Thomas Furner
Thomas Furner was the first superintendent of Fulham Cemetery. He served in this position for 42 years, and is buried behind the lodge where he lived.
1837-1907
In July 1865 the Fulham Burial Board placed an advert in the local newspaper:
WANTED A RESIDENT SUPERINTENDENT of the cemetery of the Parish of Fulham. He must be an active, intelligent and well-educated man, able to give his whole time to work entrusted to him, and possessing some knowledge of gardening. Salary with residence, coal and gas, £60 per annum.
West London Observer, 8 July 1865
Furner's grave is located directly behind the lodge where he lived. The inscription reads:
In memory of Thomas Furner, who rested from his labours here October 22nd 1907, in his 70th year. Erected by his friends in gratitude for his services as the first superintendent of this cemetery for 42 years.
The application was to be submitted by 12 noon Tuesday 11 July, with interviews being held on the same day at 6.30 pm at Burial Board’s offices in Berwick House, Walham Green.
The man who most impressed the Board that day was Thomas Furner. He was the son of the local blacksmith, also called Thomas, and his wife, Mary Ann, who lived on Fulham High Street. By the age of 14 Thomas junior was listed on the census as an ‘outdoor servant’ (a term which could apply to a groom, stablehand or gardener) and ten years later as a ‘house servant’. Once appointed as the Superintendent, he moved into the Cemetery Lodge where he was to remain until his death in 1907.
When he died, after 42 years of service, his funeral was attended by multiple municipal dignities including the Mayor and “an immense crowd” of mourners. Soon after an appeal was launched to erect a memorial to his memory, which is the granite cross that today marks his and his wife’s grave.
Furner’s time as the Superintendent was not without controversy, however...