Ferguson Memorial

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Gabled neo-Gothic style sandstone memorial dating from 1865 to designs by architect W.J. Barre. Located in Balmoral Cemetery.

Trefoil sandstone arch supported on bracketed Corinthian limestone columns with inset carved marble plaque. Foliated mouldings to gable ends.

The plot is facing west and is located within the south west part of Balmoral cemetery. Four square painted sandstone piers linked by dwarf painted sandstone walling, topped by iron railings and supporting iron gates mark the entrance to the cemetery at its southwest corner. An un-coursed rock-faced basalt wall serves as a boundary to the south.

Other listed structures within Balmoral cemetery are Cooke memorial (HB26.23.001A) and the McKee memorial (HB26.23.001C).

Historical information

By the middle of the nineteenth century Belfast’s graveyards were becoming overcrowded, partly as a result of the rapidly expanding population of the city and partly as a result of cholera epidemics and the Great Famine. The opening, in 1855, of a new cemetery at Balmoral – which was also known as the Belfast Cemetery or the Malone Cemetery – helped to alleviate the situation. What had prompted the creation of this cemetery was an incident in which a funeral conducted by Reverends Henry Cooke and Joseph Mackenzie was obstructed by a Church of Ireland rector. In response a number of Presbyterians decided to open a cemetery of their own. Mackenzie secured the site and a board of trustees was appointed, Cooke being one of them. In 1953 the cemetery was taken over by Belfast Corporation.

Among the more interesting monuments in Balmoral Cemetery is that to Professor John Creery Ferguson, an important figure in the history of medicine in Ireland. Born in 1802 in Tandragee, County Armagh, Ferguson was the son of Thomas Ferguson, a doctor and apothecary, and Elizabeth Creery, the daughter of the local Church of Ireland rector. He was educated at the Feinaiglian Institution, Trinity College, Dublin and Edinburgh University. In 1827 he received his licence and in 1829 he was admitted a Fellow of the College of Physicians in Ireland.

Through a visit to Paris he became aware of the stethoscope and at the Dublin General Dispensary in November 1827 was the first person in either Britain or Ireland to hear the human foetal heart. Through his advocacy of it the stethoscope became part of the standard medical equipment in the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin. In 1837 he was appointed the first Professor of Medicine at School of Medicine of the Apothecaries’ Hall. In 1846 he became King’s Professor of the Practice of Medicine in the School of Physic at Trinity College, and in 1849 was appointed the first Professor of Medicine at Queen’s College (now University), Belfast. While in Belfast he was also attending physician at the Belfast General Hospital and president of the Ulster Medical Society.

Ferguson has been described as ‘an unassuming man’ and ‘a popular man with a genial disposition’. He was married first of all to Jane Clarke from Dublin, and then to his cousin, Miss Tate. Ten of his eleven children survived him. He died in Belfast on 24 June 1865 and was buried in Balmoral Cemetery on 28 June.

According to the Dictionary of Irish Biography, his monument, which noted his various medical positions, was erected by his former colleagues. The Gothic-style monument is by William Barre. Larmour (1987, p. 105) highlights the fact that the Fitzpatrick memorial at Knockbreda is of a similar design.

References

Northern Ireland Environment Agency
First Survey Record – HB/26/23/001B
HB Records – HB/26/23/001B

Published sources
Gravestone Inscriptions: Belfast, vol. 3 (Belfast, 1986)
Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (Belfast, 1987)
Paul Larmour, The architectural heritage of Malone and Stranmillis (Belfast, 1991)
Dictionary of Irish Biography, 9 vols (Cambridge, 2009)
A Directory of Ulster Doctors (who qualified before 1901), 2 vols (Belfast, 2013)

Online sources
Natural Stone Database: www.stonedatabase.com
Dictionary of Irish Architects: www.dia.ie

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
X. Local Interest
U. Historic Associations
R. Age
S. Authenticity

Evaluation

Gabled neo-Gothic style sandstone memorial dating from 1865 to designs by architect W.J. Barre. Trefoil sandstone arch supported on bracketed Corinthian limestone columns with inset carved marble plaque. Elaborately carved, it commemorates Professor John Creery Ferguson, an important figure in the history of medicine in Ireland, being the first person in either Britain or Ireland to hear the human foetal heart. It is located within Balmoral cemetery which contains a number of interesting memorials, the Cooke memorial (HB26.23.001A) and the McKee memorial (HB26.23.001C), together having significant group value and making a positive contribution to their setting.