Westminster Abbey Burials and Memorials
Encyclopedia
Honouring individuals with Burials and Memorials in Westminster Abbey has a long tradition. Henry III
rebuilt Westminster Abbey
in honour of the Royal Saint Edward the Confessor
whose relics were placed in a shrine
in the sanctuary and now lie in a burial vault
beneath the 1268 Cosmati
mosaic pavement, in front of the High Altar. Henry III himself was interred nearby in a superb chest tomb
with effigial monument
, as were many of the Plantagenet kings of England, their wives and other relatives. From the time of Edward the Confessor until the death of George II
in 1760, most Kings and Queens of England were buried here, although there are exceptions (most notably Henry VIII
and Charles I
who are buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor). Most monarchs and members of the Royal Family who died after George II
are buried at Frogmore
to the east of Windsor Castle.
Since the Middle Ages, aristocrats were buried inside chapels and monks and people associated with the Abbey were buried in the Cloister
s and other areas. One of these was Geoffrey Chaucer
, who was buried here as he had apartments in the Abbey where he was employed as master of the King's Works. Other poets, writers and musicians were buried or memorialised around Chaucer in what became known as Poets' Corner
. These include: William Blake
, Robert Burns
, Lord Byron
, Charles Dickens
, John Dryden
, George Eliot
, T. S. Eliot
, Thomas Gray
, Gerard Manley Hopkins
, Samuel Johnson
, John Keats
, Rudyard Kipling
, Jenny Lind
, John Masefield
, John Milton
, Laurence Olivier
, Alexander Pope
, Nicholas Rowe
, Percy Bysshe Shelley
, Thomas Shadwell
, William Shakespeare
, Alfred Lord Tennyson and William Wordsworth
. Abbey musicians such as Henry Purcell
were also buried in their place of work.
Subsequently it became one of Britain's most significant honours to be buried or commemorated here.
The practice of burying national figures in the Abbey began under Oliver Cromwell
with the burial of Admiral Robert Blake
in 1657. The practice spread to include generals, admirals, politicians, doctors and scientists such as Isaac Newton
, buried on 4 April 1727 and Charles Darwin
buried 19 April 1882.
During the early 20th century, for reasons of space, it became increasingly common to bury cremated
remains rather than coffins in the Abbey. In 1905 the actor Sir Henry Irving
was cremated and his ashes buried in Westminster Abbey, thereby becoming the first person ever to be cremated prior to interment at the Abbey. This marked a milestone as after the death of Sir Joseph Hooker
in December 1911, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey chose to offer Hooker a grave near Charles Darwin
's in the nave
but also insisted that he be cremated before. His widow however declined and so Hooker's body was buried in the churchyard of St. Anne's Church, Kew
. Since 1936, no individual has been buried in a coffin in Westminster Abbey or its cloisters; the only exceptions to this rule are the Dukes of Northumberland
, who own a private vault in the Abbey.
Just inside the great west door, in the centre of the nave, in the floor is the tomb of The Unknown Warrior
, an unidentified British soldier killed on a European battlefield during the First World War. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, on 11 November 1920. There are many graves on the floors of the abbey but this is the only grave which is forbidden to step on.
and British Monarchs and their consorts are buried in the Abbey:
:
:
:
The following are buried in the Cloister
s:
s from across the world are depicted in statues; from left to right:
in Westminster.
A number of Cromwellians were also buried in the Abbey but later removed, in 1661, on the orders of King Charles II
, and buried in a pit in St Margaret's churchyard, adjoining the Abbey. A modern plaque on the exterior wall of the church records the names of those who were disinterred:
In November 1869, at the request of the Dean of Westminster and with the approval of Queen Victoria, the philanthropist George Peabody
was given a temporary burial in the Abbey, but later moved and buried in Salem, Massachusetts
.
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
rebuilt Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
in honour of the Royal Saint Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
whose relics were placed in a shrine
Shrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
in the sanctuary and now lie in a burial vault
Burial vault (tomb)
A burial vault is a structural underground tomb.It is a stone or brick-lined underground space or 'burial' chamber for the interment of a dead body or bodies. They were originally and are still often vaulted and usually have stone slab entrances...
beneath the 1268 Cosmati
Cosmati
The Cosmati were a Roman family, seven members of which, for four generations, were skilful architects, sculptors and workers in decorative geometric mosaic, mostly for church floors...
mosaic pavement, in front of the High Altar. Henry III himself was interred nearby in a superb chest tomb
Tomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
with effigial monument
Church monument
A church monument is an architectural or sculptural memorial to a dead person or persons, located within a Christian church. It can take various forms, from a simple wall tablet to a large and elaborate structure which may include an effigy of the deceased person and other figures of familial or...
, as were many of the Plantagenet kings of England, their wives and other relatives. From the time of Edward the Confessor until the death of George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
in 1760, most Kings and Queens of England were buried here, although there are exceptions (most notably Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
and Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
who are buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor). Most monarchs and members of the Royal Family who died after George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
are buried at Frogmore
Frogmore
The Frogmore Estate or Gardens comprise of private gardens within the grounds of the Home Park, adjoining Windsor Castle, in the English county of Berkshire. The name derives from the preponderance of frogs which have always lived in this low-lying and marshy area.It is the location of Frogmore...
to the east of Windsor Castle.
Since the Middle Ages, aristocrats were buried inside chapels and monks and people associated with the Abbey were buried in the Cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
s and other areas. One of these was Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
, who was buried here as he had apartments in the Abbey where he was employed as master of the King's Works. Other poets, writers and musicians were buried or memorialised around Chaucer in what became known as Poets' Corner
Poets' Corner
Poets' Corner is the name traditionally given to a section of the South Transept of Westminster Abbey because of the number of poets, playwrights, and writers buried and commemorated there. The most recent additions were a memorial floor stone unveiled in 2009 for the founders of the Royal Ballet...
. These include: William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
, Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
, Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, later George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron, FRS , commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was a British poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement...
, Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, John Dryden
John Dryden
John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.Walter Scott called him "Glorious John." He was made Poet...
, George Eliot
George Eliot
Mary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
, T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
, Thomas Gray
Thomas Gray
Thomas Gray was a poet, letter-writer, classical scholar and professor at Cambridge University.-Early life and education:...
, Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. was an English poet, Roman Catholic convert, and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous 20th-century fame established him among the leading Victorian poets...
, Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
, John Keats
John Keats
John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
, Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
, Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind , better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily...
, John Masefield
John Masefield
John Edward Masefield, OM, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967...
, John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
, Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
, Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
, Nicholas Rowe
Nicholas Rowe (dramatist)
Nicholas Rowe , English dramatist, poet and miscellaneous writer, was appointed Poet Laureate in 1715.-Life:...
, Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
, Thomas Shadwell
Thomas Shadwell
Thomas Shadwell was an English poet and playwright who was appointed poet laureate in 1689.-Life:Shadwell was born at Stanton Hall, Norfolk, and educated at Bury St Edmunds School, and at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, which he entered in 1656. He left the university without a degree, and...
, William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, Alfred Lord Tennyson and William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
. Abbey musicians such as Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
were also buried in their place of work.
Subsequently it became one of Britain's most significant honours to be buried or commemorated here.
The practice of burying national figures in the Abbey began under Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
with the burial of Admiral Robert Blake
Robert Blake (admiral)
Robert Blake was one of the most important military commanders of the Commonwealth of England and one of the most famous English admirals of the 17th century. Blake is recognised as the chief founder of England's naval supremacy, a dominance subsequently inherited by the British Royal Navy into...
in 1657. The practice spread to include generals, admirals, politicians, doctors and scientists such as Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
, buried on 4 April 1727 and Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
buried 19 April 1882.
During the early 20th century, for reasons of space, it became increasingly common to bury cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
remains rather than coffins in the Abbey. In 1905 the actor Sir Henry Irving
Henry Irving
Sir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility for season after season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as...
was cremated and his ashes buried in Westminster Abbey, thereby becoming the first person ever to be cremated prior to interment at the Abbey. This marked a milestone as after the death of Sir Joseph Hooker
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM, GCSI, CB, MD, FRS was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was a founder of geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend...
in December 1911, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey chose to offer Hooker a grave near Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
's in the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
but also insisted that he be cremated before. His widow however declined and so Hooker's body was buried in the churchyard of St. Anne's Church, Kew
St. Anne's Church, Kew
St Anne's Church, Kew is the parish church of Kew, London, situated on Kew Green.-History:Originally built in 1714, on land given by Queen Anne as a church within the parish of Kingston, St. Anne's Church has been extended several times since, as the settlement of Kew grew with royal patronage. In...
. Since 1936, no individual has been buried in a coffin in Westminster Abbey or its cloisters; the only exceptions to this rule are the Dukes of Northumberland
Duke of Northumberland
The Duke of Northumberland is a title in the peerage of Great Britain that has been created several times. Since the third creation in 1766, the title has belonged to the House of Percy , which held the title of Earl of Northumberland from 1377....
, who own a private vault in the Abbey.
Just inside the great west door, in the centre of the nave, in the floor is the tomb of The Unknown Warrior
The Unknown Warrior
The British tomb of The Unknown Warrior holds an unidentified British soldier killed on a European battlefield during the First World War. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, London on 11 November 1920, simultaneously with a similar interrment of a French unknown soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in...
, an unidentified British soldier killed on a European battlefield during the First World War. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, on 11 November 1920. There are many graves on the floors of the abbey but this is the only grave which is forbidden to step on.
Monarchs and their consorts
The following English, ScottishScottish Monarchs
The Scottish Monarchs were a motorcycle speedway team based in Glasgow, Scotland.At the end of the 1995 season, the Glasgow Tigers closed due a lack of finance and the Edinburgh Monarchs lost their home track, Powderhall Stadium, to redevelopment, leading to the Monarchs racing at Shawfield Stadium...
and British Monarchs and their consorts are buried in the Abbey:
- Sæberht of Essex
- St Edward the Confessor and his wife, Edith of WessexEdith of WessexEdith of Wessex married King Edward the Confessor of England on 23 January 1045. Unlike most wives of kings of England in the tenth and eleventh centuries, she was crowned queen, but the marriage produced no children...
- Henry III of EnglandHenry III of EnglandHenry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
- Edward I of EnglandEdward I of EnglandEdward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
and his wife, Eleanor of CastileEleanor of CastileEleanor of Castile was the first queen consort of Edward I of England. She was also Countess of Ponthieu in her own right from 1279 until her death in 1290, succeeding her mother and ruling together with her husband.-Birth:... - Edward III of EnglandEdward III of EnglandEdward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
and his wife, Philippa of HainaultPhilippa of HainaultPhilippa of Hainault, or, Philippe de Hainaut was the Queen consort of King Edward III of England. Edward, Duke of Guyenne, her future husband, promised in 1326 to marry her within the following two years... - Richard II of EnglandRichard II of EnglandRichard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
and his wife, Anne of BohemiaAnne of BohemiaAnne of Bohemia was Queen of England as the first wife of King Richard II. A member of the House of Luxembourg, she was the eldest daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, and Elizabeth of Pomerania.... - Henry V of EnglandHenry V of EnglandHenry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
and his wife, Catherine of ValoisCatherine of ValoisCatherine of France was the Queen consort of England from 1420 until 1422. She was the daughter of King Charles VI of France, wife of Henry V of Monmouth, King of England, mother of Henry VI, King of England and King of France, and through her secret marriage with Owen Tudor, the grandmother of... - Edward V of EnglandEdward V of EnglandEdward V was King of England from 9 April 1483 until his deposition two months later. His reign was dominated by the influence of his uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who succeeded him as Richard III...
- Anne NevilleAnne NevilleLady Anne Neville was Princess of Wales as the wife of Edward of Westminster and Queen of England as the consort of King Richard III. She held the latter title for less than two years, from 26 June 1483 until her death in March 1485...
, wife of Richard IIIRichard III of EnglandRichard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty... - Henry VII of EnglandHenry VII of EnglandHenry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
and his wife, Elizabeth of YorkElizabeth of YorkElizabeth of York was Queen consort of England as spouse of King Henry VII from 1486 until 1503, and mother of King Henry VIII of England.... - Edward VI of EnglandEdward VI of EnglandEdward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
- Anne of ClevesAnne of ClevesAnne of Cleves was a German noblewoman and the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England and as such she was Queen of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540. The marriage was never consummated, and she was not crowned queen consort...
, wife of King Henry VIII - Mary I of EnglandMary I of EnglandMary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
- Elizabeth I of EnglandElizabeth I of EnglandElizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
- James VI & I of Scots and EnglandJames I of EnglandJames VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
and his wife, Anne of DenmarkAnne of DenmarkAnne of Denmark was queen consort of Scotland, England, and Ireland as the wife of King James VI and I.The second daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark, Anne married James in 1589 at the age of fourteen and bore him three children who survived infancy, including the future Charles I... - Charles II of England and ScotsCharles II of EnglandCharles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
- Mary II of England and ScotsMary II of EnglandMary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
- William III of England (William II of Scots)William III of EnglandWilliam III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
- Anne of Great BritainAnne of Great BritainAnne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
and her husband, Prince George of Denmark (and 18 children) - George II of Great BritainGeorge II of Great BritainGeorge II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
and his wife, Caroline of AnsbachCaroline of AnsbachCaroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach was the queen consort of King George II of Great Britain.Her father, John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, was the ruler of a small German state...
Other monarchs
- Mary, Queen of Scots, mother of James VI & I
- Elizabeth of BohemiaElizabeth of BohemiaElizabeth of Bohemia was the eldest daughter of King James VI and I, King of Scotland, England, Ireland, and Anne of Denmark. As the wife of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, she was Electress Palatine and briefly Queen of Bohemia...
, daughter of James VI & I
Nave
The following are buried in the NaveNave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
:
- Alphonso, Earl of ChesterAlphonso, Earl of ChesterAlphonso was the ninth child of Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile. During his lifetime, he was first in line to his father's throne of England and to his mother's county of Ponthieu in France....
(heart buried in Blackfriars, London) - Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount AllenbyEdmund Allenby, 1st Viscount AllenbyField Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby GCB, GCMG, GCVO was a British soldier and administrator most famous for his role during the First World War, in which he led the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in the conquest of Palestine and Syria in 1917 and 1918.Allenby, nicknamed...
- John AndréJohn AndréJohn André was a British army officer hanged as a spy during the American War of Independence. This was due to an incident in which he attempted to assist Benedict Arnold's attempted surrender of the fort at West Point, New York to the British.-Early life:André was born on May 2, 1750 in London to...
- Francis AtterburyFrancis AtterburyFrancis Atterbury was an English man of letters, politician and bishop.-Early life:He was born at Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, where his father was rector. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he became a tutor...
- Clement Attlee, 1st Earl AttleeClement AttleeClement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
- Sir Charles Barry
- Ernest BevinErnest BevinErnest Bevin was a British trade union leader and Labour politician. He served as general secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1945, as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour Government.-Early...
- Andrew Bonar Law
- Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts
- Neville ChamberlainNeville ChamberlainArthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
- Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of DundonaldThomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of DundonaldAdmiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM , styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a senior British naval flag officer and radical politician....
- Charles DarwinCharles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
- Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of WillingdonFreeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of WillingdonMajor Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon was a British Liberal politician and administrator who served as Governor General of Canada, the 13th since Canadian Confederation, and as Viceroy and Governor-General of India, the country's 22nd.Freeman-Thomas was born in England and...
- George GrahamGeorge Graham (clockmaker)George Graham was an English clockmaker, inventor, and geophysicist, and a Fellow of the Royal Society.He was born to George Graham in Kirklinton, Cumberland. A Friend like his mentor Thomas Tompion, Graham left Cumberland in 1688 for London to work with Tompion...
- Ben JonsonBen JonsonBenjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
(buried upright) - David LivingstoneDavid LivingstoneDavid Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...
(heart buried in ZambiaZambiaZambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
) - Charles LyellCharles LyellSir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, Kt FRS was a British lawyer and the foremost geologist of his day. He is best known as the author of Principles of Geology, which popularised James Hutton's concepts of uniformitarianism – the idea that the earth was shaped by slow-moving forces still in operation...
- Sir Isaac Newton
- Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron RutherfordErnest RutherfordErnest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson OM, FRS was a New Zealand-born British chemist and physicist who became known as the father of nuclear physics...
- Sir George Gilbert Scott
- Robert StephensonRobert StephensonRobert Stephenson FRS was an English civil engineer. He was the only son of George Stephenson, the famed locomotive builder and railway engineer; many of the achievements popularly credited to his father were actually the joint efforts of father and son.-Early life :He was born on the 16th of...
- Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of LennoxLudovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of LennoxLudovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox and 1st Duke of Richmond was a Scottish nobleman and politician. He was the son of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox and his wife Catherine de Balsac. Stewart was involved in the Plantation of Ulster in Ireland and the colonization of Maine in New England...
- George Edmund StreetGeorge Edmund StreetGeorge Edmund Street was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex.- Life :Street was the third son of Thomas Street, solicitor, by his second wife, Mary Anne Millington. George went to school at Mitcham in about 1830, and later to the Camberwell collegiate school, which he left in 1839...
- J. J. ThomsonJ. J. ThomsonSir Joseph John "J. J." Thomson, OM, FRS was a British physicist and Nobel laureate. He is credited for the discovery of the electron and of isotopes, and the invention of the mass spectrometer...
- William Thomson, 1st Baron KelvinWilliam Thomson, 1st Baron KelvinWilliam Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin OM, GCVO, PC, PRS, PRSE, was a mathematical physicist and engineer. At the University of Glasgow he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging...
- Thomas TompionThomas TompionThomas Tompion was an English clock maker, watchmaker and mechanician who is still regarded to this day as the Father of English Clockmaking. Tompion's work includes some of the most historic and important clocks and watches in the world and can command very high prices whenever outstanding...
- The Unknown WarriorThe Unknown WarriorThe British tomb of The Unknown Warrior holds an unidentified British soldier killed on a European battlefield during the First World War. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, London on 11 November 1920, simultaneously with a similar interrment of a French unknown soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in...
- Beatrice WebbBeatrice WebbMartha Beatrice Webb, Lady Passfield was an English sociologist, economist, socialist and social reformer. Although her husband became Baron Passfield in 1929, she refused to be known as Lady Passfield...
- Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron PassfieldSidney James Webb, 1st Baron PassfieldSidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield PC OM was a British socialist, economist, reformer and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. He was one of the early members of the Fabian Society in 1884, along with George Bernard Shaw...
North Transept
The following are buried in the North TranseptTransept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
:
- William Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
- William Pitt, 1st Earl of ChathamWilliam Pitt, 1st Earl of ChathamWilliam Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC was a British Whig statesman who led Britain during the Seven Years' War...
- Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of LancasterEdmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of LancasterEdmund of Crouchback, 1st Earl of Leicester and Lancaster , was the second surviving son of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence. In his childhood he had a claim on the Kingdom of Sicily. His nickname refers to his participation in the Ninth Crusade.-Childhood:Edmund was born in London...
- William Pitt the YoungerWilliam Pitt the YoungerWilliam Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
- William WilberforceWilliam WilberforceWilliam Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
- Robert Stewart, Viscount CastlereaghRobert Stewart, Viscount CastlereaghRobert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, KG, GCH, PC, PC , usually known as Lord CastlereaghThe name Castlereagh derives from the baronies of Castlereagh and Ards, in which the manors of Newtownards and Comber were located...
- Sir John MalcolmJohn MalcolmMajor-general Sir John Malcolm was a Scottish soldier, statesman, and historian-Early life:Born at Burnfoot, Dumfriesshire, Malcolm was the son of George Malcolm, a gentleman farmer of Eskdale and Burnfoot. Jock, as he was then known, was one of the four Malcolm brothers who attained knighthoods...
- William Murray, 1st Earl of MansfieldWilliam Murray, 1st Earl of MansfieldWilliam Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, SL, PC was a British barrister, politician and judge noted for his reform of English law. Born to Scottish nobility, he was educated in Perth, Scotland before moving to London at the age of 13 to take up a place at Westminster School...
South Transept
The following are buried in the South Transept which is known as Poets' CornerPoets' Corner
Poets' Corner is the name traditionally given to a section of the South Transept of Westminster Abbey because of the number of poets, playwrights, and writers buried and commemorated there. The most recent additions were a memorial floor stone unveiled in 2009 for the founders of the Royal Ballet...
:
- Maj. John AndréJohn AndréJohn André was a British army officer hanged as a spy during the American War of Independence. This was due to an incident in which he attempted to assist Benedict Arnold's attempted surrender of the fort at West Point, New York to the British.-Early life:André was born on May 2, 1750 in London to...
- Robert AdamRobert AdamRobert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
- Robert BrowningRobert BrowningRobert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
- William CamdenWilliam CamdenWilliam Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
- Thomas Campbell
- Geoffrey ChaucerGeoffrey ChaucerGeoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
- William CongreveWilliam CongreveWilliam Congreve was an English playwright and poet.-Early life:Congreve was born in Bardsey, West Yorkshire, England . His parents were William Congreve and his wife, Mary ; a sister was buried in London in 1672...
- Abraham CowleyAbraham CowleyAbraham Cowley was an English poet born in the City of London late in 1618. He was one of the leading English poets of the 17th century, with 14 printings of his Works published between 1668 and 1721.-Early life and career:...
- William DavenantWilliam DavenantSir William Davenant , also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned both the Caroline and Restoration eras and who was active both before and after the English Civil...
- John DenhamJohn Denham (poet)Sir John Denham was an English poet and courtier. He served as Surveyor of the King's Works and is buried in Westminster Abbey....
- Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
- Michael DraytonMichael DraytonMichael Drayton was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era.-Early life:He was born at Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. Almost nothing is known about his early life, beyond the fact that in 1580 he was in the service of Thomas Goodere of Collingham,...
- John DrydenJohn DrydenJohn Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.Walter Scott called him "Glorious John." He was made Poet...
- Adam FoxAdam FoxAdam Fox , Canon, was the Dean of Divinity at Magdalen College, Oxford. He was one of the first members of the "Inklings", a literary group which also included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Between 1938 and 1942 he was Professor of Poetry. Later he became Canon of Westminster Abbey and he is...
- David GarrickDavid GarrickDavid Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
- John GayJohn GayJohn Gay was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera , set to music by Johann Christoph Pepusch...
- Gabriel GoodmanGabriel GoodmanGabriel Goodman was the Dean of Westminster and the re-founder of Ruthin School, in Ruthin, Denbighshire.-Early years:...
- George Frederick Handel
- Thomas HardyThomas HardyThomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
(heart buried in StinsfordStinsfordStinsford is a village in south west Dorset, England, one mile east of Dorchester. The village has a population of 346 , 13.5% of dwellings are second homes ....
) - Sir Henry IrvingHenry IrvingSir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility for season after season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as...
- Dr Samuel JohnsonSamuel JohnsonSamuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
- Rudyard KiplingRudyard KiplingJoseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
- Thomas Macaulay
- John MasefieldJohn MasefieldJohn Edward Masefield, OM, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967...
- Anne OldfieldAnne OldfieldAnne Oldfield , English actress, was born in London, the daughter of a soldier.She worked for a time as apprentice to a seamstress, until she attracted George Farquhar's attention by reciting some lines from a play in his hearing...
- Laurence Olivier, Baron OlivierLaurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
- Thomas Parr
- Richard Brinsley SheridanRichard Brinsley SheridanRichard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish-born playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years he was also a Whig Member of the British House of Commons for Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester...
- Edmund SpenserEdmund SpenserEdmund Spenser was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognised as one of the premier craftsmen of Modern English verse in its infancy, and one of the greatest poets in the English...
- Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron TennysonAlfred Tennyson, 1st Baron TennysonAlfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
Cloisters
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
s:
- Edmund AyrtonEdmund AyrtonEdmund Ayrton was an English organist who was Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal.-Life:Ayrton was born at Ripon and baptised on 19 November 1734. His father was Edward Ayrton , a 'barber chirurgion,' who became an alderman in Ripon on 14 August 1758, and mayor in 1760...
- Aphra BehnAphra BehnAphra Behn was a prolific dramatist of the English Restoration and was one of the first English professional female writers. Her writing contributed to the amatory fiction genre of British literature.-Early life:...
- Gen. John BurgoyneJohn BurgoyneGeneral John Burgoyne was a British army officer, politician and dramatist. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several battles, mostly notably during the Portugal Campaign of 1762....
- Muzio ClementiMuzio ClementiMuzio Clementi was a celebrated composer, pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer. Born in Italy, he spent most of his life in England. He is best known for his piano sonatas, and his collection of piano studies, Gradus ad Parnassum...
- Percy DearmerPercy DearmerPercy Dearmer, was an English priest and liturgist best known as the author of The Parson's Handbook, a liturgical manual for Anglican clergy. A lifelong socialist, he was an early advocate of the public ministry of women and concerned with social justice...
- Lord Fraser of LonsdaleIan Fraser, Baron Fraser of LonsdaleWilliam Jocelyn Ian Fraser, Baron Fraser of Lonsdale CH CBE, , known as Ian Fraser, was a British Conservative Party politician, a Governor of the BBC, a successful businessman and the first person to be awarded a life peerage under the Life Peerages Act 1958.Fraser was blinded in World War I and...
- Johann Peter SalomonJohann Peter SalomonJohann Peter Salomon was a German violinist, composer, conductor and musical impresario.-Life:...
- William ShieldWilliam ShieldWilliam Shield was an English composer, violinist and violist who was born in Swalwell near Gateshead, the son of William Shield and his wife, Mary, née Cash.-Life and musical career:...
- John ThorndikeJohn ThorndikeJohn Thorndike was one of the first founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.Thorndike was a farmer and cowherd from Great Carlton, Lincolnshire, England. He and his wife Elizabeth Stratton were among the emigrants who sailed to America on the Arbella in 1630. The Thorndikes settled in the area...
- William TurnerWilliam Turner (composer)William Turner was a composer and countertenor of the Baroque era. A contemporary of John Blow and Henry Purcell, he is best remembered for his verse anthems, of which over forty survive...
- James WrightJames Wright (governor)James Wright was an American colonial lawyer and jurist who was the last British Royal Governor of the Province of Georgia. He was the only Royal Governor of the Thirteen Colonies to regain control of his colony during the American Revolutionary War.James Wright was born in London to Robert Wright...
North Choir Aisle
The following are buried in the North Choir Aisle:- Henry PurcellHenry PurcellHenry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
- Ralph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
South Choir Aisle
The following are buried in the South Choir Aisle:- Dame Sybil Thorndike
- Admiral Sir Cloudesley ShovellCloudesley ShovellAdmiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudesley Shovell , was an English naval officer. Rising through the ranks and fighting in many of the important battles of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, he became a popular British hero, whose celebrated career was brought to an end in a disastrous shipwreck in...
- Sir Paul MethuenPaul Methuen (diplomat)Sir Paul Methuen PC, KB was an English diplomat and politician.He was the son of John Methuen and was educated privately then at a Jesuit school in Paris. He went to Lisbon in 1691, when his father was appointed minister there. He gained valuable experience and the esteem of King Pedro...
- James KendallJames Kendall (politician)James Kendall was a soldier, politician and Governor of Barbados.He served in the Coldstream Guards until 1685 and became a Member of Parliament in 1685 for West Looe until 1690. He regained his seat in 1695, holding it until 1702...
Ambulatory Chapels
The following are buried in the Ambulatory Chapels:- Robert AytonRobert AytonSir Robert Aytoun was a Scottish poet.Ayton was the son of Ayton of Kinaldie House in Fife.He and his elder brother entered St Leonard's College in St Andrews in 1584. After graduating MA from St...
- Eleanor de BohunEleanor de BohunEleanor de Bohun was the elder daughter and co-heiress with her sister Mary de Bohun, of their father Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford. Her mother was Lady Joan Fitzalan, daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and his second wife Eleanor of Lancaster.-Marriage:In 1376 she...
- Anne of ClevesAnne of ClevesAnne of Cleves was a German noblewoman and the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England and as such she was Queen of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540. The marriage was never consummated, and she was not crowned queen consort...
- Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of MiddlesexLionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of MiddlesexLionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex was a successful merchant in London, England.-Life:He was the second son of Thomas Cranfield, a mercer at London, and his wife Martha Randill, the daughter and heiress of Vincent Randill of Sutton-at-Hone, Kent. He was apprenticed in to Richard Sheppard, a...
- John of Eltham, Earl of CornwallJohn of Eltham, Earl of CornwallJohn of Eltham, 1st Earl of Cornwall was the second son of Edward II of England and Isabella of France. He was heir to the English throne from the date of the abdication of his father to the birth of his nephew Edward of Woodstock .-Life:John was born in 1316 at Eltham Palace, Kent...
- Sir Rowland HillRowland Hill (postal reformer)Sir Rowland Hill KCB, FRS was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of penny postage and his solution of prepayment, facilitating the safe, speedy and cheap transfer of letters...
- Simon Langham
- Edward Talbot, 8th Earl of ShrewsburyEdward Talbot, 8th Earl of ShrewsburyEdward Talbot, 8th Earl of Shrewsbury and 8th Earl of Waterford , was the younger brother and nearest male heir of Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury, whom he succeeded as Earl of Shrewsbury and Lord High Steward of Ireland in 1616.He was born in Sheffield, the son of George Talbot, 6th Earl of...
- William de Valence, 1st Earl of PembrokeWilliam de Valence, 1st Earl of PembrokeWilliam de Valence, 1st Earl of Wexford and 1st Earl of Pembroke , born Guillaume de Lusignan or de Valence, was a French nobleman and Knight, who became important in English politics due to his relationship to Henry III...
- Catherine of ValoisCatherine of ValoisCatherine of France was the Queen consort of England from 1420 until 1422. She was the daughter of King Charles VI of France, wife of Henry V of Monmouth, King of England, mother of Henry VI, King of England and King of France, and through her secret marriage with Owen Tudor, the grandmother of...
- George Villiers, 1st Duke of BuckinghamGeorge Villiers, 1st Duke of BuckinghamGeorge Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...
- Katherine Villiers, Duchess of BuckinghamKatherine Villiers, Duchess of BuckinghamKatherine Manners, Duchess of Buckingham, 19th Baroness de Ros of Helmsley , also known as Catherine, was the daughter and heir of the 18th Baron de Ros. She was known as the richest woman in Britain, apart from royalty...
Henry VII's Lady Chapel
The following are buried in Henry VII's Chapel:- Joseph AddisonJoseph AddisonJoseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was a man of letters, eldest son of Lancelot Addison...
(buried in a vault in North Aisle; also a white marble statue in Poet's Corner) - Margaret Douglas, Countess of LennoxMargaret DouglasMargaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox was the daughter of Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and Margaret Tudor, Queen Dowager of Scotland...
(buried, with her son CharlesCharles Stuart, 1st Earl of LennoxCharles Stuart, 5th Earl of Lennox was the second son of Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox and of Margaret Douglas, daughter of Margaret Tudor....
, in a tomb in South Aisle) - Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron DowdingHugh Dowding, 1st Baron DowdingAir Chief Marshal Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding GCB, GCVO, CMG was a British officer in the Royal Air Force...
- George Monck, 1st Duke of AlbemarleGeorge Monck, 1st Duke of AlbemarleGeorge Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, KG was an English soldier and politician and a key figure in the restoration of Charles II.-Early life and career:...
(also memorial Henry VII Chapel, South Aisle) - Viscount TrenchardHugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount TrenchardMarshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard GCB OM GCVO DSO was a British officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force...
- Maj. Gen. Charles WorsleyCharles WorsleyCharles Worsley was an English soldier and politician. He was an ardent supporter of Oliver Cromwell and was an officer in the Parliamentary army during the English Civil War and the Interregnum...
(no memorial remains)
Individuals
- Christopher AnsteyChristopher AnsteyChristopher Anstey was an English writer and poet.Anstey was the son of Dr. Anstey, a wealthy clergyman, the rector of Brinkley where he was born. He was educated at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge, where he distinguished himself for his Latin verses. He became a fellow of his college...
, buried at St. Swithin's Church Bath, Somerset - Dame Peggy AshcroftPeggy AshcroftDame Peggy Ashcroft, DBE was an English actress.-Early years:Born as Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft in Croydon, Ashcroft attended the Woodford School, Croydon and the Central School of Speech and Drama...
, cremated at Golders Green CrematoriumGolders Green CrematoriumGolders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000, and was opened in 1902 by Sir Henry Thompson....
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... - Jane AustenJane AustenJane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
, buried in Winchester CathedralWinchester CathedralWinchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe...
, HampshireHampshireHampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force... - Robert, Lord Baden-PowellRobert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-PowellRobert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, Bt, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB , also known as B-P or Lord Baden-Powell, was a lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, and founder of the Scout Movement....
, buried in Nyeri, Kenya and Lady Baden-PowellOlave Baden-PowellOlave St Clair Baden-Powell, Baroness Baden-Powell, GBE was born Olave St Clair Soames in Chesterfield, England...
, ashes in Nyeri, Kenya - Stanley BaldwinStanley BaldwinStanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
, cremated at Golders Green CrematoriumGolders Green CrematoriumGolders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000, and was opened in 1902 by Sir Henry Thompson....
and ashes buried in Worcester CathedralWorcester CathedralWorcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, England; situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Mary the Virgin of Worcester...
, WorcestershireWorcestershireWorcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region... - Admiral Robert BlakeRobert Blake (admiral)Robert Blake was one of the most important military commanders of the Commonwealth of England and one of the most famous English admirals of the 17th century. Blake is recognised as the chief founder of England's naval supremacy, a dominance subsequently inherited by the British Royal Navy into...
(on a stone memorial in the south choir aisle), buried in St Margaret's, Westminster - William BoothWilliam BoothWilliam Booth was a British Methodist preacher who founded The Salvation Army and became its first General...
, buried at Stoke NewingtonStoke NewingtonStoke Newington is a district in the London Borough of Hackney. It is north-east of Charing Cross.-Boundaries:In modern terms, Stoke Newington can be roughly defined by the N16 postcode area . Its southern boundary with Dalston is quite ill-defined too...
, London Borough of HackneyLondon Borough of HackneyThe London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council.... - Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of AldeburghBenjamin BrittenEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
, buried at the parish church of AldeburghAldeburghAldeburgh is a coastal town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. Located on the River Alde, the town is notable for its Blue Flag shingle beach and fisherman huts where freshly caught fish are sold daily, and the Aldeburgh Yacht Club... - Charlotte BrontëCharlotte BrontëCharlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
, Emily Jane Brontë, Anne BrontëAnne BrontëAnne Brontë was a British novelist and poet, the youngest member of the Brontë literary family.The daughter of a poor Irish clergyman in the Church of England, Anne Brontë lived most of her life with her family at the parish of Haworth on the Yorkshire moors. For a couple of years she went to a...
; Charlotte and Emily are buried at HaworthHaworthHaworth is a rural village in the City of Bradford metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is located amongst the Pennines, southwest of Keighley and west of Bradford. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope...
, while Anne is buried at Scarborough - Lord Byron, buried at HucknallHucknallHucknall, formerly known as Hucknall Torkard, is a town in Greater Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, in the district of Ashfield. The town was historically a centre for framework knitting and then for mining but is now a focus for other industries as well providing housing for workers in...
, NottinghamshireNottinghamshireNottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west... - Sir Winston ChurchillWinston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, buried at BladonBladonBladon is a village and civil parish on the River Glyme about northwest of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England.-Churches:The Parish Church of Saint Martin was originally 11th or 12th century, but was rebuilt twice in the 19th century: firstly in 1804, and then by the architect A.W...
, OxfordshireOxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire .... - John ClareJohn ClareJohn Clare was an English poet, born the son of a farm labourer who came to be known for his celebratory representations of the English countryside and his lamentation of its disruption. His poetry underwent a major re-evaluation in the late 20th century and he is often now considered to be among...
, buried in St Botolph's churchyard, Helpston, CambridgeshireCambridgeshireCambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west... - Richard DimblebyRichard DimblebyRichard Dimbleby CBE was an English journalist and broadcaster widely acknowledged as one of the greatest figures in British broadcasting history.-Early life:...
, buried in St Peter's churchyard, Lynchmere, West SussexWest SussexWest Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming... - Paul DiracPaul DiracPaul Adrien Maurice Dirac, OM, FRS was an English theoretical physicist who made fundamental contributions to the early development of both quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics...
, buried in Tallahassee, FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it... - Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of BeaconsfieldBenjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of BeaconsfieldBenjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, KG, PC, FRS, was a British Prime Minister, parliamentarian, Conservative statesman and literary figure. Starting from comparatively humble origins, he served in government for three decades, twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom...
, buried at Hughenden ManorHughenden ManorHughenden Manor is a red brick Victorian mansion, located in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. In the 19th century, it was the country house of the Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli...
, BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe.... - Sir Francis Drake, buried at sea off Portobelo, PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
- Sir Edward Elgar, buried in St Wulftan's RC Church in Little MalvernLittle MalvernLittle Malvern is a small village and a civil parish on the lower slopes of the Malvern Hills south of Malvern Wells, near Great Malvern, the major centre of the area often referred to as The Malverns. in Worcestershire, England. It contains a Romanesque church called Little Malvern Priory, after...
, WorcestershireWorcestershireWorcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region... - Sir John Franklin, presumably buried at sea near King William IslandKing William IslandKing William Island is an island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut and forms part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. In area it is between and making it the 61st largest island in the world and Canada's 15th largest island...
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... - Adam Lindsay GordonAdam Lindsay GordonAdam Lindsay Gordon was an Australian poet, jockey and politician.- Early life :Gordon was born at Fayal in the Azores, son of Captain Adam Durnford Gordon who had married his first cousin, Harriet Gordon, both of whom were descended from Adam of Gordon of the ballad...
, buried in AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... - John HarrisonJohn HarrisonJohn Harrison was a self-educated English clockmaker. He invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought device in solving the problem of establishing the East-West position or longitude of a ship at sea, thus revolutionising and extending the possibility of safe long distance sea travel in the Age...
, buried in St John's Church in HampsteadHampsteadHampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
, North London - Rev Evelyn LevettLevettLevett is an Anglo-Norman territorial surname deriving from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, now Jonquerets-de-Livet, in Eure, Normandy. Ancestors of the earliest Levett family in England, the de Livets were lords of the village of Livet, and undertenants of the de Ferrers, among the most powerful of...
Sutton, prebendaryPrebendaryA prebendary is a post connected to an Anglican or Catholic cathedral or collegiate church and is a type of canon. Prebendaries have a role in the administration of the cathedral...
of Westminster and chaplainChaplainTraditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
to the House of Commons who collapsed after reading the ninth commandment during Sunday services and died the next day (in a monument) - Henry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
, buried at Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge, MassachusettsCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent... - George HerbertGeorge HerbertGeorge Herbert was a Welsh born English poet, orator and Anglican priest.Being born into an artistic and wealthy family, he received a good education that led to his holding prominent positions at Cambridge University and Parliament. As a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, Herbert excelled in...
(in a stained glass window unveiled by George W. Childs in 1875) - James Ramsay Macdonald, buried at Spynie, near LossiemouthLossiemouthLossiemouth is a town in Moray, Scotland. Originally the port belonging to Elgin, it became an important fishing town. Although there has been over a 1,000 years of settlement in the area, the present day town was formed over the past 250 years and consists of four separate communities that...
, GrampianGrampianGrampian was a local government region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996. It is now divided into the unitary council areas of:*Moray*Aberdeenshire*City of AberdeenThe region had five districts:*Aberdeen*Banff and Buchan... - Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of BurmaLouis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of BurmaAdmiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS , was a British statesman and naval officer, and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
, buried in Romsey AbbeyRomsey AbbeyRomsey Abbey is a parish church of the Church of England in Romsey, a market town in Hampshire, England. Until the dissolution it was the church of a Benedictine nunnery.-Background:...
. - William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, buried at Stratford-upon-AvonStratford-upon-AvonStratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
, WarwickshireWarwickshireWarwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare... - Dylan ThomasDylan ThomasDylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
(in a plaque unveiled in 1982), buried at Laugharne - Thomas TottyThomas Totty-Life:Totty was born at Flint, Flintshire, and was baptised at Holywell parish church on 24 January 1746. He inherited his birthplace, Cornist Hall, from his mother's side...
, buried at Portsmouth Garrison Chapel, PortsmouthPortsmouthPortsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, HampshireHampshireHampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force... - Charles WesleyCharles WesleyCharles Wesley was an English leader of the Methodist movement, son of Anglican clergyman and poet Samuel Wesley, the younger brother of Anglican clergyman John Wesley and Anglican clergyman Samuel Wesley , and father of musician Samuel Wesley, and grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley...
, buried at Old Marylebone, London - John WesleyJohn WesleyJohn Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
, buried at City Road Chapel, London - Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
(in a stained glass window unveiled in 1995), buried in Père Lachaise CemeteryPère Lachaise CemeteryPère Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the...
, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... - Gen. James WolfeJames WolfeMajor General James P. Wolfe was a British Army officer, known for his training reforms but remembered chiefly for his victory over the French in Canada...
, buried at St Alfege Church, Greenwich, South-East London - William CowperWilliam CowperWilliam Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry...
(in a stained glass window unveiled by George W. Childs in 1875), buried in East Dereham, NorfolkNorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
World War I Poets
Sixteen Great War poets are commemorated on a slate stone unveiled 11 November 1985, in the South Transept (Poet's Corner):- Richard AldingtonRichard AldingtonRichard Aldington , born Edward Godfree Aldington, was an English writer and poet.Aldington was best known for his World War I poetry, the 1929 novel, Death of a Hero, and the controversy arising from his 1955 Lawrence of Arabia: A Biographical Inquiry...
, buried in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... - Laurence BinyonLaurence BinyonRobert Laurence Binyon was an English poet, dramatist and art scholar. His most famous work, For the Fallen, is well known for being used in Remembrance Sunday services....
, author of For the Fallen, buried in Reading, BerkshireReading, BerkshireReading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London.... - Edmund BlundenEdmund BlundenEdmund Charles Blunden, MC was an English poet, author and critic. Like his friend Siegfried Sassoon, he wrote of his experiences in World War I in both verse and prose. For most of his career, Blunden was also a reviewer for English publications and an academic in Tokyo and later Hong Kong...
, buried in Long MelfordLong MelfordLong Melford is a large village and civil parish in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by the River Stour, approximately from Colchester and from Bury St. Edmunds...
, SuffolkSuffolkSuffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east... - Rupert BrookeRupert BrookeRupert Chawner Brooke was an English poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War, especially The Soldier...
, author of The SoldierThe Soldier (poem)"The Soldier" is a poem written by Rupert Brooke. The poem is the fifth of a series of poems entitled 1914.It is often contrasted with Wilfred Owen's 1917 antiwar poem Dulce Et Decorum EstThe manuscript is located at King's College, Cambridge....
, buried in SkyrosSkyrosSkyros is an island in Greece, the southernmost of the Sporades, an archipelago in the Aegean Sea. Around the 2nd millennium BC and slightly later, the island was known as The Island of the Magnetes where the Magnetes used to live and later Pelasgia and Dolopia and later Skyros...
, GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... - Wilfrid Gibson
- Robert GravesRobert GravesRobert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
, author of I, ClaudiusI, ClaudiusI, Claudius is a novel by English writer Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius. As such, it includes history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in AD 41...
and the only poet of the sixteen still living at the time of the commemoration, buried in DeiàDeiàDeià is a small coastal village on the northern ridge of the Spanish island of Majorca. It is located about ten miles north of Valldemossa, and it is known for its literary and musical residents...
, Majorca, SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... - Julian GrenfellJulian GrenfellThe Honourable Julian Henry Francis Grenfell DSO , was a British soldier and poet of World War I.-Early life:Julian Grenfell was born at 4 St James's Square, London, the eldest son of William Grenfell, later Baron Desborough, and Ethel Priscilla Fane, daughter of Julian Fane...
, buried in Boulogne-sur-MerBoulogne-sur-Mer-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... - Ivor GurneyIvor GurneyIvor Bertie Gurney was an English composer and poet.-Life:Born at 3 Queen Street, Gloucester in 1890, the second of four children of David Gurney, a tailor, and his wife Florence, a seamstress, Gurney showed musical ability early...
, buried in Twigworth, GloucestershireGloucestershireGloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean.... - David JonesDavid Jones (poet)David Jones CH was both a painter and one of the first generation British modernist poets. As a painter he worked chiefly in watercolor, painting portraits and animal, landscape, legendary and religious subjects. He was also a wood-engraver and designer of inscriptions. As a writer he was...
, buried in Crofton ParkCrofton ParkCrofton Park is a vibrant, mainly residential suburb and electoral ward in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is the original site of the former agricultural hamlet of Brockley. It is located 5.3 miles south east of Charing Cross, and is south of Brockley and north of Honor Oak...
, LewishamLewishamLewisham is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:... - Robert Nichols
- Wilfred OwenWilfred OwenWilfred Edward Salter Owen MC was an English poet and soldier, one of the leading poets of the First World War...
, author of Dulce et Decorum EstDulce et Decorum EstDulce et Decorum est is a poem written by poet Wilfred Owen in 1917, during World War I, and published posthumously in 1920. Owen's poem is known for its horrific imagery and condemnation of war. It was drafted at Craiglockhart in the first half of October 1917 and later revised, probably at...
and Anthem for Doomed YouthAnthem for Doomed Youth"Anthem for Doomed Youth" is a well-known poem written by Wilfred Owen which incorporates the themes of the horror of war.It employs the traditional form of a petrarchan sonnet, but it uses the rhyme scheme of an English sonnet. Much of the second half of the poem is dedicated to funeral rituals...
, buried in OrsOrsOrs is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It is located on the Sambre–Oise Canal, in a small wood called Bois l'Évêque.-History:The commune was a theater of intense fighting in November 1918 for control of the canal...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... - Herbert ReadHerbert ReadSir Herbert Edward Read, DSO, MC was an English anarchist, poet, and critic of literature and art. He was one of the earliest English writers to take notice of existentialism, and was strongly influenced by proto-existentialist thinker Max Stirner....
, buried in StonegraveStonegraveStonegrave is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the Howardian Hills and 4 miles south east of Helmsley.-External links:...
, North YorkshireNorth YorkshireNorth Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest... - Isaac RosenbergIsaac RosenbergIsaac Rosenberg was an English poet of the First World War who was considered to be one of the greatest of all English war poets...
, buried in Pas de Calais, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... - Siegfried SassoonSiegfried SassoonSiegfried Loraine Sassoon CBE MC was an English poet, author and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches, and satirised the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon's...
, buried in Mells, SomersetMells, SomersetMells is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, near the town of Frome.The parish includes the village of Vobster which had a coal mine of the same name on the Somerset coalfield and quarry, both of which are now disused. The old quarry is now used as a diving centre... - Charles SorleyCharles SorleyCharles Hamilton Sorley was a British poet of World War I.Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, he was the son of William Ritchie Sorley. He was educated, like Siegfried Sassoon, at Marlborough College...
, also commemorated at the LoosLoosLoos may refer to:Places* Loos, Nord, France* Loos-en-Gohelle, France* Loos Islands, also known as Îles de Los, Guinea* Loos, British Columbia, Canada* Los, SwedenPeople*Loos Other...
Memorial - Edward ThomasEdward Thomas (poet)Philip Edward Thomas was an Anglo-Welsh writer of prose and poetry. He is commonly considered a war poet, although few of his poems deal directly with his war experiences. Already an accomplished writer, Thomas turned to poetry only in 1914...
, buried in AgnyAgnyAgny is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.-Geography:A farming village located 3 miles southwest of Arras, at the D3 and D60 road junction.-History:...
Military Cemetery, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
20th Century Martyrs
Above the Great West Door, ten 20th century Christian martyrMartyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s from across the world are depicted in statues; from left to right:
- St Maximilian KolbeMaximilian KolbeSaint Maximilian Maria Kolbe OFM Conv was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar, who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi German concentration camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II.He was canonized on 10 October 1982 by Pope John Paul II, and...
(d.1941) - Manche MasemolaManche MasemolaManche Masemola is a Christian martyr, of the Pedi tribe, who lived in Marishane, a small village near Pietersburg, in South Africa...
(d.1928) - Janani LuwumJanani LuwumJanani Jakaliya Luwum , was the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda from 1974 to 1977 and one of the most influential leaders of the modern church in Africa. He was murdered in 1977 by either Idi Amin personally or by Amin's henchmen.-Early life and career:Luwum was born in the village of Mucwini in...
(d.1977) - Grand Duchess St Elizabeth of Russia (d.1918)
- Martin Luther King, Jr (d.1968)
- Óscar RomeroÓscar RomeroÓscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was a bishop of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chávez. He was assassinated on 24 March 1980....
(d.1980) - Dietrich BonhoefferDietrich BonhoefferDietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and martyr. He was a participant in the German resistance movement against Nazism and a founding member of the Confessing Church. He was involved in plans by members of the Abwehr to assassinate Adolf Hitler...
(d.1945) - Esther JohnEsther JohnEsther John was a Pakistani Christian nurse who was allegedly killed by a Muslim radical. Since her death she was honored by the Anglican church among ten notable Christian martyrs of the twentieth century demonstrated in a series of statues above one of the doorways of Westminster Abbey.-...
(d.1960) - Lucian TapiediLucian TapiediLucian Tapiedi was a Papuan Anglican teacher who was one of the "New Guinea Martyrs." The Martyrs were eight Anglican clergy, teachers, and medical missionaries killed by the Japanese in 1942 .-Early life:Tapiedi was born around 1921,“the nephew of a suspected sorcerer of Taupota...
(d.1941) - Wang ZhimingWang ZhimingWang Zhiming was a Miao pastor little known outside his home in Wuding County, Yunnan, China at the time of his execution on December 29, 1973. Since then, he has received two unique honors. In 1981, he became the only Christian martyr of the Cultural Revolution to have a monument erected at his...
(d.1973)
Formerly buried (removed)
King Harold I was originally buried in the Abbey, but his body was subsequently exhumed, beheaded, and thrown into a fen in June 1040. The body was later rescued and re-buried in the church of St Clement DanesSt Clement Danes
St Clement Danes is a church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. The current building was completed in 1682 by Sir Christopher Wren and it now functions as the central church of the Royal Air Force.The church is sometimes claimed to...
in Westminster.
A number of Cromwellians were also buried in the Abbey but later removed, in 1661, on the orders of King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
, and buried in a pit in St Margaret's churchyard, adjoining the Abbey. A modern plaque on the exterior wall of the church records the names of those who were disinterred:
- Oliver CromwellOliver CromwellOliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
, Lord ProtectorLord ProtectorLord Protector is a title used in British constitutional law for certain heads of state at different periods of history. It is also a particular title for the British Heads of State in respect to the established church... - Admiral Robert Blake
- John PymJohn PymJohn Pym was an English parliamentarian, leader of the Long Parliament and a prominent critic of James I and then Charles I.- Early life and education :...
In November 1869, at the request of the Dean of Westminster and with the approval of Queen Victoria, the philanthropist George Peabody
George Peabody
George Peabody was an American-British entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Peabody Trust in Britain and the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, and was responsible for many other charitable initiatives.-Biography:...
was given a temporary burial in the Abbey, but later moved and buried in Salem, Massachusetts
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
.