The British Cemetery of Montevideo

One of the oldest cemeteries in Latin America, the Cementerio Británico Montevideo was first sited on a piece of land known as the Cementerio de los Ingleses – during the British Invasions of 1807 a battle took place there, and several British soldiers were killed. Their comrades buried their bodies on the land on which they had fallen. In 1828 the British Consul in Montevideo bought the land for the British government, and the British Cemetery became more formally recognised. In 1885 this original central city site was closed, and the cemetery transferred to its current location next to the Buceo Cemetery.

In honour of “Victoria, Queen and Mother of her People”

The 1902 obelisk at its entrance in honour of Queen Victoria was funded and constructed in 18 months. It’s a reminder of how prosperous and patriotic was the British community in Montevideo.

A strong portrait in fine statuary marble

The portrait bust is impressive, the inscription V . R . I (for Victoria Regina Imperatrix) an echo from the past. The monument dates and celebrates her accession and long reign.

An empire on which the sun never set

The site’s occupants remind us of the character of the British – they are from all parts of the United Kingdom, and they include sailors, soldiers and ordinary people as well as the great and good.

An obelisk for the Consul

An elaborate Irish family grave with Masonic hourglass

Some who died here were commemorated by friends and shipmates …

A merchant seaman from the shires who died young

… others by their émigré families now established in the New World.

Geordie emigrants

Established as a Protestant cemetery to accommodate those who couldn’t be buried elsewhere, the Jesuit symbol on this gravestone makes good the cemetery’s claim to have no restrictions regarding religion …

Emigrant from Eccles near Manchester, another from the Falklands

… and there are many examples of non-British nationality.

A Germany dynasty

Grave of a young American merchant seaman, still remembered

Viennese Jewish family grave

Those commemorated may have died in parts unknown.

French Jewish memorial

Others have left home and family so far behind that little more than their names are known.

Grave of an Irish woman

A deceased wife is the subject of a fulsome eulogy from her spouse.

Memorial from a loving husband

Some recount the lives of their occupants in old and adopted cultures.

One of the early RAF airmen, later a civilian instructor

German-Uruguyan family grave, with street market behind

There is a German community here too. The German Patients’ Union (Deutscher Krankenverein) saw to it that those who died in Uruguay received a decent burial. Some of the crew of the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee were buried nearby following the 1939 Battle of the River Plate.

Post-war burials continue

Earlier European history is also visible.

Cavalry officer serving Franz Josef I, Austro-Hungarian Emperor during World War I

The old world’s institutions take vigorous root in the New.

The cemetery has long been associated with Masonic families

Grave with tribute by fellow Rotarians

With differences – bankers are not held in such regard in the old world.

Employee of the state-owned Banco (BCO) Republica Uruguay

The cemetery is still in use. At first glance it appears like the cemetery of a prosperous British city – perhaps the statuary is a little florid.

Italian surname, Spanish inscription, English-speaking neighbour

But the graves are eloquent testimony to the turbulent history of this part of Latin America, on a large and on a small scale. One of the most striking monuments still cries for justice from beyond the grave. These stones truly do speak.

Among the casualties of war and industry, a personal drama