George Carden, who laid claim to being the found of the General Cemetery Company, and originator of Kensal Green Cemetery, fell out with the company directors not long after the cemetery had opened. A little known fact is that he decided to open a rival venture, in what is now Holland Park - still semi-rural in the 1840s - just that little bit nearer to fashionable West London, to trump his former associates. The scheme never got off the ground, but this is the prospectus ... this is, broadly speaking, how the joint stock cemeteries of the 1830s and 1840s were touted. Note also that Carden even suggests he will attempt to build the (quite mad) scheme for a pyramid mausoleum that was still doing the rounds (Carden and its originator were in talks at one point). West London would have looked very different.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Public Meeting in Favour of the Scheme of The Great Western Cemetery, After the Plan of Pere La Chaise
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Public Meeting in Favour of the Scheme of The Great Western Cemetery, After the Plan of Pere La Chaise
Shares, £21 - Half Shares, 10 Guineas each.
An Exposé of the Scheme of ex-urban Burial will be made by
the Found in the appropriated Ground,
Notting Hill, Bayswater, At the Two-mile Stone from Oxford
Street
On Saturday, June 21, at Three o'Clock, And the Modelled
Design will be again exhibited.
This scheme embraces a great public benefit, and, under
proper management, offers expectations of a very profitable investment without
risk. The site is nearly equi-distant from Piccadilly, up Church-street,
Kensington, thus embracing on its upper and lower ranges, the extremely
populous and most respectable neighbourhoods of Belgrave Square, Sloane Street,
Brompton, Knightsbridge, and Kensington - also of the continuation of Oxford
Street, Bayswater and Notting Hill. From the Bayswater-gate of Kensington
Gardens, the distance is about ten minutes walk; and from London, through Hyde
Park and Kensington Gardens, it is within the limits of a moderate ramble
through the most delightful part of the
environs of the metropolis. The SITE COMPRISES 52 ACRES in extent in one
ownership, available for such a purpose, which must surprise even those persons
most intimately acquainted with the outskirts of London. One portion of the
estate, "Norland Farm", is let to a farmer at a considerable rental.
Another, comprising twelve acres and a half, is walled in; these were the
grounds of Norland House, occupied, ten years ago, by H. Drummond Esq., until
destroyed by fire. All around are lofty trees, many of which are of great
beauty and size. There are also numerous woody plantations, gravel walks and
shrubs. At the further extremities are two ancient mounds, most beautifully
embellished by towering trees, forming arches groves of peculiar magnificence.
At some future day, these spots may offer attractions of more than ordinary
interest. On the right of the enclosure is, at present, an extensive enclosed
garden; on the left, a wilderness of brushwood, and a long hedged-in footpath,
bordered by an extensive range of various trees. The centre of the ground
exhibits a lawn most beautiful to look upon, without any trees, and at the
extremity is a double range of lofty poplars, through which, at the side
entrance, the chapel will be visible in a most picturesque manner, when erected
in nearly the centre of the ground. The celebrated Norland Well, within the
grounds, must not be forgotten, so great was the depth required to be dug to
gain the spring. It is concealed by a thicket near the entrance to the grounds,
and is surrounded by five trees of very large girth. About the year 1756 its
waters were in great celebrity. There are many other things of interest within
the grounds. The spot is known by the name of Norlands. At either extremity
along the Uxbridge Road, are in large letters on boards, "The Great
Western Cemetery Company." The extent which already is enclosed is set
forth in the Prospectus. In fine, it may be truly said of this site, that near
the metropolis no fitter spot could be found for a mansion of rest, and that
this cemetery will ere long become equal in appearance to THE FAR FAMED
CEMETERY OF PERE LA CHAISE, NEAR PARIS.
The Mechanics Magazine Saturday April 12
says "we can hardly imagine a spot better fitted for an establishment of
this kind than the ground selected for this new cemetery - indeed, we had no
idea there was any thing so suitable WITHIN SO SHORT A DISTANCE OF TOWN."
Capital £31,500 in 1,500 shares of £21 each; Half shares 10
Guineas each
DIRECTORS
Charles Forbes Calland, Esq., 83 Upper Norton-st; The Rev.
M'Donald Caunter, 13, Regent Street; Geo. F. Carden, Esq., 1 Mitre Court
Building, Temple; Tipping Thomas Rigby, Esq., 12 Paper Buildings, Temple;
Captain Geo. Webb Derenzy, Robert Street, Adelphi; Geo. Thoas. Williams, Esq.,
51 Montague Square.
(Additional Names to be added from among Subscribers)
AUDITORS - Three (to be chosen at General Meeting from among
the Subscribers)
TREASURER AND REGISTRAR - G.F.Carden, Temple
SOLICITOR - John Hare Webb, Esq., 9, Gray's Inn Square
BANKERS - Messrs. Wright, Robinson and Co., Henrietta
Street, Covent Garden
The price and conditions upon which the Company become
entitled to the lad, declared to parties interested.
A portion of the ground intended to be consecrated, a part
not, that the Cemetery may be used generally by the members of EVERY religious
community.*
[*A Dissenter cannot by law officiate in
consecrated, neither a Member of the Church of England in
unconsecrated ground.
Speech of Lord ALTHORP, March 18, 1834 - "These (naming
them), he believed, were all the grounds of complaint (no - no - burial in
churchyards) he begged pardon, he had forgotten that, yes, the last point was
that of burial in churchyards, without the ceremony of the Church of England.
Now, he needed not to remind the House of the strong feeling which existed on
this last point throughout the country. He hoped, therefore, that
some plan, other than by legislative enactment, might be adopted which would
have the MERIT of not interfering with that feeling."]
An Act of the Legislature is to be applied for.
The capital of the Company to be raised by shares of £21,
and half shares of Ten Guineas each.
Holders of five shares, qualified to be Directors, Trustees
or Auditors. Joint Holders of 100 shares qualified, at once, to nominate on
their own behalf, one qualified Subscriber as a Director.
The Treasurer not to hold fewer than 50 shares.
Subscribers entitled to one vote for every share; at general
or ordinary meetings, or among the Directors. Voting allowed by proxy given to
a shareholder.
To guard against that grasping system of fraudulent
mismanagement embraced in the terms, expensive extravagance to serve private
interests, the prompter of this scheme has the advantage of 400 votes, so that
with a moderate concurrence on the part of those who, bona fide, wish to see
the plan executed, he can almost
venture to put forth a pledge that there is scarcely a hazard of the
purpose being defeated; and this scheme is intended to be conducted as if it
were the property of an individual.
The number of Directors, all honorary,
24; three to go out annually.
Three Directors a quorum; proceedings to be confirmed at a
subsequent meeting.
The Treasurer, for the time being, by virtue of his office,
to be a Director.
The following are the periods at which it is now requisite
that subscriptions should be paid;-
At the time of subscribing - £5 per share, £2 10s per half
share.
First Instalment on the 8th of August - £5 per share, £2 10s
per half share.
Second Instalment on the 15th of January, 1835 - £5 per
share, £2 10s per half share.
Third Instalment on the 15th of July - £3 per share, £1 10s
per half share
Fourth Instalment (if needed) on the 15th of January, 1836 -
£3 per share, £1 10s per half share.
But interest at the rate of £5 per cent. per annum will be
added to each share paid up in full - and also upon deposits or instalments,
from the time the monies are paid, until the whole of the shares are taken and
the whole amounts due thereon equally paid up by each subscriber.
AFTER THE 15TH JULY, NO SHARE WILL BE ISSUED EXCEPT AT A
PREMIuM OF 20s A SHARE, AND 10s A HALF-SHARE; WHICH PREMIUM WILL, HOWEVER, BE
ADDED TO THE CAPITAL OF THE COMPANY.
Persons desirous of procuring freehold sites for future use
without being subscribers, or subjecting themselves to an expense, may treat
for the same.
Persons desirous of promoting this scheme, whether
individuals or corporations, by a present advance of capital, may have the
right of granting free burial for such persons as the donors
may please to select to the full extent of such donation.
Within a limited period, original subscribers may transfer a
share in value £21, and become in lieu thereof entitled to a double grave,
in perpetuity, to hold not fewer than ten coffins; and for
half shares of 10 guineas each, in perpetuity, a single
grave to hold not less than five coffins, without being at a limited time
required to make a monumental structure. - The public will be at liberty to
employ their own architects.
This NATIONAL work is intended to be further beautified by
means of loans without interest, and, should it merit it, by PUBLIC DONATIONS.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem has been selected as an
appropriate design for the exhibition of monumental sculpture, and will
probably be a model for one of the funeral chapels. The distant boundaries (as
exhibited in the model) afford very appropriate sites for alms-houses.
Religious societies or charitable institutions desirous of erecting memorials
or alms-houses will be readily and beneficially treated with.
The number of burials annually in London,
exclusive of the burials in the extensive out-parishes of St. Pancras,
Paddington and Marylebone, is upwards of FORTY THOUSAND, and the most casual
observer can perceive how much new places of sepulture are required, in the
visibly over-crowded state of all the Metropolitan Burial Grounds. IN London,
sites for burial cannot be obtained. His Majesty's Commissioners for building
New Churches, &c., found this to be the case. Armed with power and the
resources of a government, they could not obtain sites
whereon to build the new churches, until they had pledged themselves not to
appropriate contiguous open spaces for burial. There seemed, indeed, to be
GENERAL determination on the part of the landed proprietors TO RESIST THE
CREATION OF NEW METROPOLITAN churchyards. During twelve
years, up to the year 1824 inclusive, it was found that 333,000 bodies had been
interred in London, exclusive of the burials in the parishes above named.
Shocked by the frequent excavation of
burial-grounds, the time is not far distant when the thinking public will
wholly discontinue to bury in London. The expense is
enormous, the tenure precarious; and the
consecrated sanctuaries of the dead cease to afford security
for permanent repose. Within the last ten years seven or eight
churchyards in this metropolis have been WHOLLY EXCAVATED,
and as much churches demolished and the remains carted out without
rite, or ceremony.
Some parishes have no burial-ground belonging to them, other
parishes have only vaults for interment. The dead, when buried in vaults,
should be secured in coffins of lead. This creates great additional expense. In
upwards of fifty vaults of the metropolis, the dead were found to have been
deposited in coffins of wood only!!! and many of the vaults
were in immediate connexion with the church. A system more destructive of the
public health can scarcely be imagined, and this owing to the want of new, approximate,
and economical places of burial. It is not within the
means of every one to use church vaults. Persons anxious to
inter in another parish are subjected to pay as non-residents, TRIBLE the
amount of fees payable by a parishioner; sometimes it is only
double. For strangers, and even lodges,
double or TREBLE fees are required, although the burial take
place in the parish in which the party dies.
The friends, then, of every stranger, of
every lodger, and also the Parishioners of parishes not
having burial-ground of their own, would eagerly avail themselves of this
ex-urban Cemetery.
SECURITY. - In
consequence of Mr. Warburton's Anatomy bill, the remains of the dead are not
likely to be disturbed. None but medical practitioners licensed by Government
can possess a corpse for dissection, and an account must be duly rendered to
the Secretary of State, whence and how the body was
obtained, and that the remains after dissection, have
been properly interred. This project, then, has nothing to fear from
the resurrectionist: his horrid trade is wisely destroyed, and this site will
afford convenient opportunity for economical interment. Some practitioners pay
hundreds of pounds yearly for burials!
EXPEDITION WITH ECONOMY - The shape of the ground is
peculiarly advantageous for Economical Walling. Along the line of the Uxbridge
Road, the frontage is about 2,500ft.; of which 1,750 ft. are already enclosed.
The breadth in th rear of this is 1,450ft.; on the right 1,750ft. whereof
1,100ft. are also enclosed, and on the left 2,000 ft.
The contemplated arrangements can be so accomplished as to
obtain the freehold of the Premises and complete Cemetery, at a cost not
exceeding the fixed capital. The public will therefore be accommodated on a
plan uniting utility and economy, with great profit to Subscribers. Of the almost numberless wealthy families of
this great metropolis, it is beyond a merely speculative statement that thus enabled,
at hardly any cost, at a mere trifle, indeed, compared with existing charges
for family vaults, that 1,500 families will, without delay, purchase freehold
sites, each sufficient for ten burials, at the very small sum of £21. This
alone wold be £31,500,* the whole amount of the capital necessary to purchase
the estate, &c. &c. &c. and complete the Cemetery.
[* In consequece of the frequent excavation of burial
grounds, and the crowded state of the public vaults, remains contained in lead
will almost of necessity be removed into this new Cemetery.
Taking the number upon a very moderate calculation to be only 5,000, in ten
years, the account would be ...
5,000 removals if belonging to Subscribers at £2 each,
10,000 .... the public, if only at £3 each, 15,0000. But of these, 2000 would very
probably belong to different families who would purchase sites at £21.
If Subscribers, the amount would be 42,000 = Total £52,000
... the public, if only at £25 each, 50,000 = Total £65,000
Which return is wholly independent of the revenue from
ordinary burials, sales of vaults &c.
There are now about ten Cemeteries established for country
towns, upon the plan first promulgated in the year 1824 by Mr. G.F.Carden,
founded of the General Cemetery Company, established by Act of Parliament. Of
these, it may be interesting to state the progress made in the New General
Cemetery, Liverpool, which was begun in the yer 1825.
Interments: 1825-6-7-8: 1,895; 1829: 743; 1830: 930; 1831:
1,277; 1832: 1,402; 1833: 1,505; total 7,752; besides 140 vaults and 1,102
family graves sold.]
EXPLANATION OF THE MODEL OF THE GREAT WESTERN CEMETERY
The model, to which the public are invited upon presenting
their cards, is now at the Company's offices, 13, Regent-street. It shoes the
whole space of fifty-two acres as it will afterwards be approximated. One
portion, containing twelve acres and a half, is already entirely enclosed, and
most magnificently wooded. The principal entrance will be above the side centre
of the grounds, by the roadway which at present exists, until the new roads at
the back of Notting Hill are completed. From this entrance there is a sweeping
avenue of trees, and a broad roadway running around the church, and terminating
in the public road by Sheppard's Bush. The church, for the service of the
Church of England, is built upon arches, which are the catacombs for the dead.
The building is after the design of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, which
internally is admirably adapted for the display of full-length marble figures,
on account of the niches with which internally is surrounded. About two thirds
of the outer boundary of the whole has to be enclosed with a wall. The grand
avenue of trees being formed, and catacombs under the church made, the church
built, and this wall completed, the cemetery is finished for the public use;
all of which, if the funds allow, will be completed during the present year.
Fortunately for the speculators, the whole estate is brick earth; so that all
the work of excavation will turn to account, and the soil be made, at the upper
extremity, into brick, and every brick required for use can be made upon the
estate. With this great advantage, and economical management, the subscribers
will possess, first, a beautiful property of fifty-two acres, including
numerous outbuildings, a farm, and buildings, and have all the works just named
executed for the comparatively very trifling sum of £31,500. A large portion
will remain unconsecrated, for the use of those dissenting from the Church of
England; viz. one-half of the further outer boundary on the Uxbridge side, and
a large piece internally, together also with a piece, one-half, of the present
enclosed garden. There is a very sweet Gothic chapel for their especial use. As
the estate is so extensive, and in order both to give a ton
to the scheme, which will surpass every other, and comfortable security to relations
and friends, all around are erected almshouses at shore distances from each
other. The tenants of these being pensioners from corporations and other
charitable societies, are a class of persons in whom confidence can be placed,
and whose interests will secure good behaviour, in the little perquisites and
rewards they will, no doubt, often obtain from visiters and the friends of
those who inter there. Another arrangement generally strikes our fancy: the
walks are so laid out, that plots of ground are at once visibly divided, and
capable of being used wholly by the Catholics, the Jews, Quakers, or any other
brotherhood, in case they should prefer doing so to having the use of the
general ground set apart for the "Dissenters". There is another
structure which we have yet to notice, a pyramidical form, capable of
containing sixty thousand coffins. This is a range of layers, one above the
other, decreasing gradually in size, and intended to be constructed out of the
excavated soil in the cemetery, the overplus in making family vaults, when the
future profits of the Company shall be sufficient to leave a surplus to create
a building fund. Such an intent, considering the great value of
building-ground, and that the cemetery of Pere la Chaise, 120 acres in extent,
is now losing its beautiful shrubberies, by reason of the great use and fulness
of the ground, is a work not of fancy, but of wise for-thought. Within three
months pasts, for the reasons stated, an edict was issued in PAris, requiring
super-structures to be made in Pere la Chaise. Considering,
then, as the proprietors of the company set forth, "that on the burial of
every stranger, of every lodger, and also
of parishioners no having ground of their own, and of parties dying in
extra-parochial places, double and even treble fees are now
required", this Cemetery will be hailed as conferring a great public
benefit; and considering that if only 1,500 families, at the trifling cost of
£21 (instead of hundreds charged in some places) purchased their family vaults,
capable of containing the remains of ten members, the sum would REIMBURSE the
proprietors every shilling of outlay. With the advantages of situation and
cheapness, there cannot be a doubt of the appoval and support of the public,
and the consequent success of the Company.
The grounds, we had forgotten to say, are in every direction
interspersed with walks, and tombs and monuments of elegant device, the
handy-work of Mr. Day, the modeller. Ladies' Magazine and Museum, June
1834
[Since the above description, there have been added sundry
elegant and tasteful arcades which will serve alike, when constructed, for use
and shelter.]
