An old English Cemetery

With the Livornine laws, promulgated by Grand Duke Ferdinand I, starting from 1590, to promote the economy and the repopulation of an unhealthy and malarial area, first the Jewish communities , and then all the others, were allowed to settle in Livorno. The main purpose was to attract wealthy Sephardi communities.

The Holy Inquisition of Pisa, however, was not far off, and those who professed another faith, even if protected by special laws, had to do so with caution and without ostentation. Non-Catholic places of worship and even cemeteries were prohibited. Before the construction of the English cemetery, those who died foreigners in our land ended up buried outside the walls, together with the animals.

The studies carried out by the Livorno Association of Nations have led to new discoveries and to overturn many theories about the English cemetery in via Verdi. The date written on the sign is at least one hundred years wrong. The will of an English merchant was discovered in London in 1643. He leaves 150 pounds for the purchase of a burial ground for the English nation in Livorno. The first and oldest burial dates back to three years later, 1646, in the upper left corner of the cemetery, belonging, coincidentally, to Daniel Oxenbridge, a friend of the person who wrote the will.

The one in Via Verdi is the oldest English cemetery in Livorno, the oldest cemetery in Italy and even the oldest English cemetery in the mediterranean area. It hosted 450 tombs from 1646 to 1840 on half a hectare of land. Its historical…