Philips Park Cemetery is located on the east side of the city of Manchester, in an area now known as Eastlands. The cemetery’s main entrance is situated on the Alan Turing Way (the A6010) but is no longer accessible to the public with a vehicle. An alternative entrance which does have access for motor vehicles can be found on Riverpark Road just off Briscoe Lane. The post code for your satnav: M40 2XG.
The two grade II listed lodges at what was the main entrance to the cemetery were built within the first year of the cemetery’s opening and have now been fully restored after having lain derelict for around twenty years. They were originally designed by Paull and Ayliffe, Manchester architects formerly of India Buildings, 20 Cross Street, Manchester.
In the last few years Manchester City Council has been working hard to renovate and improve the general look and layout of the cemetery. The two buildings at the main entrance which had fallen into disrepair have been fully renovated but are now privately owned. The cemetery is now safe and accessible for everyone. The Council continue to make improvements by locating and uncovering many of the graves with flat headstones. They have also erected new memorials to some of the brave local heroes buried within the cemetery grounds. To view a larger version of any memorial on this website, just click on the image.
Newly planted this year to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, a small section planted with poppies now pays tribute to those who gave so much for our freedom.
The two grade II listed lodges at what was the main entrance to the cemetery were built within the first year of the cemetery’s opening and have now been fully restored after having lain derelict for around twenty years. They were originally designed by Paull and Ayliffe, Manchester architects formerly of India Buildings, 20 Cross Street, Manchester.
In the last few years Manchester City Council has been working hard to renovate and improve the general look and layout of the cemetery. The two buildings at the main entrance which had fallen into disrepair have been fully renovated but are now privately owned. The cemetery is now safe and accessible for everyone. The Council continue to make improvements by locating and uncovering many of the graves with flat headstones. They have also erected new memorials to some of the brave local heroes buried within the cemetery grounds. To view a larger version of any memorial on this website, just click on the image.
Newly planted this year to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, a small section planted with poppies now pays tribute to those who gave so much for our freedom.
Buried within the cemetery are many servicemen who became local heroes whose families and fellow Mancunians are so proud of. Here are just a few of these men who have memorials to their bravery. John Lyons and Joshua Lodge both fought alongside Private William Jones (2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment, South Wales Borders) in January 1879 defending the mission hospital at the Battle of Rorke's Drift, South Africa, during the Anglo-Zulu War.
Crimean War Heroes of 1854 & 55
Richard Brown and John Richardson are two men who served with the 11th Hussars in what is now known as "the Charge of the Light Brigade". Sadly both men ended their lives in workhouse hospitals. Richard Brown, born 1825, Malton, North Riding of Yorkshire, was awarded the Crimean medal with clasp for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman and Sebastopol, He was also awarded a Turkish medal plus four good conduct badges. He was discharged from the army after 21 years of service on a small pension, having been deemed physically unfit for further duty. After settling in the Manchester area and running a failed horse dealing business, he ended his days in Withington Workhouse hospital in very poor health and unable to look after himself.
Richard Brown and John Richardson are two men who served with the 11th Hussars in what is now known as "the Charge of the Light Brigade". Sadly both men ended their lives in workhouse hospitals. Richard Brown, born 1825, Malton, North Riding of Yorkshire, was awarded the Crimean medal with clasp for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman and Sebastopol, He was also awarded a Turkish medal plus four good conduct badges. He was discharged from the army after 21 years of service on a small pension, having been deemed physically unfit for further duty. After settling in the Manchester area and running a failed horse dealing business, he ended his days in Withington Workhouse hospital in very poor health and unable to look after himself.
John Richardson, Trooper -1567, was born 1827 in Carlisle, Cumberland and died on the 20th July 1897 at Crumpsall Workhouse. He was buried in the Roman Catholic section of the cemetery, grave number F-228, on the 24th July that same year. This is a common/public grave.
Quote from Forgotten Heroes: The Charge of the Light Brigade By Roy Dutton
In an interview with the penny paper Spy in June 1892 he states his age as being 63, at which point he was resident in Crumpsall Workhouse. "Some 34 years ago when I was in Hulme barracks, I was absent for six days and the adjutant (John Yates) called me a scamp when i returned. I replied, I am not like you a coward. I saw you run off from a mounted Cossack and further you never went down in the charge. After this I was up to my neck in trouble and eventually I was tried and got fifty lashes and was ordered to be imprisoned. My bad back took ways and festered and I was in hospital for 28 days. During that time a letter was sent out of the hospital to an editor and was published, describing how they had flogged me in the riding school, like a dog. The colonel employed lawyers and endeavoured to get the writer's name, but the editor would not give him away. My father, being an educated man, wrote to the Duke of Cambridge, and he ordered me to be liberated and discharged at once. In 1863 I sailed to America and enlisted in the New Jersey Volunteers, and fought at the Battle of Pittsburgh. I have been labouring at different places but now my sight is leaving me I am not fit for much. One of my eyes is totally blinded and the other is very bad, so I have entered the Union [Workhouse]. I got one shilling and four pence a day [in the army] but when the call for clothes, extra food, and other necessaries were paid, it came to about two pence a day. I had two medals, but they, like everything else, are in pawn. My wife is dead, and I am quite alone in the world. .
John Richardson was given a military funeral, organised by the master of the workhouse.
Quote from Forgotten Heroes: The Charge of the Light Brigade By Roy Dutton
In an interview with the penny paper Spy in June 1892 he states his age as being 63, at which point he was resident in Crumpsall Workhouse. "Some 34 years ago when I was in Hulme barracks, I was absent for six days and the adjutant (John Yates) called me a scamp when i returned. I replied, I am not like you a coward. I saw you run off from a mounted Cossack and further you never went down in the charge. After this I was up to my neck in trouble and eventually I was tried and got fifty lashes and was ordered to be imprisoned. My bad back took ways and festered and I was in hospital for 28 days. During that time a letter was sent out of the hospital to an editor and was published, describing how they had flogged me in the riding school, like a dog. The colonel employed lawyers and endeavoured to get the writer's name, but the editor would not give him away. My father, being an educated man, wrote to the Duke of Cambridge, and he ordered me to be liberated and discharged at once. In 1863 I sailed to America and enlisted in the New Jersey Volunteers, and fought at the Battle of Pittsburgh. I have been labouring at different places but now my sight is leaving me I am not fit for much. One of my eyes is totally blinded and the other is very bad, so I have entered the Union [Workhouse]. I got one shilling and four pence a day [in the army] but when the call for clothes, extra food, and other necessaries were paid, it came to about two pence a day. I had two medals, but they, like everything else, are in pawn. My wife is dead, and I am quite alone in the world. .
John Richardson was given a military funeral, organised by the master of the workhouse.
If you are planning to visit Philips Park Cemetery this map of the plot section may help you find where any family grave or memorial is located in the cemetery. If you would like further help, please contact us via the Manchester and Salford Family History Forum.
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