The tomb of the gambler: a Liverpudlian legend

If I were to mention the name Faust to you, or perhaps the legendary blues guitarist Robert Johnson, you’d probably be familiar with the tales of them ‘selling their souls’ to the devil to achieve greatness in this life.

If I were to ask you about William Mackenzie, however, you’d just look at me blankly and say ‘huh?’, or perhaps get your phone out to consult Google.

William is buried at the church of St Andrew in Rodney Street, Liverpool, and legend has it he’s spending eternity in his tomb, sitting on a chair holding a winning poker hand, as a way of cheating Satan after having lost his soul to him in a game of cards.

It sounds quite exciting – and a little grotesque – doesn’t it!

Unfortunately, the truth isn’t quite so glamorous.

Who was William Mackenzie?

William was a civil engineer, born to Scottish parents in 1794. His career – as would any great Victorian engineer’s – included working on the construction of canals, railways and tunnels. His work spanned the UK, as well as working on the railway networks in France, Spain, Belgium and Italy.

He died in 1851, and was buried at St Andrews. But, according to the inscription on the door, the pyramid was constructed by his younger brother Edward – the inheritor of the majority of his £341,848 estate – 17 years later:

In the vault beneath lie the remains of William Mackenzie of Newbie, Dumfriesshire, Esquire who died 29th October 1851 aged 57 years. Also, Mary his wife, who died 19th December 1838 aged 48 years and Sarah, his second wife who died 9th December 1867 aged 60 years. This monument was erected by his Brother Edward as a token of love and affection A.D. 1868. The memory of the just is blessed.

Unfortunately, this rather flies in the face of him sitting in his pyramid with a winning poker hand.

Although it might seem odd for Edward to wait 17 years to build the tomb, it was the year after William’s second wife Sarah died, so I would assume that the tomb was not to be completed until she’d joined her husband again.

As for why Edward chose a pyramid …? William, as far as I can ascertain, didn’t spend time in Egypt (or Sudan, considering the Nubian style of the pyramid), or have any other particular link to Egypt. (Putting in time studying his diaries could perhaps shed further light on this.)

In the absence of any other obvious reason, it may be that Edward was merely swept up in the ongoing Egyptomania of the 19th century. Only a couple of decades after hieroglyphs were first decoded, it was a time when the obelisk was a popular monument for graves (there are three in this graveyard alone). Why not go one better to honour the brother who left you such a grand legacy and give him the tomb of a king?

And as for the legend of losing his soul to Satan …? I have to admit, I’m lost on that one.

Photographing the Tomb of the Gambler

Although the church is now part of the Liverpool John Moore’s University campus, the graveyard faces onto Rodney Street. The church – which sat derelict for many years until the University bought it – has been converted into university accommodation (please be respectful of the fact that students live here if you stop by for some photos). Although the main body of the church had to be demolished, the frontage – thankfully – has been saved. The graveyard itself is off limits, and is surrounded by university buildings and walls on three sides, but it’s separated from the street by wrought-iron railings, so it’s easy to get a good view of the tomb.

If you have the what3words app on your phone, dial in the address ///clouds.hits.attend to find it.

Anyone with a mobile phone can stop and get a good photo of the tomb within its surroundings from the pavement. However, you can’t get around the sides or back, so your options are fairly limited. If you want to get any detailed shots, you’ll need to bring a camera with a zoom lens or longer focal-length lens. I took the photo below through the railings at 104 mm (156 mm full-frame equivalent).

To add a bit of variety, try moving along the railings to get different angles and include some of the other gravestones.

You could also try getting a bit lower down and shooting through the railings, like I did with the photo above.

I took these photos in June, so the trees are dense with leaves. Photographing the tomb at different times of the year, in different weather conditions or at different times of the day will give you different results.

If you live, work or study nearby, try photographing it on a regular basis to see how the seasons and conditions change how your photos look.

Have you photographed the tomb of the gambler? If so, I’d love to see them. Email me at julia@tetisheri.co.uk or leave a comment below.

If you like a bit of Egyptian revival architecture, you can find more of Liverpool’s in my photographer’s Egyptian revival architecture tour.

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With gratitude and love,

Julia

Unless otherwise credited, all photos in this post are © Julia Thorne. If you’d like to use any of my photos in a lecture, presentation or blog post, please don’t just take them; drop me an email via my contact page. If you share them on social media, please link back to this site or to one of my social media accounts. Thanks!