John Cunningham: A Scot at home in his beloved Seville

Something that few visitors, and even many locals, know about is the fact that the Seville has an English cemetery, which is hidden behind a rusty iron gate in the middle of a decaying white wall in the San Jerónimo district. The English colony's need for its own Protestant cemetery was established in the middle of the 19th century and the main contributor was the Scottish trader John Cunningham, the main architect of the construction of the St George's cemetery.

There was a large (approximately 1,000) British contingent resident in Seville in the second half of the 19th century due to economic interests, and they practiced a faith other than the official Spanish Catholic Church. As had previously happened in Malaga, the narrow-mindedness of Catholics at the time deemed that followers of this faith could not be buried in the municipal cemetery, so the 'English cemetery' was founded.

Located on Calle Marruecos, next to the monastery of San Jerónimo de Buenavista, the cemetery opened in 1855. The British Vice Consul at that time, John B. Williams, acquired the land from the British ceramics factory owner, Charles Pickman, to bury English sailors who had died of tuberculosis, which prevented their bodies from being repatriated.

A great benefactor of Seville and its only Anglican church, San Basilio, Cunningham was the manager of the former McAndrews Steamship Company. In 1863, he established a trading house in Seville for the export of fruits called Juan Cunningham and Company.

Cunningham, whose tomb lists his business achievements and activities in Seville, is said to have completely integrated into Spanish society. Some historians claim that he felt as much Sevillian as Scottish.

The association that has managed the cemetery since the last burial took place in 1995 has recently suggested to city hall that 'Juan' Cunningham has a street named in his honour.