Where are they now? Chartist graves, memorials and monuments

The final resting place of many once prominent Chartists is unknown. Some died impoverished or unnoticed except by their families, and would have had no gravestone.

John Arnott, once general secretary of the National Charter Association, was last seen by the journalist W E Adams some time about 1865, “a poor half-starved old man”, begging for a few coppers on the Strand, and is now known to have gone to a pauper’s grave.

Atheists or infidels, like Allen Davenport, sometimes asked for unmarked graves as a token of their lack of religious beliefs and disdain for Christian ceremony.

The passing of a few, such as Ernest Jones and Jeremiah Yates, was mourned by thousands and great obelisks were erected to mark the spot; though their monuments have often fallen prey to 20th century clearances and redevelopment.

A surprising number of memorials large and small, however, have survived, often mostly unnoticed except by local historians and by cemetery friends groups. Here we list the known graves of Chartists great and obscure, and below are images of some of those that have survived.

A to D

William Edwin (W.E.) Adams, 1832-1906
Funchal British Cemetery, Madeira

John Ardill, 1811-1869
Burial ground of St Michael and All Angels, Headingley

John Arnott, 1799-1868
St Pancras Cemetery, High Road, East Finchley, grave no 47, section 10J

Bartlomiej Beniowski, 1800-1867
Brompton Cemetery, London

Peter Bussey, 1805-1869 (photo)
St John’s Church, Farsley (nr Leeds)

Samuel Carter, 1814-1903
Ridgeway Park Cemetery, Bristol

William Henry Chadwick, 1829-1908
Willow Green Cemetery, Reddish, Manchester

John Cleave, 1794-1850
Abney Park Cemetery, London
E4 on the cemetery map, Path T, South side, at the path’s edge

Henry Clubb, 1827-1921 (photo)
Oakwood Cemetery, Philadelphia

Thomas Cooper, 1805-1892
Canwick cemetery, Lincoln

William Cuffay, 1788-1870
Former Brickfields Invalid Depot, Hobart, Tasmania

Thomas Slingsby Duncombe, 1796-1861
Kensal Green Cemetery, London

Emma (Miles) Dunn, 1819-1877
Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum, Dayton, Ohio
Section 63, Lot 1289 Grave 3

Joseph Dunn, 1822-1898
Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum, Dayton, Ohio
Section 111, Lot 2324, Tier 5, Grave 4

E to K

John Epps, 1805-1869
Kensal Green Cemetery

John Frost, 1784-1877
Horfield Parish Church, Bristol

George Julian Harney, 1817-1897
Richmond Cemetery, Grove Road, Richmond, Surrey.
Section L

Henry Hetherington, 1792-1849
Kensal Green Cemetery, London

William Hill, 1806-1867
Springbank Cemetery, Hull, unmarked grave

Joshua Hobson, 1810-1876
Edgerton Cemetery, Huddersfield (nearest obelisk to the main entrance)

Mary Holberry, 1817-1883 (photo)
Non-Conformist section, Sheffield General Cemetery

Samuel Holberry, 1814-1842 (photo)
Non-Conformist section, Sheffield General Cemetery

George Jacob Holyoake, 1817-1906 (photo)
Highgate Cemetery, London

Susanna Inge, 1820-1902
Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York

Ernest Jones, 1819-1869
Ardwick Cemetery, Manchester

L to R

John Bedford Leno, 1826-1894
Hillingdon and Uxbridge Cemetery, London

Thomas Livsey, 1815-1864
Rochdale Cemetery

William Lovett, 1800-1877 (photo)
Highgate (West) Cemetery, London

Benjamin Lucraft, 1809 – 1897
Abney Park Cemetery, London

Helen MacFarlane, 1818-1860 (photo)
St Michael’s Church, Baddiley, Cheshire

Gerald Massey, 1828-1907
Southgate Cemetery, London

James Bronterre O’Brien, 1805-1864 (photo)
Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington, London
Grave found at Path C. Worn, half-missing headstone with kerb, n/L10.

Feargus O’Connor, 1796-1855 (photo)
Kensal Green Cemetery, London

Robert Kemp Philp, 1819-1882
Highgate Cemetery

Richard Pilling, 1799-1874 (external link)
Dukinfield Cemetery

Roger Pinder, 1802-1875
Barrow-upon-Humber Cemetery

George William MacArthur (GWM) Reynolds, 1814-1879
Kensall Green Cemetery, London,
Catacomb B, Vault 194, Compartment 5.

Ruffy Ridley (Daniel William Ruffy), 1805-1861
Melbourne General Cemetery, Australia, unmarked grave

Ben Rushton, 1785-1853
Lister Lane Cemetery, Halifax

S to Z

Joseph Rayner Stephens, 1805-1879
St John’s Cemetery, Dukinfield

Henry Vincent, 1813-1878
Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington, London
E4 on the cemetery map, Path T, South side, at the path’s edge

Lucy Chappell Vincent (was Cleave), 1822-1899
Abney Park Cemetery
E4 on the cemetery map, Path T, South side, at the path’s edge

George Duck Wyatt, 1818-1885
Lake Terrace Cemetery, Mount Gambier, South Australia
Section B, Plot/Grave 84

Jeremiah Yates, 1808 or 1810-1852
St Mark’s Church, Shelton

A number of Chartist graves and memorials can be found in London’s Kensal Green Cemetery. Here’s a short walking tour on which you can Meet the Kensal Green Chartists.