Graveyards of Glasgow: Cathcart Cemetery

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A few months ago, my friend Beverly McFarlane told me that she was engaged on some research about a forgotten suffragette, but she couldn’t reveal who or why. She knew I’d be intrigued, and at the end of August my anticipation was rewarded when her secret turned out to be even better than I had expected. A combination of an organisation called Protests and Suffragettes and journalist Dani Garavelli had discovered the presence of Henria Williams in Cathcart Cemetery and, via the Women’s Library, Beverly had been asked to find out more about her life. It’s worth clicking on the link in the tweet above to read the full story – suffice it to say, Henria was one of the few suffragettes who died in pursuit of the cause and her funeral was almost like that of a soldier.

Naturally, I wanted to see the grave myself and the day the article came out we set off for Cathcart, on Glasgow’s Southside, to view it. Despite Henria’s heroic send-off, the Williams family tomb had since been forgotten and neglected and was badly overgrown with a tree obscuring its angel.

Henria Williams’ grave
Henria Williams’ grave
Henria Williams’ grave

But joy! Dani and fellow journalist Peter Ross (author of A tomb with a view which is high on my to-be-read list) both report that the grave has now been cleared. I feel another visit is called for …

When we had entered the cemetery we had thought it quite well kept, but the further in we got, the more overgrown it became. Henria was not the only one to be obscured. Here are a few more of the memorials which caught our eye in the main section of the cemetery.

Cathcart Cemetery
Cathcart Cemetery
Cathcart Cemetery
Cathcart Cemetery
Cathcart Cemetery
Cathcart Cemetery

There is also a large Jewish section where I was in pursuit of further women’s history, because Dani’s article mentioned that artist Hannah Frank is buried here. Hannah features in two of Glasgow Women’s Library’s walks: the Gorbals, where she was born in 1908 to Russian emigrants fleeing persecution, and Garnethill where she graduated from Glasgow School of Art.

In her early career Hannah was renowned for her distinctive black and white pen drawings, and she later took up sculpture. The example of her work shown next to her grave below is part of a set of murals, designed by artist Liz Peden and unveiled in 2016, under the Cleland Street railway arches in the Gorbals. Hannah’s section includes the quote “My ambition, in Longfellow’s words was to leave footprints on the sands of time”.  She almost didn’t: in 2002, by which time her work was almost forgotten, Hannah moved into a nursing home. She asked her niece Fiona to disperse her drawings and sculptures around her family and friends, but fortunately  Fiona showed the work to art curators, and from there exhibitions around the country and abroad were organised. Hannah lived a very long life, dying shortly after her 100th birthday in 2008.

Hannah Frank
Hannah Frank mural, Gorbals

This was a really interesting afternoon in a cemetery I didn’t know at all, thanks to Dani and her curiosity about a lost suffragette. The next Graveyards of Glasgow post will be Calton Burial Ground.

Scotland, UK , , ,

59 Comments »

  1. You’ve opened a door here for me, Annabel. I’d not heard of Hannah Frank, but I’ve been looking at her work and history and I’m captivated. I love it when these women are elevated from history and celebrated. Brilliant series of posts.

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  3. Fascinating post, graveyards and cemeteries are just so interesting aren’t they? We always try and look round if we stumble across an old one. So many wonderful stories and equally wonderful old names.

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  5. It was I who informed the Friends of Cathcart Cemetery about Henria’s Grave. I had been in contact with Suzanne Keyte of “SuffragetteLife” who knew the story and told me. I then took the initiative of checking to see if there was an organisation supporting the cemetery. I found the “Friends of Cathcart Cemetery” Facebook page , checked to see if they had her on their list of famous people buried in the cemetery, which they didn’t. I then contacted them and they were very grateful . Luckily Dani was a member of the Friends, hence her article

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  9. Hi Anabel – how fascinating to read about these two women – and wonderful that we’re able to find out the back story … bringing back the history of the times. Wonderful art work from Hannah, but how appalling the way Henria and other protesters were treated. So interesting … and I loved the photos – thanks – Hilary

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  11. I am so enjoying this series Anabel. Of course I’ve had to go off and read about Henria and Hannah (luckily it’s too humid to garden at the moment). Hannah’s work is wonderful and I’m so glad her niece was able to bring her work to a modern audience.

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  12. I’m so enjoying these posts of yours. Reading the stories of all these interesting women is inspiring. Thank goodness Fiona recognised talent when she saw it and showed Hannah’s work to the right people.

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  14. Graveyards can make for a fascinating visit. The biggest and most impressive one we visited was La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires where is the last resting place of Evita Peron. I’ve never seen so many huge and fancy monuments to honour the dead, some 4,800 above ground tombs and vaults. It’s like walking around a town. That would keep you and John busy for a while. 😅

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  17. It’s good news about Henria’s angel. What a lovely name too..One of my grandmother’s was called Henrietta. I hadn’t heard of Henria. Hanna Frank’s work looks beautiful. X

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  19. I couldn’t help noticing that the unusual name Henria is the female version of Henry, the name of her husband. Do you know if that was purely a coincidence?

    Thanks for the introduction to Hannah Frank. Her family fled Russian anti-Semitism and ended up in Scotland; my father and his family escaped from Russian anti-Semitism and Soviet dictatorship, ending up in the United States.

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    • I don’t know, but I think it must be a coincidence – although the Henria married to Henry is the mother of the suffragette Henria who appears further down the tombstone. It’s not very legible!

      It’s a sad world in which people are forced to flee their homes because of prejudice and violence. And yet it still keeps on happening.

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      • It seems to be a deeply ingrained and probably permanent dark side of human nature. Even those claiming to oppose oppression can become equally oppressive (or even more so!) once they get power. Look at the Reign of Terror that followed the French Revolution, for example. Or consider that Lenin promised to free the masses from subjugation to the tsar, only to then tyrannize the masses under his own dictatorship.

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  22. One I’ve not been in either but looks interesting for a visit. Nature requires constant work to keep it in check though. Went to Castlemilk a few years ago to see an ornate stone maze constructed by an artist only ten years earlier and it was almost invisible under weeds. Like the woman under the tree panel. Nicely done.

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