Ascension Parish Burial Ground
The Ascension Parish Burial Ground, formerly known as the burial ground for the parish of St Giles and St Peter's, is a cemetery off Huntingdon Road in Cambridge, England. Many notable University of Cambridge academics are buried there, including three Nobel Prize winners.
Although a Church of England site, the cemetery includes the graves of many non-conformists, reflecting the demographics of the parish in the 19th and 20th centuries, which covered much of West Cambridge.[1]
It was established in 1857 while the city of Cambridge was undergoing rapid expansion, although the first burial was not until 1869.[1] It covers one and a half acres and contains 1,500 graves with 2,500 burials.[1] Originally surrounded by open fields, it is now bounded by trees and the gardens of detached houses,[2] and is a designated city wildlife site.[1]
In 2020 it was formally closed to new burials by an Order in Council,[3] and responsibility for its upkeep was transferred to Cambridge City Council.[4]
The former chapel of rest is now used as the workshop of letter-carver Eric Marland.[5][6]
Graves and memorials of notable individuals
[edit]A
[edit]
- John Couch Adams, astronomer, discoverer of Neptune, Lowndean Professor.[7][8] He is unique in also having a commemorative memorial in Westminster Abbey
- Hugh Kerr Anderson, physiologist, Master Gonville and Caius College.[7]
- Elizabeth Anscombe, Fellow of Newnham College, Philosopher, Professor of Philosophy.[9] her husband Peter Geach is buried with her.[9]
- Richard Appleton, Master Selwyn College, Vicar of St. George's, Camberwell, Vicar of Ware.[7][8]
- Arthur John Arberry[citation needed] orientalist, Professor of Arabic, Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge.
B
[edit]
- Sir Robert Stawell Ball, astronomer, Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry, founded the screw theory.[7][8]
- Arthur Beer,[citation needed] astronomer, member of Caius College.
- Cecil Bendall Professor of Sanskrit, University of Cambridge; Honorary Fellow of Gonville and Caius College.[10]
- Edwin Keppel Bennett, noms de plume: Francis Bennett, Francis Keppel, Fellow and President of Gonville and Caius College.
- Jack A. W. Bennett,[citation needed] New Zealand born literary scholar, a member of the informal Oxford literary group, the Inklings, Fellow of Magdalen College.
- Arthur Christopher Benson, 28th Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge noted for writing the words of the song "Land of Hope and Glory".[7][8]
- William Henry Besant FRS, [11] Fellow of St John's, mathematician
- James Bethune-Baker, theologian, Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity and Dean of Pembroke College.[7][8]
- Frederick Blackman FRS,[12] plant physiologist, Fellow of St John's.
- Joan Boulind CBE, fellow and tutor at Hughes Hall, Cambridge.[citation needed]
- John Buckley Bradbury, Downing Professor of Medicine.[8]
- Charles Oscar Brink, classicist, Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (cremated remains).[7]
- Denis William Brogan, historian, Political Scientist.[7][8]
- Zachary Nugent Brooke, historian, Professor of Medieval History.[7]
- William Warwick Buckland, Professor of Law, President of Gonville and Caius College, Regius Professor of Civil Law.[citation needed]
- Robert Burn,[13] Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and wife Augusta Sophia, née Prescott (a descendant of Oliver Cromwell)
- John Burnaby,[citation needed] Dean of Trinity College, Cambridge, Regius Professor of Divinity, and wife Dorothy Burnaby, née Lock; also her brother Robert Heath Lock is buried in the same grave
- Geoffrey Bushnell, archaeologist and ethnologist, Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.[7]
C
[edit]
- James Cable,[citation needed] diplomat, naval strategist, and his wife Lady Cable, Viveca Hollmerus[citation needed]
- John Walton Capstick[14] Bursar and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge physicist, musician
- Neville Chittick,[citation needed] scholar, archaeologist
- Richard Chorley,[citation needed] quantitative geographer, Vice-Master, Sidney Sussex College
- Sir Derman Christopherson FRS,[citation needed] engineering scientist, Master Magdalene College (1978–1985) and his wife Frances, Lady Christopherson[citation needed]
- Sarah Clackson[15] Coptologist; first wife of James Clackson, Secretary of Friends of Ascension Parish Burial Ground.
- Sir William Henry Clark, civil servant.[7]
- John Cockcroft, physicist, Nobel Prize winner, instrumental in the development of nuclear power, first Master of Churchill College.[7][8]
- Agnes Bell Collier, Vice Principal of Newnham College, passed Maths Tripos in 1883.[8]
- Frances Cornford, poet, interred in grave of her father Sir Francis Darwin; and his wife.[7]
D
[edit]
- Francis Darwin, Botanist, biographer, buried with his daughter the poet Frances Cornford.[7]
- Florence, Lady Darwin,[citation needed] third wife of Sir Francis Darwin.
- Sir Horace Darwin, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Scientific instrument maker and wife Lady Ida Darwin.[7]
E
[edit]- Arthur Eddington, Astrophysicist, Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy[7][8][16] (cremated remains interred in the grave of his mother Sarah Eddington.[citation needed]).
- Sir James Ewing[17] FRS, Professor of Mechanism and Applied Mechanics, Professorial Fellowship at King's.
F
[edit]- Michael James Farrell, Economist, recovered from polio after being in an iron lung.[8]
- Thomas Cecil Fitzpatrick, Vice-Chancellor and Master of Queens' College, Cambridge.[citation needed]
- Sir James Frazer, Anthropologist, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.[8][7][16]
G
[edit]- Peter Geach, Philosopher, buried with his late wife Elizabeth Anscombe.[9]
- Roberto Gerhard[18] Composer, Musical Scholar.
- Jean Grove, Glaciologist, Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge. Older sister of the historian Margaret Spufford. Buried beside her mother Mary Clark, her niece Bridget Spufford, and her son Richard Grove.
- Richard Grove, Environmental historian. Buried beside his mother Jean Grove, and together with his grandmother Mary Clark and cousin Bridget Spufford
- Henry Melvill Gwatkin, Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Historian, theologian, conchologist.[7]
H
[edit]- Reginald Hackforth[citation needed] Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy, Classical Scholar, Fellow of Sidney Sussex College.
- Basil Hammond, Historian.[8]
- William Emerton Heitland Classicist, Fellow of Emmanuel.[8]
- Margaret Heitland journalist and suffragette.[8]
- Robert Drew Hicks Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, classicist, blind for 30 years.[citation needed]
- Paul Hirsch assembled one of the largest private music libraries in Europe, now in the British Library
- Ernest William Hobson[19] Mathematician, Sadleirian Professor, Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge.
- Frederick Gowland Hopkins, Biochemist, Nobel Prize winner for discovery of vitamins.[8]
- Bertram Hopkinson, Patent Lawyer, Engineer, Professor of Mechanism and Applied Mechanics.[7][20]
- Tristram Frederick Croft Huddleston, Classicist and Censor of Fitzwilliam House 1890–1907.[8]
- Arthur Hutchinson, Mineralogist and Master Pembroke College.[7]
J
[edit]- Henry Jackson, Regius Professor of Greek (Cambridge), Classicist, Member of the Cambridge Apostles.[7][21]
- Sir Richard Jebb, Regius Professor of Greek (Cambridge), Classicist, Member of the Cambridge Apostles.[7][8]
- Caroline Jebb, American intellectual and socialite, wife of Richard Jebb.[citation needed]
K
[edit]- Courtney Stanhope Kenny, Legal scholar, Liberal politician, Downing Professor of the Laws of England.[7][8]
L
[edit]- Horace Lamb, Mathematician and physicist.[7][8]
- Guy Lee, Cambridge professor, classicist, translator of Ovid, Horace and Catullus, Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge.[citation needed]
- Edward Hubert Linfoot[citation needed] Mathematician, Fellow of Wolfson College
- George Downing Liveing[22] FRS, Professor of Chemistry, Fellow and President of St John's College, Cambridge and his wife Catharine
- John Bascombe Lock, Bursar of Gonville and Caius College, author of books on trigonometry, Chair of Addenbrooke's Hospital.[8]
- Robert Heath Lock, botanist and geneticist, wrote the first English textbook on genetics.[8]
- Henry Richards Luard[23] Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, mathematician and clergyman
M
[edit]
- Alexander Macalister, Professor of Anatomy, Cambridge University, Egyptologist, Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge.[8]
- R. A. Stewart Macalister, archaeologist, son of Alexander Macalister.[8]
- Sir Donald MacAlister, Physician, Vice-Chancellor Glasgow, Member of the Cambridge Apostles.[7][8]
- Sir Desmond MacCarthy, Literary and drama critic, Member of the Cambridge Apostles.[7]
- Norman McLean, Orientalist and Member of the Cambridge Apostles, Master Christ's College, Cambridge.[7]
- Alfred Marshall, Professor of Political Economy one of the founders of Neoclassical economics,[8] married to Mary Paley, co-founder of Newnham College.
- Sir Charles James Martin[citation needed] FRS, Scientist, Fellow of King's College, London.
- Brigadier Arthur Gordon Matthew[24]
- Jeremy Maule, English scholar and teacher; Fellow and Lecturer in English, Trinity College.[citation needed]
- Edwin Arthur Maxwell, Mathematician; Director of Studies in Mathematics, University of Cambridge, Honorary Fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge.[25]
- John Eyton Bickersteth Mayor, Professor of Latin, Antiquarian, early vegetarian and President of St John's College, Cambridge.[7][8]
- Robert Williams Michell Surgeon.[26]
- Sir Geoffrey Fitzhervey de Montmorency[citation needed] Indian Civil Service
- William Loudon Mollison,[27] Master of Clare College, Cambridge
- G. E. Moore, philosopher, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Member of the Cambridge Apostles, the intellectual secret society.[7][8]
- Andrew Munro, bursar and mathematician of Queens' College, Cambridge.[28]
N
[edit]- Hugh Frank Newall, Professor of Astrophysics, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.[7]
- George Ernest Newsom[citation needed] Master Selwyn College: 1934 to 1946
- Alfred Newton, Professor of Comparative Anatomy, Fellow of Magdalene College, Ornithologist.[7]
P
[edit]- Conrad Pepler[citation needed] Priest, Writer, Editor, Publisher
- Max Perutz, OM, FRS, Molecular Biologist, Nobel Prize winner, Fellow of Peterhouse, and wife Gisela Perutz; their cremated remains are buried together with his parents Hugo and Dely Perutz.[29]
R
[edit]- Sir Leon Radzinowicz[30] FBA, Criminologist, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
- Arthur Stanley Ramsey Mathematician and philosopher, President of Magdalene College.[8]
- Frank P. Ramsey Philosopher and mathematician, Member of the Cambridge Apostles, the intellectual secret society, buried in same grave as his parents: Arthur Stanley Ramsey and Mary Agnes Ramsey.[7]
- William Luard Raynes OBE, solicitor, twice Mayor of Cambridge.[8]
- William Halse Rivers Rivers[31] FRS, Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, Anthropologist, Neurologist, Ethnologist, Psychologist
- David Roberts, architect and fellow of Magdalene College.[32]
- Walter William Rouse Ball, Mathematician, author on the History of Mathematics, endowed professorships.[7][8]
S
[edit]- John Edwin Sandys, Classicist and Public Orator of Cambridge University.[7][8]
- Sir Charles Henry Sargant,[citation needed] Lord Justice of Appeal, Privy Counsellor
- Charlotte Scott, mathematician, first unofficial wrangler, buried in the grave of cousin Eliza Nevin.[7][8][16]
- Isabel May Griffiths Seltman, wife of Charles Seltman, art historian, fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge and a University Lecturer in Classics.[citation needed]
- Gerald Shove,[33] economist and Member of the Cambridge Apostles, the intellectual secret society, and Fredegond Shove, poet, step-daughter of Sir Francis Darwin; her mother was Lady Darwin, formerly Florence Maitland;
- Walter William Skeat, Philologist, Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon.[7][8]
- Lucy Joan Slater,[34] Mathematician and Recorder of Ascension Parish Burial Ground, buried in her mother's grave (Lucy Slater, Classicist[8])
- George Smee, solicitor, and wife Eliza Smee; monument designed by Jacob Epstein.[8]
- Bridget Spufford,[7] after whom "Bridget's Hostel", Cambridge was named; daughter of Professors Peter Spufford and the late Margaret Spufford, sister of Francis Spufford. She is buried with her grandmother, Mary Clark, née Johnson.
- Vincent Henry Stanton, Regius Professor of Divinity, Member of the Cambridge Apostles, the intellectual society at Cambridge University.[8]
- Joseph Peter Stern, Germanist, Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, (cremated remains).[7]
- Stanley Stubbs[citation needed] Headmaster of Perse School.
T
[edit]- Joseph Robson Tanner, Bursar of St John's, Samuel Pepys expert.[citation needed]
- Charles Taylor[35] Vice-Chancellor and Master St. John's College: 1881 to 1908, Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, mathematician and Hebrew scholar
- Harold McCarter Taylor[citation needed] Mathematician, Barrister, a Fellow of Clare College, (cremated remains)
- Henry Martyn Taylor, Mathematician, braille expert.[7][8]
- Sir Alfred St Valery Tebbitt,[citation needed] managing director of Kirby, Beard & Co. and British Chamber of Commerce, Paris, and of the Hertford British Hospital, Paris, and wife Lady Gladys St. Valery Tebbitt, née Pendrell Smith.
V
[edit]- Augustus Arthur Vansittart, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, classical scholar.[8][36]
- Arthur Woollgar Verrall, Classicist, Member of the Cambridge Apostles, King Edward VII Professor of English Literature.[7][8]
- Margaret Verrall, parapsychology researcher and lecturer in classics at Newnham College.[citation needed]
W
[edit]
- Harry Marshall Ward, colleague of Sir Francis Darwin.[citation needed]
- Sir Percy Henry Winfield[citation needed] FBA, Rouse Ball Professor of English Law, Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, author of The Law of Torts and his wife Lady Helena Winfield, née Scruby
- Denys Winstanley, Vice Master Trinity College, Cambridge.[37]
- John Wisdom (cremated),Professor of Philosophy, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, philosopher, and Honorary Fellow of Fitzwilliam College.[7]
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher, Professor of Philosophy, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Member of the Cambridge Apostles.[38][8]
- Charles Wood, Professor of Music, Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, composer.[7]
- William Aldis Wright, Shakespearean and Biblical scholar, Vice-Master Trinity College, Cambridge.[7][8]
Darwin family
[edit]Five members of the family of Charles Darwin are interred here: two sons: Sir Francis Darwin[8] and Sir Horace Darwin,[8] two daughters-in-law: Lady Florence Darwin (third wife of Francis) and Lady Ida Darwin[8] (wife of Horace), and a granddaughter: Frances Cornford,[8] the daughter of Francis Darwin by his second wife, Ellen Wordsworth Darwin, née Crofts.
Charles Darwin himself is buried in Westminster Abbey.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground". Faculty of Divinity 50 Treasures. University of Cambridge Faculty of Divinity. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ "St Giles Cemetery, Cambridge". Parks & Gardens. The Hestercombe Gardens Trust. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ "Privy Council Office - Burial Act 1853". The Gazette. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ "Cambridge's 'most historic burial ground' to be managed by city council following royal decision". Cambridge City Council. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ "History of Churches & Burial Grounds". Church at Castle (website run on behalf of local churches). Retrieved 29 June 2021.
- ^ Webb, Takka Productions Limited | Design by Webb &. "The Art Workers' Guild | Eric Marland". The Art Workers’ Guild. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq "A Cambridge Necropolis" by Dr. Mark Goldie, March 2000, for the Friends of The Parish of The Ascension Burial Ground
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at Ascension Parish Burial Ground Formerly St.Giles' and St. Peter's Burial Ground, Cambridge City Council Planning Department, 1995
- ^ a b c Hayes, John (2020). "G.E.M. ANSCOMBE—Irish-born philosopher". History Ireland. 28 (5): 42–44. ISSN 0791-8224. JSTOR 26934660.
- ^ "Bendall, Cecil". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ "Besant, William Henry". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ "Blackman, Frederick Frost". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ "Burn, Robert". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ "Capstick, John Walton". Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ "[Obituary] Sarah J. Clackson". The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists. 40 (1–4). 2003. hdl:2027/spo.0599796.0040.001:02.
- ^ a b c "Britain's brainiest cemetery". BBC News. 10 September 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ "Ewing, James Alfred". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ "Roberto Gerhard: Selected Works". Virtuoso Channel. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ "Hobson, Ernest William". Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ "Casualty Details: Hopkinson, Bertram". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ Parry, R. St John (2013). Henry Jackson, O.M. Cambridge University Press. p. 114. ISBN 9781107630949.
- ^ "Liveing, George Downing". Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ "Henry Richards Luard". Trinity College Chapel. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ "Casualty Details: Matthew, Arthur Gordon". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ "Cambridge Individuals". MacTutor. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ "Captain Robert Williams Michell". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ Knewstubb, Peter (2012). "William Loudon Mollison (1851–1929)" (PDF). Clare Association Annual: 65–67. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ "Obituary, Mr. Andrew Munro, Queens' College, Cambridge". The Times. 3 July 1935.
- ^ "Search Results". catalogues.royalsociety.org.
- ^ Goldie, Mark (2009). A Guide to Churchill College, Cambridge. pp. 62–63.
- ^ "Rivers, William Halse Rivers". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37898. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Huntingdon Road: chapel for Ascension Parish Burial Ground". Cambridge 2000. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ The Times obituary, 18 August 1947.
- ^ "History of Churches and Burial Grounds". Church at Castle. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ "Taylor, Charles". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36427. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Funeral of Mr. Vansittart", The Cambridge Review, vol. 3, no. 68, Cambridge Review Committee, p. 280, 1882
- ^ "Trinity College Chapel - Denys Arthur Winstanley". Trinity College, Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ "Wittgenstein's Grave". www.britishwittgensteinsociety.org.
External links
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ascension Parish Burial Ground, Cambridge.
- Ascension Parish Burial Ground at Find a Grave
- "Final resting place of the dead clever finds friends". Cambridge News. 13 September 2010. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014.
- Goldie, Mark (10 September 2010). "Britain's brainiest cemetery". BBC News – Today. Archived from the original on 11 September 2010.
- "History of Churches & Burial Grounds". Church at Castle (website run on behalf of local churches). Archived from the original on 5 September 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
- "Dead Scholar's Society". University of Cambridge. 10 September 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
52°13′03″N 0°06′00″E / 52.2176°N 0.1001°E
