© Brian Parsons 2025 | Contact Me | Site Map
Photo courtesy Richmond Local History Society
Hello, and welcome to my website.
I work freelance providing a training, consultancy and research service under the banner of Funeral Service Training (London).
My website provides further information about me, my publications and my lectures. Links to all of these can be found above.
Meanwhile, you can contact me by emailing info@brianparsons.org.uk
My New Book: London Cemeteries: A Guide and Gazetter
London Cemeteries: An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer has now been published by The History Press.
London Cemeteries: An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer is a comprehensive guide to all cemeteries within Greater London. Listed alphabetically and with a map to help locate them, each entry includes the address, the date of foundation, the owner, the size, a note on its history, development and current state, and the names, dates and major achievements of any note-
Illustrated throughout with both modern photographs and a wide range of rarely seen archive images, it is an essential source of information for anyone interested in London’s social and architectural history. Alongside a refreshed design, this sixth edition has been extensively revised with updated biographies, additional details about buildings and visitor facilities, fresh research on flora and fauna and entries for 28 further cemeteries in the Greater London area.
Price £25 from The History Press.
Forthcoming Lectures
2025
Sunday 23 March
Lecture and tour of the West London Crematorium to commemorate the 140th anniversary of Mrs Jeanette Pickersgill, the first person to be cremated at Woking Crematorium. Mrs Pickersgill’s ashes rest in the catacomb under the Anglican Chapel in Kensal Green Cemetery. Further details & booking from the Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery
Friday 16 May
A Look at London’s Cemeteries
Date to be confirmed
Lecture to commemorate the 140th anniversary of Mrs Jeanette Pickersgill, the first person to be cremated at Woking Crematorium.
London Association of Funeral Directors
Current Research & Articles in Preparation
Revision of Peter Jupp’s book From Dust to Ashes. Cremation and the British Way of Death (which originally appeared in 2006) to be published in 2025. The new edition of this seminal text will be issued to coincide with the 140th anniversary of the first cremation in modern times.
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The Impact of Cremation on the Undertakers Funeral Director Monthly March 2025
Organs in Crematoria Organists' Review 2025
Burial at Brompton Cemetery: Findings from Funeral Directors Records
Funeral Directors and the 1977 Strike
The History of Kingston Cemetery and Crematorium
The eighth of the ‘Magnificent Seven’? The History of Victoria Park Cemetery
You can contact me by emailing info@brianparsons.org.uk