In my first year at university (those were my much younger days), I took a course in sociology. That year, three words were drummed into me that I still remember today. Marx, who's social/economic/political theories were based two groups of people in society, bourgeoisie the ruling class, and proletariat, the working class.
Karl Marx argued that the bourgeoisie exploits the proletariat. The latter would eventually revolt, leading to a classless society and the role of the state would become redundant. This, in Marx's view, was true communism - and not the big self-claimed communist countries that exist today controlled by a dictatorship. Marx's theory was so profound and I'm pretty sure there isn't a single social science student that hasn't come across him. Despite his contribution to modern day social science, Marx was stateless, and pretty much destitute in his final years. He spent his final years in London and was buried at Highgate Cemetry when he died in 1883. He was one of the main reasons I decided to visit the cemetery recently,
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HIGHGATE CEMETRY
Highgate Cemetry opened in 1839 and was operated by a private company, who according to its information leaflet "was firmly in the business of making a profit". There are two sides to the cemetery, and east and west.
Karl Marx, and many famous dead people are buried in the east. The west was designed as a landscape cemetery to attract tourists, living up to its profit making objective. I went to the east side only and was truly impressed with the intricate stonework on the graves. It felt so tranquil, walking around, though I'm not sure if I would feel the same at night time!
THE ACTIVISTS
Marx's tomb is a short walk from the main entrance. You can't really miss it as there is a massive bust of him on the top. In keeping to Marx's ideology, the words Workers of all land unite are inscribed on the tombstone. However, I wonder how Marx would feel about being buried in a profit making cemetery? Would that make him turn in his grave?
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A few steps away, lies a couple more activists. Saad Saadi Ali, the Iraqi Communist Leader and Campaigner for Democracy and Socialism, and Yusuf Dadoo, the South African Communist and an anti-apartheid activist, lie side by side. If afterlife conferences exists, I'm sure it will interesting to listen to discussions between the three gentlemen .
Another famous resident at Highgate Cemetery is Mary Ann Cross, or better known as George Elliot. Elliot was a famous female novelist from the Victorian era. She used an alias, a male name to avoid stereotype and to avoid people gossiping about her private life as she was involved with a married man. When I was there, I saw a young person visiting her grave. Originally I didn't know this was Elliot's grave, and was intrigued to see who's descendent was here. There were a lot of pens stuck on the front of the grave which I thought was really odd. Then I saw the name and everything made sense. What a lovely tribute.
FAMILY STORIES
Cemeteries are very interesting places, and it was very poignant to read some of the family histories. A few words inscribed on the tombstone can tell you a lot about people, or maybe lead to many questions.
For example, the Jackson family. Robert Jackson had at least three children. Willam was born in September 1886 but died in July 1888 when he was only 22 months old. His sister Annie, was born a few weeks before he died, but she also died a month later. Imagine the heartbreak of losing two young children so close together. It looks like immediately giving birth and losing Annie, Mrs Jackson was pregnant again. She gave birth to Emily May in February 1889. Premature birth? Or was Emily May born to a different mother? Sadly, Emily May never made it beyond her 19th day. The father, Robert Jackson lived till 1910 when he died aged 53. His tombstone says On cruel death that would not spare. Is cruel, used in a literal sense of someone you lose being taken away from you? Or was it cruel because Robert died in unfortunate circumstances. What we do know, is that Mrs Jackson must have lived through such a tragic life.
Infant mortality seems to be quite a common issue back in those days. It was really sad to see so many lives who never grew up to see this world.
| The Wheeler family lost Albert when he was only 8 months old | And the Burge family lost Rosina when she was only 7 months old. |
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TIME vs DEATH
Running a private cemetery wasn't a lucrative business as original thought, and the private company eventually went bust. The graves fell to derelict, nature overtook, and vandalism occurred. As if death wasn't sad enough, the cemetery because even more sadder than before.
In order to preserve this piece of history in London, a charity called the Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust was formed in 1975 to run the cemetery as a public benefit rather than private profit. That is why they charge an entrance fee which goes towards the restoration and upkeeping of the grounds. I was actually a bit taken back when I saw this as I hadn't realized I needed to pay an entrance fee to a cemetery. Again I wondered if Marx turned in his grave once again when this was proposed. Anyway, the charges were reasonable, and I think it's a small price to pay to preserve history.
Finally, not everything is dead in the cemetery, and there were some nice live plants. I wanted to shoot some bug plant macros too for 
few nice bug plant photos to her. 😊
