List of people buried at Willesden Jewish Cemetery

This is a list of people buried at Willesden Jewish Cemetery at Beaconsfield Road, Willesden, in the London Borough of Brent, England. Willesden Jewish Cemetery, which opened in 1873, has 29,800 graves; three of the tombs, including that of Rosalind Franklin, are listed at Grade II by Historic England.

The cemetery has 33 Commonwealth service war graves from World War I,Eight of the Commonwealth service war graves from World War I are soldiers who were from, or had a connection to, Australia. six of which form a small group by the assembly hall, and 77 from World War II, 22 of them grouped in a war graves plot. These include the grave of Dudley Joel (1904–1941), businessman and Conservative Party politician, who joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and was killed in action in World War II.

Grade II listed burial tombs Grade II listed monument DatesDescription and notesRef Grave ImagesThe tomb of Maximilian (Max) Eberstadt 1844–1891Designed by Edward Burne-Jones, the monument includes a cut branch motif, indicating a life cut short. Eberstadt, who was born in Germany, and whose father, Ferdinand Eberstadt (1808–1888), a textile merchant, was mayor of Worms, was secretary to the British merchant banker Ernest Cassel. His twin sister, Elizabeth, was a close friend of Burne-Jones; she married Sir George Lewis, 1st Baronet (see under Other notable burials: Lawyers, below) and she and her husband are both buried beside Max Eberstadt's tomb. The tomb of Rosalind Franklin 1920–1958Franklin, a chemist and X-ray crystallographer, was a co-discoverer of the structure of DNA. She died of ovarian cancer in 1958, aged 37. The tombs and burial enclosures of Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild; Juliana, Baroness Mayer de Rothschild; and Hannah Primrose, Countess of RoseberyMayer Amschel 1818–1874; Juliana 1831–1877; Hannah Primrose 1851–1890Baron de Rothschild was a businessman and Liberal Party MP. He is buried alongside his wife Juliana and their daughter Hannah Primrose, who became Countess of Rosebery and a political hostess and philanthropist. Their tombs were housed in a mausoleum constructed in the 1890s, but this was destroyed by a World War II bomb in 1941.

Other notable burials Some of the other notable persons interred at the cemetery include:

Architects Name DatesDescriptionNotes Ref ImageNathan S. Joseph 1834–1909 Philanthropist, social reformer, architect and Jewish communal leader Nathan Joseph designed this cemetery and was the lead architect for Sandys Row Synagogue in the East End of London. He collaborated on the design of a number of other important synagogues, including the Garnethill Synagogue in Glasgow, New West End Synagogue in Bayswater, London, and Hampstead Synagogue. He was also noted for his work in designing improved housing for the poor.Kadish, Sharman (1996). Building Jerusalem: Jewish architecture in Britain, Vallentine Mitchell, p. 5. .Rozin, Mordechai. The Rich and the Poor: Jewish philanthropy and social control in nineteenth-century London, Brighton, Sussex Academic Press, 1998, p. 183.

Artists and art dealers Name DatesDescriptionNotes Ref Grave ImageJoseph Joel Duveen1843–1908 Art dealer and benefactor of art galleriesDuveen was born in Meppel in the Netherlands. He and his brother Henry were art dealers, securing the chief American trade in Oriental porcelain. They helped in the formation of many significant art collections in the United States and took an important share in the fine art trade in London, extending their interests in old tapestry, of which they became the largest purchasers. Joseph Duveen became wealthy, and was generous in benefaction of art galleries. In 1908 he undertook the cost of an extension to the Tate Gallery (now Tate Britain) that allowed its paintings by J. M. W. Turner to be displayed, and was called the Turner Wing.Joseph Duveen, 1st Baron Duveen1869–1939Art dealerJoseph Duveen, the eldest son of Joseph Joel Duveen, greatly increased the trade in bringing great works of art from Europe to America, playing a large part in forming many of the collections that are now in American museums.Mark Gertler 1891–1939 Painter of figure subjects, portraits and still-life Gertler's early life and his relationship with Dora Carrington were the inspiration for Gilbert Cannan's 1916 novel Mendel: a story of youth. The characters of Loerke in D. H. Lawrence's 1920 novel Women in Love and Gombauld in Aldous Huxley's 1921 novel Crome Yellow were based on him. pp. 106, 140 and 155. Lily Delissa Joseph, née Solomon 1863–1940 Artist and social campaigner active in the English suffrage movementJoseph was born in Bermondsey, London into a wealthy, cultured Jewish family. Her elder brother was the artist Solomon Joseph Solomon. Educated at the Ridley School of Art and the Royal College of Art, she painted portraits, interiors and urban landscapes in a style influenced by Impressionism. She was also an activist in both the women's suffrage movement and in support of Jewish charities. She was among the founders of the Ladies' Guild at the Hammersmith Synagogue in west London and also ran reading rooms in the Whitechapel area.Isaac Snowman 1873–1947ArtistSnowman was commissioned to paint portraits of King George V and Queen Mary. He also painted on Jewish cultural themes.The Times, 12 February 1947, p. 1.Simeon Solomon1840–1905 Painter associated with the Pre-Raphaelites Simeon Solomon, noted for his depictions of Jewish life and same-sex desire, is regarded a significant figure in the nineteenth-century's Pre-Raphaelite, Aesthetic and Symbolist movements. His grave at the cemetery was restored in 2014, with a design that "pays tribute to his 1870 watercolour, The Sleepers and One Who Watcheth".Cohen, Richard I. Jewish Icons: Art and Society in Modern Europe, University of California Press, 1998, p. 160, Cruise, Colin; Osborne, Victoria (eds.) Love Revealed: Simeon Solomon and the Pre-Raphaelites, London: Merrell, 2005, p. 9. .Seymour, Gayle M. "Simeon Solomon and the Biblical Construction of Marginal Identity in Victorian England", Journal of Homosexuality, Vol. 33, No. 3–4, 1997Solomon Joseph Solomon1860–1927 Painter, a founding member of the New English Art Club and a member of the Royal Academy Solomon made an important contribution to the development of camouflage in the First World War, working in particular on tree observation posts and arguing tirelessly for camouflage netting.

Lawyers Name DatesDescriptionNotes Ref ImagesDavid Lindo Alexander1842–1922Barrister and Jewish communal leaderAlexander, who was President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, later co-founded the anti-Zionist League of British Jews. He is buried next to his wife Hester.Sir George Jessel 1824–1883Judge Jessel was one of the most influential commercial law and equity judges of his time, and served as the Master of the Rolls. He was the first Jew to be a regular member of the Privy Council and to hold high judicial office. Sir George Lewis, 1st Baronet and his wife Elizabeth, Lady Lewis, (née Eberstadt)1833–19111844–1931 SolicitorSocialiteLewis had by far the largest practice in financial cases of any lawyer in London, and was especially expert in libel cases, being retained by some of the chief newspapers. He was conspicuous in the prosecution of Madame Rachel and was selected by the Parnell Commission to conduct the case for Charles Stewart Parnell and the Irish Party against The Times. One of the last cases he was involved in personally was the Archer-Shee case in 1908, the 14-year-old naval cadet accused of stealing a five-shilling postal order, the basis of Terence Rattigan's play The Winslow Boy. In their London home, Sir George and Lady Lewis met "tout le monde". Their biographer, John Juxon described it: "Over the next thirty years this house was to be thronged with painters, sculptors, musicians, actors, writers, lawyers, politicians, indeed...to be invited to 'Lady Lewis's' was to enter a social milieu at once fluid and eclectic...Here the establishment and Bohemia had to embrace – because Elizabeth wanted them to."

Medical doctors Name DatesDescriptionNotes Ref ImageAsher Asher 1837–1889 Medical doctorAsher was the first Scottish Jew to enter the medical profession. In London, he was secretary of its Great Synagogue, and then the first secretary of the United Synagogue.William Moses Feldman1880–1939Medical doctor and astronomerBorn in Pinsk (now in Belarus), Feldman became an expert on child health in Britain. A keen astronomer, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Musicians Name DatesDescriptionNotes Ref ImageGerald Bright 1904–1974BandleaderKnown professionally as "Geraldo", Bright became one of the most popular British dance band leaders of the 1930s with his "sweet music" and his "Gaucho Tango Orchestra". He modernised his style in the 1940s and continued to enjoy great success. In the 1950s he composed Scotlandia, Scottish Television's start-up music, heard daily at the beginning of programmes until the 1980s. He is buried alongside his wife, Manya Leigh.Jane Joseph 1894–1929 Composer, arranger and music teacher Jane Joseph was a pupil and later associate of the composer Gustav Holst, and was instrumental in the organisation and management of various of the music festivals which Holst sponsored. Many of her works were composed for performance at these festivals and similar occasions. Her early death at the age of 35, which prevented the full realisation of her talents, was considered by her contemporaries as a considerable loss to English music. Sam Mayo1877–1938Music hall entertainer, pianist and songwriter Born Samuel Cowan, Mayo developed a unique comic style as a music hall singer. Dressed in a long overcoat or dressing gown, he sang deadpan at the piano with quirky, lugubrious humour. He became billed as "The Immobile One". Mayo mostly wrote his own songs, and provided other entertainers with material. He held the record for appearing at the greatest number of music halls in a single evening: nine performances at nine London venues on the evening of 21 January 1905. Edward Solomon 1855–1895 Composer, conductor, orchestrator and pianistEdward Solomon died aged only 39, by which time he had written dozens of works for the stage, many of them for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, including The Nautch Girl (1891). Early in his career, he collaborated frequently with Henry Pottinger Stephens. He had a bigamous marriage with the American actress and singer Lillian Russell in the 1880s. Giulia Warwick (born Julia Ehrenberg) 1857–1904 Opera and concert singer and professor of music at the Guildhall School of MusicIn her four years at the Carl Rosa Opera Company Giulia Warwick made 224 appearances in 17 operas.Ward, John. Giulia Warwick, Carl Rosa Trust, 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2018.

Politicians