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde and Hon. Harriet Canning. He died on 12 April 1916 at age 83 at Hanover Square, London, England, unmarried. He was given the name of Herbert George de Burgh at birth. He was educated at Harrow School, Harrow on the Hill, London, England. He was Attaché at Turin in 1852. He held the office of Second Secretary to Turin in 1862.1 On 9 July 1862 his name was legally changed to Herbert George de Burgh-Canning by Royal Licence. He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) (Liberal) for County Galway between 1867 and 1871. He succeeded to the title of 13th Viscount Bourke of Clanmories, co. Mayo [I., 1629] on 10 April 1874.3 He succeeded to the title of 15th Earl of Clanricarde [I., 1543] on 10 April 1874. He succeeded to the title of 2nd Baron Somerhill, of Somerhill, Kent [U.K., 1826] on 10 April 1874. He succeeded to the title of 2nd Marquess of Clanricarde [I., 1825] on 10 April 1874. He succeeded to the title of 3rd Earl of Clanricarde, co. Galway [I., 1800] on 10 April 1874. He succeeded to the title of 15th Baron Dunkellin [I., 1543] on 10 April 1874.On his death, the Marquessate of Clanricarde and the Barony of Somerhill became extinct. He has an extensive biographical entry in the Dictionary of National Biography
• Patrick Caulfield, painter and printmaker known for his pop art canvasses
• Diane Cilento, Australian actress and author
• Husband and wife William Kingdon Clifford, mathematician and philosopher, and Lucy Lane Clifford, novelist and journalist
• Ian Dury - lead singer with Blockheads. Wrote Hit me with your Rythm Stick
• Elizabeth Edwards #154009, born on 20 May 1813 at Kingsland Road, London, England, daughter of James Edwards and Mary Cutler. She married Thomas Wontner Smith, son of Benjamin Smith and Susanna Wontner. She died on 9 February 1881 at age 67 at Isledon Road, London, England.
• George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans — the name on the grave is Mary Ann Cross), novelist, common law wife of George Henry Lewes and buried next to him
• Paul Foot, campaigning journalist and nephew of former Labour Party leader Michael Foot
• Lou Gish, actress, daughter of Sheila Gish
• Sheila Gish, actress
• Robert Grant VC, soldier and police constable
• Eric Hobsbawm, historian
• George Jacob Holyoake, Midland social reformer and founder of the Cooperative Movement
• Bert Jansch, Scottish folk musician
• Claudia Jones, black Communist and fighter for social justice
• William Friese-Greene, cinema pioneer
• Mansoor Hekmat, Communist leader and founder of the Worker-Communist Party of Iran and Worker-Communist Party of Iraq
• Maria Lavers #153977, born on 27 February 1804, daughter of Nathaniel Lavers and Maria Denham Rayden. She was baptised on 25 March 1804 at St. Dunstan, Stepney, London, England. She married Benjamin Smith, son of Benjamin Smith and Susanna Wontner, on 20 July 1825. She died on 27 December 1857 at age 53 at Highbury Crescent, London, England.
• Charles Lavers-Smith #153980, born on 18 November 1829 at Highbury Crescent, London, England, son of Benjamin Smith and Maria Lavers. He was baptised on 16 December 1829 at St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, London, England. He married Janet Bell, daughter of Alexander Bell, on 17 June 1862. He died on 18 January 1916 at age 86 at Woodstock, Ditton Hill, Surrey, England.He became a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers on 1 December 1851. He was a manufacturing chemist, Member of the Court, 1889; Senior Warden, 1893; Father, 1911-16; Chairman of the Cordwainers' Technical College and of the Leather Exhibition, 1895; Governor of the City & Guilds Technical Institute; Member of the Surrey County Council, 1903-16; Chairman of the Education Committee.
• George Henry Lewes, English philosopher and critic, common law husband of George Eliot and buried next to her.
• Anna Mahler, sculptress and daughter of Gustav Mahler and Alma Schindler
• Karl Marx, philosopher, historian, sociologist, and economist
• Frank Matcham, theatre architect
• Carl Mayer, Austrian-German screenwriter of The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari and Sunrise
• Malcolm McLaren, punk impresario and original manager of the Sex Pistols
• Ralph Miliband, left wing political theorist, father of David Miliband and Ed Miliband
• Lydia Munday #154115 was born on 17 July 1819 at Leadenhall Street, London, England. She was the daughter of Stephen Munday and Sarah (?), wife of Joseph Wontner Smith, son of Benjamin Smith and Susanna Wontner, on 3 June 1845 at St. Mary's, Paddington, London, England. She died on 2 October 1902 at age 83 at Aubert Park, Highbury, London, England. She was buried at Highgate Cemetery, Highgate, London, England. In 1889 her name was legally changed to Lydia Wontner-Smith by Deed Poll.
• Dachine Rainer, poet and anarchist
• * Elizabeth Ann Rayden #153999, born on 23 May 1824 at Deptford, Kent, England.1 She was the daughter of William Harris Rayden and Sarah Ann Markett.1 She married Benjamin Smith, son of Benjamin Smith and Susanna Wontner, on 2 August 1864 at St. James's Church, Weybridge, Surrey, England.2 She died on 11 October 1893 at age 69 at St. Leonard's-on-Sea, Sussex, England.
• Corin Redgrave, actor and policital activist
• Sir Ralph Richardson, actor
• Emma Scamell #154443, born on 8 November 1842 at Smithfield, London, England, daughter of George Scamell and Jane Sharp. She married James Edwards Wontner-Smith, son of Thomas Wontner Smith and Elizabeth Edwards, on 12 June 1865 at Broadwater Church, Worthing, Sussex, England. She died on 6 March 1918 at age 75 at Barton House, Stoke Newington, London, England.
• Anthony Shaffer, playwright, screenwriter, novelist
• Alice Lydia Smith #154117, born on 23 July 1847. She was the daughter of Joseph Wontner Smith and Lydia Munday. Wife of John Angell James Housden m. 3 September 1875 in a Hornsey Church, Essex, England. She died on 19 September 1876 at age 29 at Balfour Road, Highbury, London, England, without issue.
• Annette Smith #154128, born on 22 April 1862 at 13 Douglas Road, Canonbury, Essex, England, daughter of Joseph Wontner Smith and Lydia Munday. She married George Gray, son of George Gray, on 24 May 1888 in a Christ Church, Highbury, Middlesex, England. She died on 22 May 1910 at age 48 at Leigh Road, Highbury, London, England.
• Benjamin Smith #153976, born on 4 January 1802 at Wentworth Place, Mile End, Essex, England, son of Benjamin Smith and Susanna Wontner. He was baptised on 9 February 1802 at St. Dunstan, Stepney, London, England. He married 1st Maria Lavers, daughter of Nathaniel Lavers and Maria Denham Rayden, on 20 July 1825. He married 2nd Elizabeth Ann Rayden, daughter of William Harris Rayden and Sarah Ann Markett, on 2 August 1864 at St. James's Church, Weybridge, Surrey, England. He died on 4 April 1872 at age 70 at Highbury Crescent, London, England. He was a colour maker and, later, a manufacturing chemist. Through his friendship with Sir William Henry Perkins, F.R.S., the discoverer of aniline dyes, he became a pioneer in manufacturing dye stuffs.
• Charles Hick Smith #154133, born on 8 May 1814 at Wentworth Place, Mile End, Essex, England - the son of Benjamin Smith and Susanna Wontner. He died on 11 July 1851 at age 37 at Finsbury Pavement, London, England
• Sir Donald Alexander Smith, Canadian railway financier and diplomat
• Elizabeth Edwards Smith - born on 7 September 1838 at Camden Road, Islington, London, England. She was the daughter of Thomas Wontner Smith and Elizabeth Edwards. She married John Lea on 6 June 1871 in a Hornsea Church, Essex. She died on 17 April 1878 at age 39 at Hastings, Sussex, England.
• Joseph Wontner Smith #154114 was born on 4 February 1812 at Wentworth Place, Mile End, Essex, England. He was the son of Benjamin Smith and Susanna Wontner. Husband of Lydia Munday, (see above) daughter of Stephen Munday and Sarah (?), on 3 June 1845 at St. Mary's, Paddington, London, England. He died on 29 March 1885 at age 73 at 20 Highbury Grove, London, England. In 1832 he founded his own engineering firm in the City of London. He became a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors.
• Joseph Wontner Wontner-Smith ##154122, born on 28 October 1852 at Park Street, Islington, London, England. He was the son of Joseph Wontner Smith and Lydia Munday. He died on 16 February 1915 at age 62 at Highbury Park, London, England, without issue. Head of the family engineering business.
• Maria Clarence Smith #153991, born on 16 January 1835 at Highbury Crescent, London, England, daughter of Benjamin Smith and Maria Lavers. She married Henry Lee, son of Henry Charles Lee and Lucy Cover, on 23 September 1857 at Hornsey Church, Essex, England. She died on 7 December 1920 at age 85 at Earlham, Littlehampton, Sussex, England.
• Mary Rebecca Smith #154134, born on 19 October 1819 at Wentworth Place, Mile End, Essex, England, the daughter of Benjamin Smith and Susanna Wontner. She died on 21 April 1890 at age 70 at 70 Grosvenor Avenue, Highbury, London, England.
• Susanna Margaret Smith #154007, born on 2 January 1804 at Wentworth Place, Mile End, Essex, England, daughter of Benjamin Smith and Susanna Wontner. She died on 16 May 1873 at age 69 at Highbury Park, London, England.
• Thomas Wontner Smith #154008, born on 2 October 1806 at Wentworth Place, Mile End, Essex, England. He was baptised at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, London, England, son of Benjamin Smith and Susanna Wontner. He married Elizabeth Edwards, daughter of James Edwards and Mary Cutler. He died on 22 February 1867 at age 60 at Camden Road, Islington, London, England. Apprenticed to his grandfather, Thomas Wontner; Later became head of Thomas Wontner Smith & Son of Islington, builders and contractors; Freeman of the City of London and Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Feltmakers, 1829.
• Wontner Smith #154117, born on 29 January 1849 - son of Joseph Wontner Smith and Lydia Munday. He died on 19 June 1850 at age 1.
• Herbert Spencer, evolutionary biologist and laissez-faire economic philosopher
• Sir Leslie Stephen, critic, first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell
• Lucien Stryk, American poet, teacher and translator of Zen poetry
• Feliks Topolski, Polish-born British expressionist painter
• Max Wall, comedian and entertainer
• Opal Whiteley, American writer
• Edward Richard Woodham, survivor of the Charge of the Light Brigade
• Charles Crole Wyndham #396551 was born illegitimately circa 1795, son of George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont and Eliza Fox. He died on 30 September 1850. He was buried at Highgate Cemetery, Highgate, London, England. He gained the rank of officer in the service of the Royal Navy.

West Cemetery

• Jane Arden, Welsh-born film director, actor, screenwriter, playwright, songwriter, and poet.
• Edward Hodges Baily, sculptor
• Beryl Bainbridge, author
• George Samuel Bentley, printer & publisher of the London Standard Newspaper 1879-1890
• Julius Beer, owner of The Observer, and his 8 year old daughter, who the mausoleum was originally created for. This is the largest structure on site and has recently been restored to close to its original splendor
• Jacob Bronowski, scientist, creator of the television series The Ascent of Man
• Robert Caesar Childers, scholar of the Orient and writer
• Edmund Thomas Chipp, organist and composer
• C. Chubb - founder of the lock company.
• John Singleton Copley, Lord Chancellor and son of the American artist
• Sir Charles Cowper, Premier of New South Wales, Australia
• The family vault of Robert Monach and WH Crossland. In this vault are buried William Henry Crossland's parents-in-law (the Monachs), his brother, his wife, his mistress, his daughter and eldest son, though not Crossland himself
• Charles Cruft, founder of Crufts dog show
• Dr. Y.D. Dadoo (First Chairman of the African National Congress)
• David Devant, theatrical magician
• Alfred Lamert Dickens, the younger brother of Charles Dickens
• Catherine Dickens, wife of Charles Dickens
• John Dickens and Elizabeth Dickens, parents of Charles Dickens
• The Druce family vault, one of whose members was (falsely) alleged to have been the 5th Duke of Portland.
• Michael Faraday, chemist and physicist
• William Foyle the founder of the book-store bearing his name
• Lucian Freud, British painter
• John Galsworthy, author and Nobel Prize winner (he was cremated and his ashes scattered, memorial only)
• Stella Gibbons, novelist, author of Cold Comfort Farm
• Radclyffe Hall, author of The Well of Loneliness and other novels
• Philip Harben the original TV chef
• Brig. Gen. H. Holden.
• James Holman, 19th-century adventurer known as "the Blind Traveller"
• Surgeon-General Sir Anthony Dickson Home, Victoria Cross recipient from Indian Mutiny
• General T.G Kennedy
• General W. T. Knollys.
• F. W. Lillywhite. Cricketer and the first round arm bowler.
• Alexander Litvinenko, Russian dissident turned critic, murdered by poisoning in London
• Sherard Osborn, Royal Navy admiral and Arctic explorer
• Sir L. Otway Commanding Officer in Peninsular War.
• Sir Michael Redgrave
• Christina Rossetti, poet
• Frances Polidori Rossetti, mother of Dante Gabriel, Christina and William Michael Rossetti
• William Michael Rossetti, co-founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
• Thomas Sayers, Victorian boxer
• Elizabeth Siddal, wife and model of artist/poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti
• Jean Simmons, actress
• Alfred Stevens, sculptor, painter, and designer
• General H. K. Storks
• Arthur Waley, translator and scholar of the Orient
• George Wombwell, menagerie exhibitor
• Ellen Wood, author known as Mrs Henry Wood
• Adam Worth, criminal mastermind and philanthropist. Possible inspiration for Sherlock Holmes's nemesis, Professor Moriarty
• Patrick Wymark, actor

War Graves

The cemetery contains the graves of 316 Commonwealth service personnel maintained and registered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, in both the East and West Cemetery, 257 from the First World War and 59 from the Second. Those whose graves could not be marked by headstones are listed on a Screen Wall memorial erected near the Cross of Sacrifice in the older (Western) Cemetery.

• Sgt. Ronald Lurring Aiken, d. 21 October 1941. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 1164647

References:

• http://www.highgatecemetery.org.uk/