London Month of the Dead

FROM SHIP TO SHORE Tower Hamlets Cemetery tour with a focus on the Maritime with Kenneth Greenway on Saturday the 5th October 2023 at 2:00 pm Nowadays Tower Hamlets is considered the epitome of the inner city, but in 1841, when its cemetery opened as the last of the “Magnificent Seven”, it stood at the edge of London, bordering on green fields and the inhabitants of Mile End were considered country bumpkins. As London expanded, Tower Hamlets Cemetery became the graveyard of the East End and it specialised in “common” graves, where bodies were buried in communal plots for 23 shillings (as opposed to 63 shillings for a private plot). Its noted residents include early members of the Labour movement as well as victims of the Bethnal Green tube disaster of 1943 - the largest single loss of civilian life in World War Two. Tower Hamlets was the traditional last resting place of many sailors, due to its close proximity to London’s Docklands. In addition 29 victims of the Princess Alice pleasure steamer disaster of 1871 - the greatest loss of life in any British inland waterway accident - are interred here. Following a general introduction to Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, Kenneth Greenway will take you on a tour of the graveyard, focusing on those buried here who had a connection to the sea and the river. Tickets £12 including a 20% donation toward a host of restoration projects at Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park Kenneth Greenway Kenneth Greenway is the Cemetery Park Manager at Tower Hamlets. He began working for the Friends of the Cemetery in 2002 and is now instrumental to the conservation and development of the site for the community.

FROM SHIP TO SHORE
Tower Hamlets Cemetery tour with a focus on the Maritime with Kenneth Greenway on Saturday the 5th October 2023 at 2:00 pm

Nowadays Tower Hamlets is considered the epitome of the inner city, but in 1841, when its cemetery opened as the last of the “Magnificent Seven”, it stood at the edge of London, bordering on green fields and the inhabitants of Mile End were considered country bumpkins.

As London expanded, Tower Hamlets Cemetery became the graveyard of the East End and it specialised in “common” graves, where bodies were buried in communal plots for 23 shillings (as opposed to 63 shillings for a private plot). Its noted residents include early members of the Labour movement as well as victims of the Bethnal Green tube disaster of 1943 - the largest single loss of civilian life in World War Two.

Tower Hamlets was the traditional last resting place of many sailors, due to its close proximity to London’s Docklands. In addition 29 victims of the Princess Alice pleasure steamer disaster of 1871 - the greatest loss of life in any British inland waterway accident - are interred here. Following a general introduction to Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, Kenneth Greenway will take you on a tour of the graveyard, focusing on those buried here who had a connection to the sea and the river.

Tickets £12 including a 20% donation toward a host of restoration projects at Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park

Kenneth Greenway
Kenneth Greenway is the Cemetery Park Manager at Tower Hamlets. He began working for the Friends of the Cemetery in 2002 and is now instrumental to the conservation and development of the site for the community.