The History of Bradford. How Undercliffe Cemetery display the values of the Victorians.

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Bradford began as a minute village but at the turn of the 19thcentury the population increased at a rapid rate, this lead to death rates to augment which meant that a cemetery was urgently needed. Time took its toll and life in Bradford became worse and by 1854 the Undercliffe Cemetery was created. This cemetery contains such facets that are very idiosyncratic and display Victorian life in a unique way.  The main focus of this paper will be on the different features of the site and how they support and contradict the Victorian values and attitudes, along with my research I will also be extracting evidence from the burial ground and analysing both primary and secondary sources in order to find out how the site has interpreted and shown the Victorian attributes

Value 1: Social Status

For those in the upper classes of society etiquette was an essential way of living, Victorian society was prominently concerned about every aspect of their life. From the moment the upper-class left their beds their day was ruled over by many do’s and don’ts. Victorian society although may have been strict on an array of rules, it could also be quite pleasant but only depending on your financial status. The cemetery itself supports the idea of the high class holding onto their social position for example in site 4 the Illingworth mausoleum portrays many characteristics such as the tomb itself being built inside with lavish marble in order to keep the bodies cool and the sphinx guarding the tomb gives the impression that they were in some cases showing off that they had travelled to a foreign country. This mausoleum in particular is a great feature of the cemetery that represents how important social status was to the Victorians this is because the tomb itself contains such descriptive detail that evidently shows the Illingworth’s were beginning to show their status in society. Their grave appears to show their importance and wealth due to its intricate design and detail such as the sphinx. This evidence of the illingworth’s mausoleum is a pure example of how  the cemetery contains a feature which supports the Victorian values and attitudes regarding the social status of the upper class Victorians.

While gathering my evidence of the Victorian value’s I  came across a source in form of an image that in some aspects  supports as well as contradicts the way the cemetery has portrayed  social status and social class. A painting by J.Ritchie which was produced in 1858 that goes by the name of ‘A summer’s day in Hyde Park’ contains various activities that can be seen and amidst them various people that portray different classes in 19th century society.  Although this source was written four years after the cemetery was created it provides illustrative substantiation that the affluent citizens wanted to stand out therefore they are painted with a white colour bringing out their importance whereas the workers and servants are daubed with a dull colour which shows how they were kept in the dark and were not to be seen. Along with the rich being highlighted the image brings out some metaphorical evidence which can be seen within Undercliffe Cemetery, in the painting the upper class are placed in the centre of the image this idea supports the cemetery because the rich are in fact the most dominant and are placed within the centre of the burial ground to show their importance. Social status was a very important value that the Victorians held onto it was their way of expressing who they were, the cemetery’s features can in fact support the idea of social status being one of the main features that are thoroughly explained, this source in particular has added to my understanding that this burial ground is in fact categorised and certain sites within the cemetery were only for certain classes. My own research on the source and on social status gives the impression that the cemetery supports the indication of Victorian society being very cautious on their title and position.

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Value 2: Family Values

Although position in society was of importance to Victorians they also had another value which can be seen throughout the cemetery this was their family. There were many rules regarding the family which would consist of the father being the head of the house and he was always to be obeyed. In public, children were expected to be seen and not heard.  At Undercliffe Cemetery I observed a tomb located in site 3 which belonged to The Behrens family, they had decided to include everybody’s name that was in their family implying that they were all ...

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