Lansdown Cemetery

Overview
Location
Lansdown Road BA1 9BH
Opened
1848
Status
Closed
Number of Burials
7,129
Number of Memorials
2,008
Maintenance

The local council, on its notice board by the entrance, declares its policy on the maintenance of the cemetery “the area which is no longer used for burials will be spared from mowing until the end of summer, and you will see areas of long grass”.  Also, at its website “a management plan was agreed which allows the grassland to grow uninhibited over the graves whilst keeping grass pathways for ease of access”.

The council undertakes an annual strimming in November and mows the paths in summer every three or four weeks. Many graves in the sections 1-7 have become overgrown with vegetation with slabs covered by a layer of earth that has built up over years.

During the period from May until the annual strimming, locating a grave may be hampered by plants, particularly in the central area of the cemetery (Section 4).

Access

There is parking by the tower and also a layby by sections 8/9.

Information

William Beckford had wished to be buried in the grounds of Lansdown Tower, but was instead interred at Bath Abbey cemetery in Lyncombe Vale on 11 May 1844. The Tower was sold to a local publican, who intended turning it into a beer garden. Eventually however it was bought back by the Beckfords' elder daughter, the Duchess of Hamilton, who gave the land around it to Walcot parish for consecration as a cemetery in 1848. This enabled Beckford to be re-buried near the Tower.

From the Bath Chronicle of Thu 4 May 1848:

LANSDOWN CEMETERY 

This beautiful cemetery (to the intended arrangements of which we referred last Autumn), was consecrated by the Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells, on Friday last. The public were admitted to the chapel and grounds by tickets, and the fineness of the weather attracted a very numerous assemblage, among whom was Her Grace the Duchess of Hamilton. The road to the spot presented quite an animated appearance; and those of our fellow citizens who, on the occasion, mounted, whether on foot or otherwise, the steep hill leading to Lansdown had the enjoyment of a most cheerful aspect of the surrounding scenery, which lay bathed in brilliant sunshine, setting forth the varied charms of our exquisite landscapes to high advantage; while the freshness of the air, and the gushing song of the lark over-head, shed abroad a joyousness of which appeared to find a way to every heart. . . .

Notable People

David Harrel (1841-1939)1.A2.9While assistant chief commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police (he was commissioner 1883-1893), he was one of three people tasked with investigating the Phoenix Park murders in 1882. He was Under-Secretary for Ireland from 1893 to 1902.
Edward Lechmere Russell (1818-1904)1.A2.15General in the Indian Army (Bombay Establishment). Resident and Commandant at Aden. Received the thanks of both houses of Parliament for his services in the Abyssinian war (1867-8) and was knighted in 1868.
George Thomas Palmer (1784-1854)1.A.7/7AFounder of a settlement in Australia named after him as Palmerstown (later renamed to Ginniderra).
Thomas Garrard (1787-1859)1.A.9ACity Treasurer for Bristol and biographer of Edward Colston.

William Rowan (1789-1879) 

 

1.A.12AField Marshal. Fought in the Peninsular War, at Waterloo and after the defeat of Napoleon, was put in charge of the 1st arrondissement of Paris. In 1823 he was posted to Canada and in 1849 was made Commander-in-Chief, North America.
Joseph Bouch (1801-1859)1.A.19ACaused a scandal pursuing his wife from Australia to New Zealand after she had run off with someone else.
Percy Ralph Ricardo (1855-1907)

1.A.23

 

A son of Harry Ralph Ricardo (1822-1860). Buried at Melbourne but commemorated here. Controversial involvement in the suppression of the shearer’s strike of 1891. A grandson of Harry Ralph Ricardo who was a pioneer of internal combustion engine design.
Robert MacLimont (1822-1865)1.B.12AAmerican orthodox physician who converted to homeopathy, practiced in Guernsey and, after several years travelling abroad, settled in Bath where he was appointed as a Physician at the Bath Homeopathic Hospital. There were several controversies.
Forbes Fraser (1870-1924)1.K.18ASurgeon who was instrumental in setting up the Royal United Private Hospital in Bath which, shortly after his death, was renamed the Forbes Fraser Hospital.
William Jervois (1783-1862)1.L.16/16AGeneral. Served in the Peninsular War. Promoted to General in 1846 he was Commander and Lieutenant Governor of Hong Kong in 1851. In retirement he was Master of Ceremonies at Bath’s Assembly Rooms. The obituary in the Bath Chronicle of Thu 6 Nov 1862 referred to him as “a gentleman who for many years has been one of the chief ornaments of [Bath’s] society”.
Martin Claris Colbourn (1901-1989)

2.A1.3A

 

Last vicar of St James, Bath (it was bombed and later demolished) and then rector of Walcot 1942-1951 succeeding Geoffrey Erskine Woodmansey who had been killed in the blitz (see grave 2.A1.2).
William Augustus Fry (1835-1860)3.N.8AA survivor of the Charge of the Light Brigade. The inscription states that “he was one of the gallant six hundred in the charge of Balaclava”.
Elizabeth Pigot (1791-1860)

4.A1.4

 

Married Major George Pigot (the acknowledged natural son of Lord Pigot of Patshull) 10 days before setting off for Algoa Bay, South Africa in 1820 with 20 indentured servants where they set up an estate.
Hester McCormick (1782-1857)4.B.16AA servant. The inscription has an enigmatic inscription which states that “by prudence and industry” she amassed “a considerable sum of money” which she used for charitable purposes.
Marie Carandini (1826-1894)4.B.23Noted prima donna in Australia. Born in England, she emigrated with her family to Tasmania where she married an Italian marquis.
Edward Pelham Brenton Von Donop (1811-1890)

4.D.7A-8

 

Vice-Admiral. A history of the Royal Navy, in reference to a battle in the (so-called) Friendly Islands has “At a later date his gallantry would have won him the Victoria Cross”.
Henry Edward Goodridge (1797-1864)4.D.14/15ANoted architect. When aged 24 William Beckford commissioned him to design the tower now known as Beckford Tower. He also designed the neo-classical façade to Argyle Chapel (1823) Cleveland Bridge (1827) and The Corridor shopping arcade (1825). His designs outside Bath include the chapel of Downside Abbey (1828), the Catholic Clifton pro-cathedral (1834) which was never completed, Devizes Castle (1840) and the library of Hamilton Palace (1845).
Mary Pitman (1793-1857)4.I.1AWife of Sir Isaac Pitman (1813-1897). The inscription uses phonetic letters and starts “MεRI PITMAN/WEIF OV MR EIZAK PITMAN” 
George Frederick Rosenberg (1825- 1869)

4.I.16

 

Watercolour artist and author of a guide on flower-painting in water colours.
William Hinde (1817-1878)4.I.31Master of the Supreme Court at Adelaide, South Australia.
Thomas Simson Pratt (1796-1879)4.K/23-23AServed in the war in China in 1840-1. Commander of forces in Australia 1856-1861 and served in the Maori war of 1860-1.
Leonard Blomefield (1800-1893)4.M.23ANaturalist. Clergyman. Offered the position of botanist on HMS Beagle, which he declined. His specimen collections were donated to the Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institute.
James Scarth Gale (1863-1937)

4.S.14A

 

Born in Canada, a missionary for 40 years in Korea, translator of the Bible into Korean and author of books on the Korean language and folk tales.
Benjamin James Maslen (1900-1982)4.S2.4Organist and composer.
Uchter John Mark Knox (1856-1933)1.E.15th Earl of Ranfurly. He was the great-great-great-grandson of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania in the United States in 1682. Governor of New Zealand from 1897 to 1904. As reported in the Otago Daily Times of 15-Nov-2013, the memorial to him and his wife was restored and a rededication service held on 3 Nov 2013 with one of the attendees being the NZ High Commissioner.
Documentation

The burial registers are available on microfiche under St Swithin’s up until 1948. As they are the registers for the parish, rather than the cemetery, entries include all burials irrespective of the cemetery actually used. Entries for burials at Lansdown Cemetery are usually annotated by ‘Cemetery’ but this is not consistent. From about 1861 all burials were at Lansdown Cemetery as Locksbrook Cemetery has its own set of burial registers for the Walcot section. The Burial Order Book contains similar information to the burial register but includes both the dates of death and burial – the burial register only has the latter - and the location of the grave. Some of the mid-19th-century entries include the fees paid but these are absent in later volumes. The format of the Burial Order Book changes over time. The first volume includes some additional information at the front on reserved plots and maintenance agreements with the main part having the entries in pre-printed boxes. However, for some periods, a shorter, one-line form is used. The 20th century entries use the pre-printed books. The numbers of the entries are not pre-printed, as occurs in burial registers, and there are occurrences of duplicate numbers or the same number being used for two burials.

Documents
Introduction
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4 A-I2
Section 4 K-X
Section 5
Sections 6 & 7
Sections 8 & 9
Maps
Attachment Size
Overall 1.08 MB
Section 1 4.36 MB
Section 2 712.27 KB
Section 3 6.94 MB
Section 4 West 1.2 MB
Section 4 Central 3.16 MB
Section 4 East 2.38 MB
Section 5 910.84 KB
Sections 6 & 7 3.9 MB
Sections 8 & 9 5.06 MB
Coverage in Index
1848-1972

Cemetery Graves

If you wish to view and search burials within this cemetery, please visit the Bath Burial Index search page.

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