Southampton Old Cemetery

On 9 November 1841, Southampton Town Council resolved "that the Town Clerk be directed to give notice of an application to parliament at the next session for establishing a cemetery or burial ground on part of Southampton Common".{{cite news|newspaper=Hampshire Telegraph|date=15 November 1841|title=Southampton Town Council meeting|url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000069/18411115/014/0003|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription }} The town council approached John Claudius Loudon. He was a well known landscaper, designer of arboretums and cemeteries including Histon Road Cemetery at Cambridge and Bath Abbey Cemetery. Loudon, normally based in London, had been staying on the Isle of Wight whilst his wife was writing a book. The damp sea air had a debilitating effect on his health and he moved to take temporary lodgings in Southampton. Southampton Town council had no previous experience of laying out a cemetery and was pleased that Loudon was conveniently available. They paid him £37 for his services, but decided not to use his proposed layout. The Bishop of Winchester was not willing to concede that the proposed Anglican chapel would adjoin a nonconformist chapel.

As was customary in the planning of early cemeteries, the council held a competition and asked for suggested layouts to replace the one made by Loudon. A design by William Rogers, a local nurseryman and councillor, was accepted and he was awarded the contract.

The cemetery was opened on 7 May 1846 when the Bishop of Winchester consecrated part of the grounds. A section was left unconsecrated for the "Dissenters" (non-conformists) and agnostics while another part was provided for the Hebrew community.{{cite book |last=Thomson |first= Sheila D |date=1989 |title=Southampton Common |publisher=City of Southampton Society |pages=23–24 |oclc=655858743 }} In 1856, the Roman Catholics were given ground within the cemetery for their use.

The Southampton Cemetery Act 1843 allowed for up to {{convert|15|acre}} to be taken from the common but it was initially laid out as a {{convert|10|acre}} site with the remaining {{convert|5|acre}} being added in 1863.{{NHLE |num=1001324 |desc= Southampton Cemetery |accessdate=21 February 2017 }}{{cite book |last=Thomson |first= Sheila D |date=1989 |title=Southampton Common |publisher=City of Southampton Society |pages=23–24 |oclc=655858743 }}

In 1884 a further act of parliament was obtained to transfer another {{convert|12|acre}} to the cemetery.

The cemetery has 60 headstones associated with RMS Titanic, although no bodies were returned to Southampton.

Charlie Barr (1864–1911), the three times winner of the America's Cup, is also buried in the cemetery.{{cite web|title=Charles Barr|url=http://www.coss.org.uk/People-of-the-Town.php|work=Some personalities associated with Southampton|publisher=City of Southampton Society|access-date=25 September 2011}}

Charles Rawden Maclean (1815–1880), alias "John Ross" friend of King Shaka and an opponent of slavery, died on board a ship bound for Southampton and was buried in a pauper's grave. On 2 May 2009, the grave was marked with a headstone in a ceremony attended by representatives of his home town, Fraserburgh, and of the Zulu nation.{{cite web |title=John Ross Memorial |url= http://www.fraserburghheritage.com/default.asp?page=48 |publisher=Fraserburgh Heritage Centre |access-date=19 June 2010 |date=30 April 2010}}

File:Edwin Moon gravestone.JPG's grave marker]]

Squadron Leader Edwin Moon (1886–1920), has a grave marker made from the propeller of the aircraft in which he was killed in 1920.{{cite web |url= http://www3.hants.gov.uk/centenary-of-flight/moon.htm |work=Centenary of Flight |title=Edwin Rowland Moon 1886–1920 |date=15 January 2010 |publisher=Hampshire County Council |access-date=27 February 2010}}

Moon is one of 140 identified casualties in the cemetery whose graves are registered and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 125 from World War I and 15 from World War II. A war graves plot contains the graves of 21 Belgian servicemen.{{cite web |title=Southampton Old Cemetery |url= https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/39243/SOUTHAMPTON%20OLD%20CEMETERY |publisher=CWGC |access-date=13 November 2017}}

The Robert Pearce family grave is marked by a sculpture depicting the figures of Faith, Hope and Charity, surmounted by a draped urn. The memorial was sculpted by Richard Cockle Lucas from Chilworth and is English Heritage Listed, Grade II.{{cite web|last=Blake|first=Gillian|title=Southampton Old Cemetery, Pearce family grave |url= http://www.parksandgardens.ac.uk/component/option,com_parksandgardens/task,image/id,699/Itemid,292/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120326032518/http://www.parksandgardens.ac.uk/component/option,com_parksandgardens/task,image/id,699/Itemid,292/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 March 2012 |publisher=Parks and Gardens UK |access-date=15 December 2010 |year=2008}} Captain Thomas Richard Pearce (1859–1908) survived three shipwrecks.{{cite news |title=A much-wrecked family |newspaper=The Express and Telegraph |volume=XLII |issue=12,611 |place=Adelaide |date=5 October 1905 |page=4 |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/208783322 |via=Trove}}

File:Rosas memorial.JPG

Juan Manuel de Rosas (1793–1877), the exiled Argentine politician, was initially buried in Southampton Old Cemetery until his body was exhumed in 1989 and repatriated to the La Recoleta Cemetery in Argentina. His tomb remains as a memorial.{{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Lyman |title=Death, dismemberment, and memory: body politics in Latin America |year=2004 |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |place=Albuquerque |isbn=0-8263-3200-5 |pages=108–122}} His grandson Manuel Terrero and his wife, the militant suffragette Janie Terrero are buried here.[http://fosoc.org/news/898/ Janie Terrero - The Friends of Southampton Old Cemetery]

Edward Askew Sothern (1826–1881), Victorian comedy actor, famous as Lord Dundreary in the play Our American Cousin is buried here.

There is also a memorial to {{RMS|Rhone}}, wrecked off the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands on 29 October 1867 during a hurricane with the loss of over 120 lives.{{cite web |title=Southampton: The Old Cemetery |url=http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g186299-d216086/Southampton:United-Kingdom:The.Old.Cemetery.html |publisher=Tripadvisor|access-date=25 September 2011}} The memorial was badly damaged by vandals in October 2011.{{cite web |title=Memorial to Southampton's sailors killed in hurricane vandalised |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-15535355 |publisher=BBC News |date=1 November 2011 |access-date=5 January 2012}}

Most of the buildings and some memorials in the cemetery are Grade II listed structures:{{cite web |title=Listed Buildings in Southampton |work=Historic Environment Record |url= http://www.southampton.gov.uk/Images/Listed%20Buildings%20in%20Southampton%20-%20Descriptions_tcm46-161809.pdf |publisher=Southampton City Council |access-date=3 February 2012 |pages=46–53 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081001170041/http://www.southampton.gov.uk/Images/Listed%20Buildings%20in%20Southampton%20-%20Descriptions_tcm46-161809.pdf |archive-date=1 October 2008 |df=dmy-all}}

• Former Jewish Mortuary Chapel (now part of a house) (c. 1850){{NHLE |desc=Jewish Mortuary Chapel at Southampton Old Cemetery |num=1092034 |access-date=14 Jan 2019}}
• Church of England Mortuary Chapel (c. 1850){{NHLE|desc=Church of England Mortuary Chapel at Southampton Old Cemetery|num=1178693|access-date=14 Jan 2019}}
• Allen Memorial (neo-classical mausoleum dating to about 1900 built of Portland stone ashlar blocks){{NHLE|desc=Allen memorial in Southampton Old Cemetery|num=1392632|access-date=14 Jan 2019}}
• Lodge (dated 1848 and 1882){{NHLE|desc=Lodge to Southampton Old Cemetery|num=1092077|access-date=14 Jan 2019}}
• Gate piers to eastern gate (c. 1880){{NHLE|desc=Eastern Gate Piers to Southampton Old Cemetery|num=1392552|access-date=14 Jan 2019}}
• Pearce Memorial (erected 1861){{NHLE|desc=Pearce Memorial at Southampton Old Cemetery|num=1389740|access-date=14 Jan 2019}}
• Wall fronting Hill Lane (mid-19th century){{NHLE|desc=Wall to Southampton Old Cemetery fronting Hill Lane|num=1339993|access-date=14 Jan 2019}}
• Gates and gate piers (c. 1880){{NHLE|desc=Gates and gate piers to Southampton Old Cemetery|num=1339974|access-date=14 Jan 2019}}
• Nonconformist Mortuary Chapel (c. 1850){{NHLE|desc=Nonconformist Mortuary Chapel at Southampton Old Cemetery|num=1092078|access-date=14 Jan 2019}}
• Gate piers to north-western gate (mid-19th century){{NHLE|desc=North Western gate to Southampton Old Cemetery|num=1392553|access-date=14 Jan 2019}}

The cemetery's ecology is managed by the wildlife team from Southampton City Council in conjunction with Friends of Southampton Old Cemetery, a voluntary group who also take guided tours and assist families to maintain graves.

{{gallery

|title=

|File:John Ross gravestone.JPG|The gravestone of "John Ross"

|File:Faith_Hope_%26_Charity.JPG|Pearce family grave

|File:Edward Askew Sothern gravestone.JPG |The grave of Edward Askew Sothern

|File:Southampton Old Cemetery 2.JPG|Anglican Chapel in Southampton Old Cemetery

}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category|Southampton Old Cemetery}}

• [http://www.fosoc.org Friends of Southampton Old Cemetery website]
• [http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g186299-d216086/Southampton:United-Kingdom:The.Old.Cemetery.html Feature on www.tripadvisor.com]
• [https://archive.today/20100526072505/http://www.southampton.gov.uk/living/cremburial/sotoncemetries/oldcem.aspx Cemetery on Southampton City Council website]
• {{NHLE|num=1001324 |desc= Cemetery}}
• {{Find a Grave cemetery}}

{{Cemeteries in England}}

{{Buildings in Southampton}}

Category:Cemeteries in Hampshire

Category:Geography of Southampton

Category:Tourist attractions in Southampton