George Formby's Grave

The striking memorial to the popular entertainer George Formby stands in Warrington Cemetery, Cheshire. His career spanned four decades from the early 1920s to his death in 1961. He was a famous music hall and film star and entertained the troops during the Second World War. George's funeral brought the whole of Warrington to a standstill, with an estimated 150,000 admirers lining the route! He was buried with his father whose magnificent white marble memorial headstone was unveiled in October 1922., George Formby Senior was also a star of the stage. A report on the restoration of the memorial can be read on the George Formby Society website HERE and an account of his life and work on Wikipedia, HERE. A photography of his funeral can be viewed HERE and another of the unveiling of his father's memorial can be seen HERE. The memorial is said to be a replica of the Manchester Hippodrome theatre's proscenium arch.

Tom Boswell's Angel

Warrington Cemetery is very large and packed full of history. In the newer section, Tom Boswell's grave is notable because a large marble Angel towers over it. According to a cemetery leaflet, the tomb is lined with white Morecambe brick and the coffins were placed inside the mausoleum. It sounds like a vault . . . I have yet to establish any information on Tom Boswell.