CITY OF
OLD BURIAL GROUND
“This place of internment is the oldest of any note
in the City of St John, NB, having been laid out as a Cemetery in 1783 when
Paul Bedell made the plan of Parrtown, afterwards named
The old Burial Ground has an area of about three
acres and was for many years the principal place of interment in the City.
Thousands of Loyalists and their descendants are buried there, most of whom
have now no memorial. Formerly it was very ill cared for and stones were broken
down or removed, so that those now existing probably do not number more than
half of those which at one time existed. Recently it has been better cared for
and there need be no fear of any more of its monuments being removed. This
graveyard contains the remains of most of the eminent men who made St John
their home after the coming of the Loyalists.
As it was in the very center of the City it was
thought proper to close it. Legislation was obtained for that purpose and the
last internment took place on the 30th April 1848. The person whose
body had that distinction was William Henderson, who had died that morning and
was buried at night as that was the last day that internments were allowed.”
Dr James Hannay, From Report on the Burying Grounds of
Note: In September of 2006, a microfilm of the
composite report of Dr James Hannay was photographed using a digital camera and
the resultant pictures then converted by hand as accurately as possible to a
Microsoft Word file for easy access and ease of search`. The original material
may always be referred to in event of concern as to accuracy of any entry.
Harry MacDonald
13 October 2006
Leeds 1000