Graves
Thousands of people have been interred in Fulham Cemetery since it was consecrated on 3 August 1865. According to Féret's history, the first interment, on the same day, was of a child. Unusually for the 1860s, the thirteenth interment was that of a centenarian from the Fulham Union Workhouse (read more). By March 1899, there had already been 33,894 burials. There are also a large number of WWI military graves, scattered throughout the cemetery.
Most of the headstones were removed since the 1950s in a policy of "grassing over" older graves. (See aerial photos.)
One of the aims of the Fulham Cemetery Friends is to research the history of the graves in the cemetery, to bring to light some of their stories.
Notable graves
Graves map
Fulham Cemetery Friends maintains this custom Google Map showing the cemetery section layout and locations of the most notable graves and memorials. Open the map in a new window to show or hide the layers.
Map shortcut: bit.ly/fulhamcemgraves 👉
Publisher of Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley and other Decadents.
Evangelical preacher and social reformer, founded Twynholm Hall at Fulham Cross, named after the village of Twynholm in Scotland.
Victorian diocesan architect, associated with the Pre-Raphaelites.
Proprietor of the Queens Arms public house in Knightsbridge.
A member of one of the oldest Scottish families and a representative peer for Scotland.
Major-General Sir William Galbraith KCB was a British Army officer who came to prominence in the Afghan Wars and served as Adjutant-General in India.
An art bronze founder whose family firm Parlanti Bronze Foundries cast the Fulham War Memorial.
The first superintendent of Fulham Cemetery, who served in this position for 42 years, and is buried behind the lodge where he lived.
George Nicoll Barnes
Trade unionist, MP for Glasgow, Labour leader and signed the Treaty of Versailles.
Sergeant Joseph John
American civil war soldier.
Lieutenant-General Sir Burke Douglas Cuppage KCB
Veteran of Waterloo, Lieutenant-Governor of Jersey 1863–68.
Travers Twiss
Professor of international law, who, at the invitation of King Leopold III of Belgium, drafted the constitution for the Congo Free State.
Maxwell Simpson
Eminent Irish scientist.
William Blakeley
Comic actor well known as a ‘mugger’ on account of the comic faces he pulled on stage.
William Harrington
Proprietor of the Halfway House pub on Lillie Road. (Later the Chancery, currently a Co-op.)
John Pearce Flew
Property developer, partner with W. H. Gibbs in the building up of Fulham until 1885.
William Henry Gibbs
Property developer, partner with J. P. Flew in the building up of Fulham until 1885.
The Elliott Family
John Elliott, his son and grandsons were nurserymen and market gardeners who founded the Munster Road Nursery.
'Jolly' John Nash
Music Hall singer and comedian, famous for his laughing songs.
Section Layout, 2002
London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham: Fulham Cemetery Section Layout, Jul 2002.
There are also more detailed maps showing the grave layout for each section, available from the council on request (if you are looking for a particular grave.)
Consecrated and unconsecrated sections
Consecrated ground (pink) is blessed as sacred by the Church of England. Unconsecrated areas (yellow) include general burial plots for all other religions including Roman Catholic and other Nonconformist Christians or "dissenters".
"Grassing over" graves
Like Margravine Cemetery, Fulham Cemetery is subject to Hammersmith & Fulham Council policy of grassing over graves older than 50 years. This may be for ease of maintenance, or to counter vandalism. Today it is impossible to find any headstones earlier than the 1880s.
The effect of this can be seen by comparing the two aerial photos below, taken in 1949 and 1981.
See also
Findagrave.com map
Approx. 394 graves with GPS data