HomeWomen in Victorian Belfast
Women play a vital role in the history and development of Belfast, particularly during the Victorian period. The first and last new graves in the cemetery both belonged to females - to three-year-old Annie Collins, who died on 4 August 1869, and to Sarah Christie, who was laid to rest in November 2004.
Several other notable women are buried in the cemetery.
These include:
- Margaret Byers (died February 1912) - pioneer of women's education in Belfast and principal of Victoria College school
- Florence Lewis (died August 1908) - mother of famous author CS Lewis
- Margaret M Pirre (died June 1935) - wife of Viscount Pirrie and financial supporter of the Royal Victoria Hospital
- Lizzie Clarke (died April 1903) - wife of playwright and actor Henry Cooke Morrow
- Margretta Bowen (died April 1981) - well-known artist and mother of photographer Arthur Bowen
- Sisters of Adoration and Good Shepherd Convent - burial plots of female religious orders.
Ulster Female Penitentiary
One of the most well known graves in the cemetery is the plot of the Ulster Female Penitentiary.Seven prostitutes are buried in this double grave, which is marked with a small cast-iron shield which bears the name of the Penitentiary.
They are:
- Sarah Gillespie - died September 1889, aged 76
- Jane Johnston - died February 1890, aged 38
- Ellen Haslett - died June 1891, aged 61
- Rosena Hawthorn - died July 1892, aged 65
- Louisa Johnston - died February 1902, aged 30
- Jane McDowell - died May 1904, aged 50
- Agnes Shannon - died October 1946, aged 75.
The Ulster Female Penitentiary, located in York Lane off Donegall Street and later at Brunswick Street, and the Ulster Magdalene Asylum were set up to rehabilitate the women.
* Images reproduced by kind permission of Tom Hartley. All intellectual property rights reserved.
The reproduction of the images is forbidden without the owner's written permission.
