The Old Burying Ground

Yesterday, I took the kids on another mini-adventure. This time, we went to the Old Burying Ground in Halifax. The weather was overcast, with a few showers. It was a bit too cold for the kids to spend more than about 45 minutes there, and I didn't get to see all of the grounds, but we had a good time while there!

The Old Burying Ground was Halifax's first cemetery. In this common burial ground lie many of the first citizens of Halifax, their descendants, and men of the British Army and Royal Navy who were stationed here. First opened in 1749, the year Halifax was founded, it was used until 1844. During that period, over 12,000 men, women and children were buried here; fewer than 10% of their graves are marked.

The gravestones were all carved by hand, using chisels and wooden mallets. Many of the old slate stones were quarried and carved around Massachusetts Bay, and shipped to Halifax before the American Revolution. By the 1770's local stone carvers were making gravestones from a poorer quality local slate (or "ironstone"). Most gravestones carved after 1820 are plain, massive sandstone.

The images or symbols can be a clue to the gravestone's age. Older stones show symbols of death-stylized winged skulls ("death-heads") or winged angels (soul effigies). In the early 1800's the images gradually changed from representations of death to those of bereavement - funerary urns, lamps (of life, extinguished), and sometimes sprigs of willow (weeping).










A monument was erected in 1860 in memory of Major A.F. Welsford and Captain W.B.C.A. Parker. These two Halifax men both perished during the Crimean War. In September, 1855 they participated in the assault on the Great Redan, part of the eastern defenses of Sebastopol.





I was particularly drawn to this gravestone. The emotions must have been very strong to have the details carved into the gravestone for everybody to read...










Originally, the cemetery was located outside the settlement's walls. However, as time passed and Halifax grew into a city the burying ground was embraced by the city boundaries. It is now located in the heart of the city, surrounded by office buildings, a thriving shopping district, educational institutions and restaurants. I wonder how many people walk by every day, without ever thinking about the history right beside them?