# Toxteth park chapel,Liverpool,Feb2010



## wherever i may roam (Mar 23, 2010)

Some history i found on the net..

THE INCEPTION OF TOXTETH PARK CEMETERY

The "Burial Board" of Toxteth Park initially purchased thirty acres of land, from The Earl of Sefton, at a cost of around £15.000, approximately £850.000 in todays money . William Gay of Bradford was charged with the design, and Thomas Denville Barry the architecture, they were leading cemetery designers of their day. A further ten acres of land was purchased a couple of years later, as Liverpool's population was still expanding.

''The Northern Daily Times, dated Tuesday July 6th 1855'' reported "The foundation stone for the church and chapel of Toxteth Park General Cemetery was laid at 3 o'clock on July 5th 1855, for the "performance of the burial service according to the rites of the Established church and other religious denominations". The article also stated that, "A very large number of persons attended the ceremony" and the chairman of "The Burial Board" Mr Gregson, was "presented with a silver trowel, who then buried a bottle containing journals of the day and ground plans in a place provided and covered with a plate".

The opening ceremony was performed by the then Lord Bishop of Chester, and the first interment took place, that of an Elizabeth Watling on 17th June 1856.

TOXTETH PARK CEMETERY is separated into TWO sections, Consecrated and Non-Consecrated, then sub-divided into smaller alphabetical or numerical sections, (see Plan of Cemetery). All denominations are buried here, including Presbyterians, Methodists, Independents, Unitarians but to my knowledge there are no Roman Catholics buried there.

TOXTETH PARK CEMETERY lies on the A562 Smithdown Road a very busy road in Liverpool. Although the Council are now laying flat headstones that they deem to be 'unsafe' due to the dreaded 'Health & Safety' (which I think is legalised vandalism) it is still quiet, peaceful and quite well maintained. Although it has its problems like all urban cemeteries, it is still used for interments today.

SOME NOTABLE PEOPLE INTERRED IN TOXTETH PARK CEMETERY

Within 57 years, over 144,000 people were interred, ranging from ordinary Liverpool folk, to James Dunwoody Bulloch (who fought for The Confederacy in the American Civil War and Roosevelt's uncles), to a Mr Alfred Rowe who died on Titanic. Also laid to rest there is Mary Billinge, reputedly the oldest woman in Liverpool, she was interred on 26th December 1863 at the grand old age of 112 years and 6 months. Below is a list of notable people buried in the cemetery, with a brief history of their lives.

GOSSAGE, WILLIAM was born in the village of Burgh-Le-Marsh Lincolnshire in 1799. He was a chemist and engineer, and after opening a chemical plant in Widnes producing alkalis, he produced soap at a much lower cost than at the time. He died at his home in Dunham Massey on April 9th 1877. His estate was estimated to be under £160.000.

HOLLAND, CHARLES THURSTON born 1863 in Bridgewater, Somerset, and deemed "the pioneer of modern British Radiography ". He died in 1941.

HULLEY, JOHN born and bred in Liverpool, the forgotten man of British Olympic History. By organising Olympic Festivals at his Gymnasium in Liverpool in 1862, 1863, 1864 and 1865 he was the instigator of the Olympic movement in England. He died in 1875 aged 43. His grave was "re discovered" in 2008 and there is a movement to try and get the recognition for his part in the Olympic History.

MUSPRATT, JAMES SHERIDAN eldest son of James, and was born in Dublin on 6 March 1821. He was to achieve fame as a research chemist and teacher. His most influential publication was his two-volume book Chemistry, Theoretical, Practical and Analytical as applied and relating to the Arts and Manufactures.

MUSPRATT, SAMUEL he was an eminent chemist.

OGDEN THOMAS, born in 1832 and was the founder of Ogdens Tobacco Manufacturers. He died in August 1890 at the age of 58.

PICTON, Sir JAMES ALLANSON eminent historian and architect was born in Liverpool in 1805. He participated in local religious and philanthropic work and designed some of Liverpool's most important buildings. Sir James devoted himself to the promotion of public libraries, and when the Corporation extended the library in William Brown Steet, they named a reading room after him. He died on 15th July 1889 in Wavertree.

RODOCANACHI, family are interred here, they would produce George Rodocanachi. Born in Liverpool on 27th February 1876 he was Liverpool's Schindler, responsible for saving 2000 French Jews from the Holocaust. He studied at the Lycée de Marseille and became a medical student at the Faculté de Médecine in Paris, obtaining his medical diploma in 1903 he began practising in Marseilles the same year, specialising in infantile diseases. He was to instigate the Pat Line to help allied airmen escape from France. George has no memorial, as he died in Buchenwald concentration camp in the Spring of 1944, after being betrayed.

THOMAS, HUGH OWEN may well be called "The father of modern orthopaedic surgery". Born in Bodedern, Anglesey in 1834 he moved to Liverpool at the age of 19. Spending much of his time in the slums of Liverpool, treating the poor rather than the affluent middle classes, he invented several types of splints with rigid steel bars. His contribution was not widely recognised until after his death, and at the outbreak of The Great War in 1914, his nephew Sir Robert Jones re-intoduced his uncles ideas. Thanks to "The Thomas Splint" the mortality of compound fractures of the femur fell from 80% to less than 8% by 1918. He died on 6th January 1891 over worked at the age of 57.

Although i couldnt gain access i had a bloody good go of putting my camera through gaps & holes in doors & boards & managed to get a few pics inside,one or two occasions i had to use my camera phone.






































































thank you..


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## shakey (Mar 23, 2010)

wow, that is quite amazing!!!

there are too many lovely places like that, left to just rot in on themselves 

Shakey


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## Lhiannan Shee (Mar 23, 2010)

Nice to see inside finally 

I remember walking around here a good few years ago whilst waiting for the boat back to the island. It was pretty well sealed up then though.


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## Foxylady (Mar 23, 2010)

That's really nice. I love the unusual shape of the chapel...fabulous ceiling. Your pics came out well, I reckon.


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