Events
We run all sorts of events throughout the year. If you'd like to hear about them first, why not join the Friends of Highgate Cemetery, or sign up for our e-newsletter? Subscribe
The Real William Friese-Greene
Thursday 23 September 2021 £5Book now
A talk by Peter Domankiewicz
Everything about William Friese-Greene is a problem, beginning with the well-known monument in Highgate Cemetery that marks his resting place, declaring him to be “The Inventor of Kinematography”. His glorification led to a backlash in the 1950s and 60s, that declared him a fraud and a fantasist, from which his reputation never recovered. Over the last 25 years, Peter Domankiewicz - a film director, writer, and film historian - has been trying to uncover the real Friese-Greene underneath the many layers of myth painted on by those who wanted to depict him as a hero or a scoundrel. In this talk, in the year of the centenary of Friese-Greene’s death, he will be lifting off the weight of that monument to find the man beneath.
Online Event, starting at 7pm
Tickets: £5.00
The ‘Lost Girls’ of Highgate Cemetery
Thursday 21 October 2021 £5Book now
A talk by Richard Kuhn
Over the past seven years there has been growing interest in an unmarked communal grave in Highgate West Cemetery which has come to be known as The Grave of the ‘Lost Girls’. The little-known story behind it, and its two related graves, provides a perspective on the Victorian and Edwardian eras that stands in sharp contrast to the wealth of other tales which characterise Highgate Cemetery. The communal grave contains the remains of ten so-called ‘fallen women’ - girls who in the 19th century were ‘rescued’ from a life of prostitution and offered refuge in the London Diocesan Penitentiary (later the House of Mercy) off Highgate North Hill. The other two graves are those of some of the women who looked after them.This evening’s talk by Richard Kuhn (who has been a volunteer at the Cemetery since 2008, involved in assisting, guiding, training and research), is intended to finally give both groups the recognition they deserve.
Online event, starting at 7pm
Tickets: £5
The Chartist Revolution
Tuesday 23 November 2021 £5Book now
A talk by Rob Sewell
The revolutionary traditions of the British working class are glossed over by the establishment. One such tradition is that of the Chartists. Decades before the formation of the TUC, the British working class dramatically entered onto the stage of history, threatening the ruling class with a mass insurrectionary movement and a general strike. In the process, the Chartists succeeded in building the political party of the working class in history, which drew the support of the young Marx and Engels.
Rob Sewell, author and editor of Socialist Appeal (journal of the International Marxist Tendency), presents Chartist Revolution which delves into this radical episode in British history, led by William Lovett, who is buried in Highgate Cemetery.
Online event, starting at 7pm
Tickets: £5
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