Hawking to be interred in Westminster Abbey

Cosmologist’s remains will be placed near Newton’s as the first scientist to be laid to rest there in 80 years

Stephen Hawking’s remains will be laid to rest in Westminster Abbey, an honour not given to a scientist in almost 80 years. Hawking will be the first prominent figure to be interred in the Abbey since Sir Laurence Olivier, and the first scientist since Joseph John Thomson, the physicist and discoverer of the electron, who died in 1940. The ashes of Hawking, who died on March 14 at the age of 76, will be interred next to the grave of Sir Isaac Newton.

THE ashes of Stephen Hawking will be interred next to Sir Isaac Newton in Westminster Abbey.

The physicist, an avowed atheist, will be the first well-known figure to be laid to rest in the Abbey since Sir Laurence Olivier, who died in 1989, and joins the likes of Charles Darwin, Elizabeth I, Charles Dickens and Geoffrey Chaucer.

The last scientist to be interred was Joseph John Thomson, the physicist and discoverer of the electron who died in 1940. Sir Ernest Rutherford, the nuclear pioneer, was also buried there three years earlier.

Prof Hawking died on March 14 at the age of 76, having become one of the most renowned scientists in his field despite his decades-long battle with motor neurone disease. The Very Rev John Hall, Dean of Westminster, 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. Sir Isaac Newton was buried in the Abbey in 1727. Charles Darwin was buried beside Isaac Newton in 1882.

“Other famous scientists are buried or memorialised nearby, the most recent burials being those of Ernest Rutherford and Joseph John Thomson. We believe it to be vital that science and religion work together to seek to answer the great questions of the mystery of life and of the universe.”

The interment will take place following the funeral at the University Church of St Mary the Great, Cambridge, on March 31.

The private service will be attended by family, friends and colleagues.

Lucy, Robert and Tim, Prof Hawking’s children, said: “On behalf of our whole family we want to express our huge gratitude to 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. For this reason, we have decided to hold his funeral in the city that he loved so much and which loved him.

“Our father’s life and work meant many things to many people, both religious and non-religious. So, the service will be both inclusive and traditional, reflecting the breadth and diversity of his life. We would like to thank Gonville and Caius College, Trinity College and the University of Cambridge for their assistance with our father’s funeral service.”

Following Prof Hawking’s death, Cambridge University described him as “an inspiration to millions”. He was eventually given the title of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge – a position once held by Newton – which he held for 30 years until his 67th birthday, having arrived at the university in 1962 as a PHD student.