St James' Cemetery » Memorials » Gender

Gender on Memorials

Looking at the way people are described on memorials can give us an idea of how they were viewed by society in life and death.
In nineteenth-century Britain only two genders were socially accepted, and there was a strict divide between them.

In St James' Cemetery, slightly more males are commemorated on gravestones than females (51.1% to 48.9%).
Women (over 20 years old) are much more likely to be described in relation to someone else than men - such as being described as "wife" or "mother".
Male infants (under 2 years old), however, are slightly more likely to be referred to as "son", than female infants are as "daughter".

Click on the images below to learn more.