Music Hall Artistes - burial plot

[Copper1]

Way back in 2012 cilia posted her last (of 23) messages relating to Alexander ancestors in the business.

At that time no mention was made in response to a once fine memorial in the South London Cemetery (Lambeth, London SW) which contains the inscribed names of very many,, now sadly long forgotten entertainers from the past. I occasioned to have visited the site recently and recorded all the readable names, hoping soon to complete a list. It has not been cleaned for years, by the way. At the time what I didn't realise in readiness to leave I had missed several unreadable/dirty slabs stacked up behind which contained a further multitude of names! I have no idea (yet) who may take responsibility for cleaning & maintenance - you cannot do such independently, or without paying someone else who is competent! So I cannot take the task on myself.

What I was pleased about though was finding, immediately adjacent to the huge plot, was my all-time favourite film star & comedian, Will Hay [William Thomson Hay]. His headstone & grave is well tended I might add.

If there are enquiries I will check my photographs for a given surname.

[Chris Doran]

This site has photographs and lists of names of the artistes' memorials at South London (aka Streatham Park/Vale) and Twickenham Cemeteries. Scroll down or click on the link below the A B C D E... line.

If the cemetery has a friends' association, or there's a local history society, alerting them to the dirty slabs behind the memorial might get them cleaned up and moved to a more prominent position. Or a polite e-mail request to the cemetery authorities  expressing your interest might do the trick. I suspect the slabs were originally laid flat on graves and sunk 20cm down over time, as so often happens.

[Copper1]

Thanks Chris, very helpful to receive some wider knowledge on the topic.