Balls Pond Road Cemetery, also known as Jewish (West London Reform) Cemetery,[1]Kingsbury Road Cemetery, Balls Pond Burial Ground[2] and The Jewish Burial Ground,[3] is a Jewish cemetery on Kingsbury Road, Canonbury, London N1. It was founded in 1843 and is owned by West London Synagogue.[1] Prominent early members of that place of worship, such as the de Stern, Goldsmid and Mocatta families, are buried in this cemetery.[3] Other notable burials include the ashes of Amy Levy, the first Jewish woman at Cambridge University and the first Jewish woman to be cremated in England. The last burial at the cemetery was in 1951.[3] The cemetery has been Grade II listed since 2020.[4][5][6]
Montague Durlacher (1824–1894), who, in 1869, was appointed surgeon-chiropodist to Queen Victoria's household, in succession to his father Lewis Durlacher (c.1792–1864). Both men are buried at the cemetery, as is Lewis's wife Susannah (c.1798–1874) who was Montague's mother.[9]
Ney Elias (1844–1897), English explorer, geographer and diplomat, most known for his extensive travels in Asia. Modern scholars speculate that he was a key intelligence agent for Britain during the Great Game. Elias travelled extensively in the Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Pamirs and Turkestan regions of High Asia.[10]
Amy Levy (1861–1889), essayist, poet, and novelist, who was the second Jewish woman at Cambridge University[11] and the first Jewish woman to be cremated in England; her ashes were interred at this cemetery[12]
Reverend David Woolf Marks (1811–1909), Hebrew scholar and minister, who was the first religious leader of the West London Synagogue[14]
Annette Salaman (1827–1879), writer, who compiled a collection of comforting scriptural texts which were published in 1873 as an illustrated guide to the Bible entitled Footsteps on the Way of Life. She was also the author of How to Earn a Good Name (1876) and Aunt Annette's Stories to Ada (1876), a series of tales for children.[15]
Simon Waley (1827–1875), a leading broker on the London Stock Exchange and a prominent amateur musician. He was a leading figure in the Jewish community during the period of the emancipation of the Jews from civil disabilities.[18]
Frederick's sister Rachel, Countess d'Avigdor (1816–1896), philanthropist and communal worker,[20] who was the second daughter of Isabel and Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid
David Mocatta (1806–1882), architect of railway stations and synagogues, and a founder of the West London Synagogue.[1] He was elected a Fellow of the Institute of British Architects (later the RIBA) in 1836,[21] and was an early member of its council.[22]
