Royal Borough of Greenwich - London

Royal Borough of Greenwich,
Shooters Hill,
Greenwich,
London,
SE18 4LX
https://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/directory/35/cemeteries_and_crematorium

All records for burials up to the January 2020 for the Royal Borough of Greenwich in South East London are now available online. There are five cemeteries in the Borough:

Charlton Cemetery, opened 1855
Eltham Cemetery, opened 1935
Greenwich Cemetery, opened 1856
Plumstead Cemetery, opened 1890
Woolwich Cemetery, opened 1856

The data for each cemetery comprise digital scans of burial registers, grave details indicating grave occupants, cemetery maps indicating the area where each grave is located and photographs for some memorials.

In addition to the five cemeteries' records, all 212,000 records for the Borough's Eltham Crematorium are also available on Deceased Online. For details, see the separate summary in the database coverage section.

Charlton Cemetery, Cemetery Lane, Charlton, London SE7 8DZ
The data comprises 37,500 burial records from 1855 to January 2020 and features scans of original registers, details of grave occupants, maps of grave locations and some photographs of monuments and headstones. Founded in 1855 and still with its original Victorian layout, Charlton Cemetery is a truly historic London cemetery with numerous military graves featuring all ranks from admirals who originally served with Nelson through to WW2 heroes and heroines as well as many VIPs associated with Britain's colonial history. It is covered in memorials and features two 19th Century chapels as well as original walls and iron railings.

Notable burials and memorials include the following:

Major General Orde Charles Wingate (26 February 1903 - 24 March 1944) who was an extraordinary and many say eccentric military leader. He was a brilliant horseman, an occasional explorer, an intelligence officer in Palestine (as a committed Christian he also supported Zionism), leader of 'The Gideon Force' in WW2 Ethiopa and eventually head of the 77th Brigade or 'Chindits' in Burma. He is the subject of many books and was featured in a biographical 3-part drama on BBC TV.
William Clark Cowie, d 1910; the Scottish-born managing director of the British North Borneo Chartered Company assigned to administer North Borneo as protectorate of the British Empire. His memorial declares: "By his instrumentality, 31,000 square miles of territory in North British Borneo were added to the British Empire. His indomitable zeal and enthusiasm displayed in the interests of the British North Borneo Company were the means of raising it to prosperity"
Tomb of Jemima Ayley, d 1860, featuring medieval-style effigy with a vault said to be 22ft deep complete with table and chairs!
Numerous graves associated with the Royal docks including a memorial to 52 who died of yellow fever on HMS Firebrand in 1861
Monument to Admiral Sir Watkin Owen Pell, who served with Nelson and lost a limb but rose to be knighted in 1837 having "got so accustomed to the ways of a cork leg".
Admiral George Perceval , 6th Earl of Egmont and who was a midshipman at the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805.
Sir William Dalyell fought in Napoleonic Wars
Sir Geoffrey Callender, the first director of the National Maritime Museum
Numerous graves and headstones of military personnel serving in many wars and incidents. Perhaps one of the most poignant is that of Joan Marjorie Easton, aged 26, Section Officer, WAAF who "gave her life saving others" in WW2.

Eltham Cemetery, Crown Woods Way, Eltham, Greenwich, London, SE9 2RF
Approximately 18,700 burials in Eltham Cemetery, dated from opening on 24th April 1935 to January 2020 available as Burial register scans. Cemetery maps are available showing the section where the grave is located, and other burials in a grave can also be viewed. The cemetery is adjacent to Eltham Crematorium, 210,000 records for which are also available on Deceased Online.

Among the cremation records is that of the celebrated writer Richmal Crompton (full name, Richmal Crompton Lamburn), the author of the highly popular 'William' childrens books and over 40 other novels.

Greenwich Cemetery, Well Hall Road, Eltham, Greenwich, London, SE9 6UA
Opened in 1856, Greenwich Cemetery is a particularly beautiful cemetery located near central London yet with a rural, bucolic environment. Positioned on the side of Shooter's Hill, it has extensive and stunning panoramic views over London. It also has a number of notable features:

There are 556 WW1 burials scattered around the cemetery and the impressive Great War Heroes Memorial commemorates over 260 of these.
There are over 120 WW2 burials, and in addition to these, there are 30 WW2 Norwegian burials which are part of a beautifully maintained Norwegian section.
Two of the most notable burials are: Lt Gen Sir Arthur Holland (1862-1927), Commander of the Royal Artillery 8th Division in WW1; and Nikolay Ogarev (1813-1877), Russian poet, historian and political activist.

In total, there are records for over 94,000 burials in Greenwich Cemetery dating from opening on 4th March 1863 to January 2020 available as Burial register scans with 20 entries per scanned page.
Cemetery maps are available showing the section where the grave is located, and other burials in a grave can also be viewed.

Plumstead Cemetery, Wickham Lane, Greenwich, London SE2 0NS
Opened in June 1890, Plumstead Cemetery backs on to Bostall Wood and its location on a hillside gives it, like Greenwich Cemetery, excellent panoramas over London. There are approximately 60,500 burials. The records available comprise scans of burial registers, computerised records, details of grave occupants, maps of grave locations and some photographs of memorials and headstones.

Notable burials and memorials include the following:

A pink granite memorial dedicated to 16 victims killed in incidents at the nearby Woolwich Arsenal in 1913. There were two separate incidents known as the 'Gun Cotton' and 'Lyddite' explosions and most of the victims are buried near the memorial.
Two recipients of one of the most prestigious award for gallantry, the Victoria Cross. Gunner Alfred Smith was awarded his for action at the Battle of Abu Klea in Sudanese Mahdist War in January 1885 when he twice saved an officer at the hands of an enemy. The other VC recipient was Thomas Flawn also responsible for saving an under-attack and injured officer but this time during the Basuto War in 1879. Both VC recipients survived their gallant efforts and are interred in Plumstead Cemetery.
There are also two former Mayors of Woolwich. Col Sir Edward Hughes (d 1904) was the first Mayor of Woolwich and Albert Gorman (d 1959) was also Chairman of the Metropolitan Water Board, later Thames Water.

Woolwich Cemetery, Kings Highway, Plumstead, London SE18 2DS
The Victorian Woolwich Cemetery comprises essentially two separate cemeteries: the 'old' cemetery, opened in 1856 and accessible through the main gateway off King's Highway, and the newer and larger section which opened in 1885. All 78,000 of the cemetery's burial records from 1856 until 2000 are now available. As with the other cemeteries within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, the data comprises burial register scans, grave details, cemetery maps showing grave locations and a small number of memorial photographs. The old section is particularly scenic, built on a hillside with a long driveway sweeping uphill to the original chapel and landscaped with many large and beautiful old trees including cypresses, beech and Scots pine. Among the memorials are three that are particularly notable:

A Celtic Cross paid for by 'National Sixpenny Subscription' from over 23,000 people and erected to the memory of what remains London's worst ever peacetime accident which claimed the lives of approximately 600 people. One of the inscriptions on the memorial describes the accident: "The salon steamer Princess Alice returning from a pleasure excursion was wrecked off Tripcock Point (on the River Thames, near Thamesmead and Gallons Hill) by collision with the steam collier Bywell Castle on the night of September 3rd 1878." Many of the victims were buried in Woolwich Cemetery near to the memorial, including that of the Princess Alice's Captain, William Robert Grinsted, whose family erected a small plain stone memorial nearby.
Another Celtic Cross: "To the memory of Temple Leighton Phipson-Wybrants late Captain 75th Regiment (Gordon Highlanders) who died on his 34th birthday November 29th 1880 while in command of an expedition exploring the Sabi River, Eastern Africa. His body recovered through his mother's devotion October 7th 1881 now rests here".
A WW1 memorial with the names of 14 casualties, which is also surrounded by many other headstones. The cemetery has a total of 175 WW1 burials and memorials.

Note: to comply with UK data protection and GDPR, addresses of the deceased are masked in register scans for the last 15 years.