Friends of Cathays Cemetery, Cardiff

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Robert George Thomas (1820-1883), better known as just R G Thomas, was the architect who designed the Cathays Cemetery c...
05/08/2026

Robert George Thomas (1820-1883), better known as just R G Thomas, was the architect who designed the Cathays Cemetery chapels, main entrance, and lodge. Although known for his work in south Wales, it is in Australia that he is best known.

Born in Shrewsbury, he was just 16 years old when, and an apprentice surveyor and draughtsman, he sailed on the First Fleet to South Australia in 1836 for the establishment of the city of Adelaide. There, he surveyed the site selected for the city, and may well have drawn Adelaide’s first map.

In 1846 he returned to Britain and set up an architecture practice in Newport in partnership with William James who he had met in Australia. Over the next 15 years Thomas designed numerous churches, public buildings and private houses in south Wales, including Ebenezer Chapel in Charles Street, Cardiff. Newport Museum and Art Gallery have a collection of his architectural drawings which can be viewed on the People’s Collection Wales website. https://www.peoplescollection.wales/collections/377875

In 1861 he returned to South Australia where he was appointed, in 1866, Assistant Government Architect, and shortly thereafter Government Architect. His achievements during this time include the Supreme Court building and the Flinders Street Baptist Church in Adelaide. In 1874 he was appointed secretary to the Central Board of Health a position he held until his death on 14 April 1883.

This set of photos, taken in Cathays Cemetery over the last couple of years by Jonathan Prior, a keen photographer with ...
31/07/2026

This set of photos, taken in Cathays Cemetery over the last couple of years by Jonathan Prior, a keen photographer with a professional interest in wildlife conservation, shows once again the extent of the cemetery’s fantastic biodiversity.

We frequently notice and remark on the mammals and birds that we see, but the vitally important insects, beetles, and butterflies/moths are often missed.

The Buzzards are back!Our Tuesday morning walkers were in for a treat yesterday in the Upper Cemetery when they happened...
22/07/2026

The Buzzards are back!

Our Tuesday morning walkers were in for a treat yesterday in the Upper Cemetery when they happened upon a pair of buzzards.

It goes to show the extent to which the cemetery serves as a haven for all sorts of wildlife in the heart of the Cardiff.

A reminder too that the weekly informal Tuesday walks start at 10:30 by the gates next to Cathays Library for anyone interested – a different route each week.

Remembered on a family memorial is Charles Hamilton Sorley, acknowledged by many to be one of Britain’s outstanding Firs...
18/07/2026

Remembered on a family memorial is Charles Hamilton Sorley, acknowledged by many to be one of Britain’s outstanding First World War Poets. His name can be seen on the splendid monument erected for his older brother. (Grave Ref J37)

A captain in the Suffolk Regiment, he was killed at the battle of Loos in October 1915. He has no known grave.

He is one of 16 Great War poets commemorated in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner.

Sorley is regarded by some, including the Poet Laureate John Masefield and Robert Graves, as the greatest loss of all the poets killed during the war. His most celebrated poem is probably “When you see millions of the mouthless dead …” http://www.warpoets.org/.../charles-hamilton-sorley-1895.../

He didn’t have any personal connection with Cardiff but his father, William Ritchie Sorley, was for six years professor of Logic and Philosophy at Cardiff University, and it was here that his brother Wilfrid died. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ritchie_Sorley

A reminder that whilst the Friends of Cathays Cemetery welcomes contributions and comments to this page, if your query o...
15/07/2026

A reminder that whilst the Friends of Cathays Cemetery welcomes contributions and comments to this page, if your query or comment relates to the management of the cemetery - eg burial space, maintenance regime, use of the chapels, etc – please contact Cardiff Bereavement Services. https://cardiffbereavement.co.uk who will be able to advise.

If you’re feeling too hot this weekend, then here’s a dusting of snow in Cathays Cemetery to cool you down. The avenue o...
10/07/2026

If you’re feeling too hot this weekend, then here’s a dusting of snow in Cathays Cemetery to cool you down.

The avenue of large trees you see are Scots Pines, planted with foresight when the cemetery was opened in 1859.

Cathays was designed and laid out, not only as a cemetery, but also as a space for recreation where people could take walks and relax, and followed the principles of the Garden Cemetery Movement inspired by the Scottish botanist and garden designer John C Loudon

This is the impressive vaulted memorial to the Curran family in the Catholic Section of Cathays Cemetery. (Plot R1)The f...
05/07/2026

This is the impressive vaulted memorial to the Curran family in the Catholic Section of Cathays Cemetery. (Plot R1)

The family business, The Edward Curran Engineering Co. was founded in Cardiff in 1903 by Edward Curran, whose father Charles was an Irish stonemason who had settled in Cardiff, and was once a major employer in South Wales.

After following in his father’s footsteps to become a stonemason, Edward designed a new type of furnace for metal heating, which he built at Cardiff’s Mountstuart Dry Docks in 1909. The business expanded rapidly, and in 1914 secured a government contract for producing armaments for the war effort, creating thousands of jobs.

After the First World War the business diversified and its products included enamelled metalware such cups and plates. They retained their capability of producing armaments and as such was targeted several times by the German Luftwaffe.

Production of enamelware continued after the war, with pressed steel (1961) and acrylic (1972) baths being added to their range. The company was taken over in 1973 and the factory closed in 2005.

Edward Curran died in 1937. His legacy, as a prominent Catholic in the city, was the establishment of the Edward Curran Trust which enable the purchase of 46 Park Place as the University Catholic Chaplaincy.

Ar sesiwn gwaith y bore yma, godwyd groes goffa newydd i Dan Isaac Davies (1839-1887) i gymryd lle'r hen un a oedd wedi ...
27/06/2026

Ar sesiwn gwaith y bore yma, godwyd groes goffa newydd i Dan Isaac Davies (1839-1887) i gymryd lle'r hen un a oedd wedi gweld dyddiau gwell.

Roedd Dan Isaac Davies yn arolygydd ysgolion ac yn ymgyrchydd arloesol dros Addysg Cyfrwng Cymraeg. Cyfrannodd at y Comisiwn Brenhinol ar addysg elfennol yng Nghymru gyda llawer o'i argymhellion yn cael eu derbyn. Hefyd, cyd-sefydlodd fersiwn gyntaf Cymdeithas yr Iaith.

Cwswllt yn y sylwadau.

On this morning’s workday, we erected a new memorial cross to Dan Isaac Davies (1839-1887) to replace the old one which ...
27/06/2026

On this morning’s workday, we erected a new memorial cross to Dan Isaac Davies (1839-1887) to replace the old one which had seen better days.

Dan Isaac Davies was a schools inspector and pioneer campaigner for Welsh Medium Education. He contributed to the Royal Commission on elementary education in Wales with many of his recommendations being accepted. He also co-founded the first iteration of the Welsh Language Society.

Link below in comment.

Because of the upgraded forecast of extreme heat, we have reluctantly taken the decision to cancel the Midsummer Walk.Ap...
22/06/2026

Because of the upgraded forecast of extreme heat, we have reluctantly taken the decision to cancel the Midsummer Walk.

Apologies for the late notice and any inconvenience.

(If you shared any of the earlier posts about this event, could you please share this one - thanks)

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Fairoak Road
Cardiff

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