Famous Graves: Elizabeth Siddal and Christina Rossetti

I have mentioned this wonderful grave before, in a previous piece on Highgate Cemetery, and think it is worthy of it's own space, and some more photos.
Elizabeth Siddal was the one time wife of Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, as well as muse for many of the painters in that circle, and notably the model for John Everett Millais' Ophelia, one of the most famous and beautiful paintings of the period, if not ever.
When Elizabeth died after an overdose of laudanum - to which she was addicted - she was buried in the Rossetti plot at Highgate (the west side, accessible only via tour, and even then you only have a rare chance of going to the grave as it is not on the regular tour route). Also in the grave are Christina Rossetti, the poet sister of Gabriel, as well as his mother, Francis Polidori Rossetti (who was the sister of John William Polidori, author of the very first vampire book, The Vampyre) and brother William Michael - a co founder of the Brotherhood - along with his wife, Lucy Madox Brown, daughter of Dante's mentor Ford Madox Brown.

There is a famous story that Elizabeth was buried with a book of Dante's unpublished poems, and that years later he successfully applied to have her body exhumed to retrieve the poems. Conflicting reports abound about Dante's presence, some saying he fainted when the coffin was opened, but I believe he was not there, but he was allegedly haunted by the act of digging up his ex-love's body for the rest of his life. The story also says that when her coffin was opened, the diggers found that her corpse had not decomposed, and her beauty was intact, and her long red hair had grown and was almost filling the casket. What ever the truth was, when the poems were published, they were not very well received by the critics of the time.

Dante himself is buried in a small church in Birchington-on-sea, not far from Margate in Kent. It is a grave I hope to visit one day, not least for its cross memorial designed by Ford Madox Brown.

Highgate Cemetery part four

OK, I think this will be the last of my Highgate posts for now, so rather than waffle about things, I'll let the pictures tell the story, with just a few pointers here and there on content. Enjoy.

 "The Empty Chair" this is a grave of a small child. Symbolism is a big thing in Victorian burials.

 Here's a close up of Elizabeth Siddal's stone at the Rossetti grave, seen in my last post.

 The entrance to the Egyptian Avenue, which leads to the Circle Of Lebanon. This is one of the more iconic images from the cemetery, and has been seen in many movies, most recently the remake of "Dorian Gray"

Symbolism: a down turned torch, a symbol of life extinguished.

Part of the Circle of Lebanon, above the mausoleum of Carl Rosa, credited to bringing English language opera to the country. Below is an instantly recognisable sight for film buffs, the stone circle of mausoleums have been seen in many a horror film, and again, "Dorian Gray"

This is the wonderful cedar of Lebanon tree which has stood in the cemetery grounds for hundreds of years, and lends its name to the circle of mausoleums built around it.
Now, to some examples from the East side. I have taken thousands of photographs here, and no doubt there will be thousands more waiting to be taken. But, for now, I'll just share a few...

The Grade 1 listed tomb for Karl Marx, probably the reason most tourists visit the cemetery. But not many know this isn't actually where he was originally buried. His original grave is several feet away in the middle of the tree lined grave section. His remains were moved to a more prominent place and the famous tombstone was only built in 1954, many years after his death in 1883. This part of the cemetery features a lot of graves of the political active and many communist. Paul Foot, the socialist journalist and campaigner (and nephew of the former Labour leader Michael Foot) is buried almost opposite Marx's memorial.

The cemetery is full of little quirky memorials too.. this little cat is hidden away behind other stones.

Above, the grave of Richard "Stoney" Smith, the inventor of Hovis bread. No jokes please about him being 'brown bread' ahem....

You should really click the photo below and read the inscription in full size. It's a great example of a modern loving tribute. A list of the man's faults, and likes and dislikes. If I didn't see this in the cemetery myself, I'd have thought it was made up and doctored.

I think that's about it for now. I hope someone, somewhere finds this interesting. And, before anyone starts thinking of the "Highgate Vampire" stories from the 70s which made the cemetery notorious, those subjects have been covered elsewhere and by people who believe them. While I love horror films, stories and vampires, they are not real kids....

Highgate Cemetery part three

So here's another batch of headstones from the wonderful Highgate Cemetery.
This time I'm going to move my atttention to the older, West side, all the previous ones were in the East side, which after you've paid your entry fee (again, this goes to the charity that runs the cemetery for upkeep, etc.. so really is worth while) you are free to roam around and spend as much time as you like enjoying the surroundings. The West side, however is accessible only by guided tour. These are well worth it though and if you get a good guide (and there are many) you will learn a lot and have a great time.  Now to some notables...

Michael Faraday, one of the pioneers of science and electricity. He is buried in a part of cemetery used for "dissenters" (Non-Anglican) and its not normally part of the regular tour, but if you ask you might get lucky and get to see it. You may get the same luck to see my next grave, another not on the normal route, but this time because its in an area of the cemetery that is still rather overgrown and there is no safe path for many visitors. 

This is the grave of the Rossettis.Well, to be exact it is Christina (the poet), and her mother, Frances Polidori and brother William Michael. Dante Gabriel, no doubt the most famous Rossetti is buried elsewhere (Birchington on Sea in Kent to be exact) Also in this grave is Dante's wife and model, Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal. The famous story is that when she died Dante buried a book of his unpublished poems in with her body, only to want them back a few years later when his fame was on the wane, and had the coffin exhumed to retrieve the book. The story goes that Elizabeth's famous red hair had continued to grow and almost filled the coffin and her beauty was untouched. The book of poems still failed to ignite much interest afterwards for him though. To me, this grave really needs to be put onto the regular tour, but having managed to get to see it, I can see why they wouldn't want to. You have to walk over several graves to get to it. But it's still one of the most important and indeed, famous graves in the cemetery.

Above is not really a famous person, but it is of note because it's the grave of George Michael's mother. He apparently tends the grave regularly, when not falling asleep at the wheel of his car, or getting locked up for being off his face somewhere.

This is the grave of the former Russian dissident, KGB member and later a British citizen, who was poisoned, by, allegedly, the Russian Secret Service. Such was the extent of his radioactive poisoning, apparently the grave is dug extra deep and the coffin heavily lead lined. The photo on the grave being a Russian custom.

Still more to come, I think I will move on to the interesting and beautiful angels and memorials that fill this wonderful cemetery.