Philips Park Cemetery 150th Anniversary Exhibition

Exhibition commemorating the 150th anniversary of Philips Park Cemetery 5 October — 31 December 2016

The exhibition documents the history of Manchester’s first municipal cemetery, as well as a selection of key events from the city’s history 1866-1940. It has been created by Michala Hulme and the Friends of Philips Park Cemetery. Themes of the exhibition include:

  • Death in Victorian Manchester
  • The Problem of Body Snatching
  • The Business of Death
  • Origins of Rusholme Road Cemetery
  • Origins of Ardwick Cemetery
  • Origins of the Manchester General Cemetery
  • Building the Municipal Cemetery
  • The Cotton Famine
  • The Early Years of Philip’s Park Cemetery
  • The Floods of 1872
  • Notable Burials
  • Rorke’s Drift – The life story of William Jones VC buried in Philip’s Park Cemetery
  • First World War – Schools across the North West have designed their own exhibition boards to tell the life stories of a selection of WW1 veterans buried in Philip’s Park Cemetery. Included in this is the sinking of the Lusitania – Sponsored by the Heritage Lottery Fund
  • The Manchester Blitz
  • The Friends of Philips Park Cemetery – Photographic display to show the regeneration of the cemetery and the formation of the friends’ group
Michala is currently undertaking a PhD at MMU. Her thesis is titled ‘Death and the Disposal of the Dead in the World’s First Industrial City 1820-1870’. She is also a professional genealogist appearing on programs such as BBC’s Heir Hunters. Michala is the official genealogist on John Gilmore’s BBC Radio Lancashire afternoon show. 5 October — 31 December 2016