Hawking’s ashes to rest next to Newton in Westminster Abbey
STEPHEN Hawking’s ashes will be interred close to the remains of another of Britain’s greatest physicists, Sir Isaac Newton, in Westminster Abbey.
And his funeral will take place at Cambridge University’s church on Easter Saturday, it was announced yesterday.
The scientist’s children said they had chosen to hold the funeral in Cambridge because it is ‘the city he loved so much and which loved him’.
Family, friends and colleagues are being invited to the private service at Great St Mary’s, the university church in Cambridge at 2pm on March 31, with a private reception at nearby Trinity College afterwards. The church is near to Gonville and Caius, the Cambridge college where he was a fellow for more than 52 years.
Professor Hawking, who died aged 76 last week, will then have his ashes interred in Westminster Abbey later in the year.
The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, said: ‘ It is entirely fitting that the remains of Professor Stephen Hawking are to be buried in the Abbey, near those of distinguished fellow scientists.’ He told The Daily Telegraph: ‘Sir Isaac Newton was buried in the Abbey in 1727. Charles Darwin was buried beside Isaac Newton in 1882.’
Professor Hawking’s funeral in Cambridge will be ‘both inclusive and traditional, reflecting the breadth and diversity of his life’.
His children said: ‘On behalf of our whole family we want to express our huge gratitude for all the wonderful tributes to our father and to those who have sent us messages of condolence. Our father lived and worked in Cambridge for over 50 years.
‘He was an integral and highly recognisable part of the university and the city.
‘Our father’s life and work meant many things to many people, both religious and non-religious.’
Several thousand people have visited Gonville & Caius since Professor Hawking’s death to sign a book of condolence.