Tomb of Burchell Family including William Burchell, located approximately 2m from the south elevation of All Saints Church

Chest tomb of mid-19th century date, constructed in Portland stone and located approximately 2 metres from the south elevation of All Saints Church in Putney.

The tomb stands on a moulded base and widens slightly towards the rim, evoking a vaguely Egyptian form. Beneath the rim runs a continuous carved stone band featuring imitation rivets and stone floral carvings that resemble latches or clasps securing the lid. These latches appear twice on the long sides and once at each end. The top is moulded at the edges, and the upper slab is very slightly convex, reaching a point at the centre. The inscription faces south, away from the church, and reads: "In this tomb / rest the mortal remains of / Matthew Burchell Esq. / of this Parish who died on the 12th of July 1828 / in the 76th year of his age / And of Jane his wife / who died on the 18th January 1841 / Sacred to their revered memory and to their many virtues / filial piety has caused this stone to be inscribed."

The tomb commemorates Matthew and Jane Burchell, who lived in the parish of Fulham. Matthew was a botanist and owned Fulham plant nursery until 1813. The tomb is immediately adjacent to the west of the graves of Jane and William Burchell (died 1799 and 1800 respectively). William was Matthew's uncle who took Matthew into the family nursery business in the early 19th century.

Matthew and Jane Burchell's eldest son, William John Burchell (1781-1863), is also buried in the family vault, though no separate inscription marks his grave. The parish registers record his burial on 28 March 1863. His sister Anna, also buried in the family tomb, left £200 in her will for the maintenance of the tomb and relief of the poor.

William John Burchell was an explorer and naturalist of considerable renown. A keen botanist, he was employed at Kew Gardens and became a member of the Linnean Society in 1803 before setting out on his expeditions in 1805. He was first employed as a schoolmaster to the East India Company in St Helena and as superintendent of the botanic garden there, later becoming the company's island naturalist. From St Helena he travelled to Cape Town and spent four years collecting specimens. Following his travels in the 1810s, the British Government consulted him about the suitability of emigration to South Africa. In 1815 he returned to England with approximately 63,000 specimens of plants, seeds, insects, fish and other materials. Between 1825 and 1829 he travelled through South America. The last three decades of his life were spent cataloguing his collections in England. He died by suicide at the family home, Churchfield House (now demolished), in Fulham. His sister Anna donated his botanical collections to the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, and his entomological materials to the University of Oxford. Burchell wrote two volumes entitled "Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa", which are considered amongst the best geographies ever written on South Africa.