Balmoral Cemetery is a cemetery in the Malone area of South Belfast, Northern Ireland, opened in 1855.
History[edit]
The cemetery was opened in 1855 by Presbyterian churchmen Rev. Henry Cooke and Rev. Joseph Mackenzie, on land owned by Mackenzie, after they had been refused burial by a Church of Ireland rector in another cemetery. It was controlled by a board of trustees which included three Presbyterian ministers. While most of the burials were for Presbyterians, other denominations were buried there.[1]
Three Commonwealth soldiers (one each of British, Australian, and Canadian armies) of World War I are buried in the cemetery, their graves maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.[2]
In 1953, the cemetery was taken over by Belfast Corporation. It is no longer open for burials, but is open to visitors.[1]
Notable burials[edit]
- Dr Wilberforce Arnold (1838–1891), founder of the Presbyterian Orphan Society
- William Batt (1840–1910), architect
- Reverend Henry Cooke (1788–1868), Presbyterian minister and co-founder of the cemetery
- Prof. John Creery Ferguson (1802–1865), physician and fetologist, Professor of Medicine, Queen's College, Belfast[3]
- Josias Leslie Porter (1823–1889), Presbyterian minister, missionary and traveller
- Hugh Hanna (1821–1892), evangelical and anti-Catholic preacher
- Reverend Joseph Mackenzie (1811–1883), Presbyterian minister and co-founder of the cemetery
- Colonel Hampden Clement Blamire Moody (1821–1869), Commander of the Royal Engineers in China and Belfast
- Isabella Tod (1836–1896), Scottish suffragist and unionist politician
References[edit]
- ^ a b Balmoral Cemetery Belfast City Council
- ^ Cemetery details. Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
- ^ Pinkerton, JH. "John Creery Ferguson 1802–1865: physician and fetologist". Ulster Med J. 50: 10–20. PMC 2386017. PMID 7015661.
Further reading[edit]
- Hartley, Tom (2019). Balmoral Cemetery: the history of Belfast, written in stone. Newtownards: Blackstaff Press. ISBN 978-1780732305.
