THOUSANDS of people are buried in Houghton Hillside Cemetery, but among its better known permanent residents are:

* William Standish-Standish - descended from royalty, his ancestors included Kings Edward III and King Richard II and his descendants include the present-day Earl of Wiltshire. According to local legend, he died after his horse fell over the edge of the cliff into the cemetery where he is now buried - leading his ghost to haunt the spot ever since. The reality is less romantic, it appears he met his end in bed at Cocken Hall in 1856.

* Sir George Elliot - born the son of a Gateshead miner, he began his working life as a trap boy down the pit and ended his days a wealthy mine owner, financier and trusted advisor to the Prime Minister. Among the first to lay cable across the Atlantic, he became an MP in 1868, baronet six years later and advised Disraeli to buy shares in the proposed Suez Canal project. At his funeral in 1893, pitmen rubbed shoulders with members of the House of Lords.

* General William Beckwith - born in Calcutta and colonel of the 14th Hussars, he died in 1871 at the age of 75. In 1831, he led his dragoons in a sabre charge against rioters in Bristol who were demanding parliamentary reform. An estimated 250 were killed or injured. He is buried in the family vault with his wife, Priscilla Maria Beckwith, who appears to have led a more peaceful life and is credited with having brought Catholicism to Silksworth.

There are also four casualties of the First World War and at least one veteran of the Crimean War, along with countless inmates of the local workshouse, buried within its walls.