Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia): Difference between revisions

 

Over the decades some 12,000 people were interred in the Old Burial Ground. Today there are about 1,200 headstones, some having been lost and many others being buried with no headstone. Many notable residents are buried in the cemetery, including British Major General [[Robert Ross (general)|Robert Ross]], who led the successful [[Burning of Washington|Washington Raid of 1814]] and burned the [[White House]] before being killed in battle at [[Baltimore]] a few days later.

 

Prior to 1799, there are also four recorded Mi'kmaq buried in the burial ground, including a Mi'kmaw Chief Francis [Muir?].<ref>St. Paul's Cemetery/ Old Burial Ground records (as transcribed in the Death, Burials & Probate of Nova Scotians</ref> There was also a "protestant indian" named John Tray, possibly from John Gorham's rangers.<ref>https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/MCR/article/view/17948/22017#re55no55</ref> There are also 29 recorded Blacks buried in the graveyard, of which 12 of them have both first and last name recorded; 7 of the graves are from the [[New England Planter]] migration (1763-1775); and 22 graves are from immediately following the arrival of the [[Loyalists (American Revolution)|Loyalists]] in 1776.<ref>St. Paul's Cemetery/ Old Burial Ground records (as transcribed in the Death, Burials & Probate of Nova Scotians</ref><ref>C. B. Fergusson, "A Documentary Study of the Establishment of the Negroes in Nova Scotia Between the War of 1812 and the Winning of Responsible Government, "Public Archives of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Publication no. 8,1948, p. 1.</ref> Rev. [[John Breynton]] reported that in 1783 he baptized 40 Blacks and buried many because of disease.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/collectionsofnov02nova#page/72/mode/1up pp. 71-72]</ref>