Hamilton Cemetery on York Boulevard in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, is the oldest public burial ground in the city. It is located on Burlington Heights, a high sand and gravel isthmus that separates Hamilton's harbor on the east from Cootes Paradise on the west.

History

Historically, the cemetery consists of three, separate burial grounds over 100 acres: Burlington Heights Cemetery, the Christ Church Grounds, and the Church of Ascension Grounds. It has been a contentious issue whether a flood, which around the 1860s inundated the city, necessitated the recollection of gravestones to be amassed in one place. From 1850 until 1892, each burial ground was administered separately, but by the beginning of the 1890s, the church wardens had difficulty paying for the maintenance and upkeep of their areas. In 1892, the City of Hamilton agreed to assume responsibility for all the grounds, which were renamed "Hamilton Cemetery".

Notable plots

Mayors

Thirty-three mayors of Hamilton are buried/interred here, including: *

Colin Campbell Ferrie Colin Campbell Ferrie (May 1, 1808 – November 9, 1856) was a Canadian merchant, banker, and politician. Born in Glasgow, the son of Adam Ferrie and Rachel Campbell, he came to Montreal from Scotland in 1824 to work in his father's new whol ...

(1808–1856) * John Rose Holden (1821–1879) * James Cummings (1815–1894) * Charles Magill(1816-1898) * John Francis Moore (1816–1870) * George Hamilton Mills *

Benjamin Ernest Charlton Benjamin Ernest Charlton (April 12, 1835 - March 12, 1901) was born in Brant County, Upper Canada. He was the mayor of Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamil ...

(1835–1901) *

Hutchison Clark Hutchison Clark (August 29, 1806 – February 17, 1877) was mayor of Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton ...

(1806–1877) *

James Edwin O'Reilly James Edwin O'Reilly was mayor of Hamilton, Ontario in 1869, and from 1879 to 1881. He lived from 1833-1907, and was a lay leader A lay leader is a member of the laity in any congregation who has been chosen as a leader either by their peers or the ...

(1833–1907) *

George Murison George Murison (1819–1889) was mayor of Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census ...

George Roach George Roach was a Canadian politician and the mayor of Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), an ...

Francis Edwin Kilvert Francis Edwin Kilvert (17 December 1838 – 21 August 1910) was a lawyer and mayor of Hamilton, Ontario from 1877 to 1878. Born in Hamilton Township, Northumberland County, Upper Canada, the son of Richard Kilvert, he was educated in Cobou ...

John James Mason John James Mason (4 February 1842 – 15 June 1903) was mayor of Hamilton, Ontario from 1884 to 1885. As mayor, he created a registry of those seeking work in order to connect them to potential employers, supported the establishment of a free ...

* Alexander McKay *

William Doran WILLIAM DORAN, (Mayor of Hamilton, ON 1888-1889) William Doran's parents were Sylvester Doran (1789 - ?)) and Elizabeth Doyle (? – 1886) from Carlow, Ireland. They came to Canada in 1821 during the famous potato famine, making Grimsby, Ontario ...

* David McLellan * Peter Campbell Blaicher *

George Elias Tuckett George Elias Tuckett (December 4, 1835, Exeter, England - February 19, 1900) was mayor of Hamilton, Ontario in 1896. Tuckett built a fortune during the American Civil War, cornering a chunk of the tobacco market. He also founded the Tuckett Tobacc ...

(1835–1900) * Edward Alexander Colquhoun *

John Strathearn Hendrie Sir John Strathearn Hendrie (August 15, 1857 – July 17, 1923) was the 11th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1914 to 1919. John Hendrie was born in 1857 in Hamilton, Canada West and was educated at Upper Canada College. He became a rail ...

* Wellington Jeffers Morden * Sanford Dennis Biggar * Thomas Joseph Stewart * George Harmon Lees * John Allan * Charles Goodenough Booker * George Charles Coppley * Thomas William Jutten * Freeman Ferrier Treleaven * William Burton * John Peebles *

Herbert Earl Wilton Herbert Earl Wilton (October 28, 1869 – February 1, 1937) was a Canadian politician. Born in New Sarum, Ontario, and first employed as a journalist with the ''Hamilton Spectator'' and later the '' Hamilton Herald'', Wilton was served as W ...

* Samuel Lawrence

Others

* George Hamilton (1788–1836,

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

– buried at family plot at Mountainside Park) * James Gage (1774–1854) * Peter Hunter Hamilton * Peter Hess * Richard Butler * James Jolley * Andrew Ross * William W. Cooke SOUTHAM Gordon

Tomb of George Washington Johnson and his third wife Nellie Johnson

Adam Beck Sir Adam Beck (June 20, 1857 – August 15, 1925) was a Canadian politician and hydroelectricity advocate who founded the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario. Biography Beck was born in Baden, Canada West to German immigrants, Ja ...

– founded the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario *

Adelaide Hoodless Adelaide Sophia Hoodless (née Addie Hunter; February 27, 1858 – February 26, 1910) was a Canadian educational reformer who founded the international women's organization known as the Women's Institute. She was the second president of the Hami ...

(1858–1910) – founded the Women's Institute *

William Eli Sanford William Eli Sanford (September 16, 1838 – July 10, 1899) was a Canadians, Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and politician. Born in New York City, he was orphaned before his seventh birthday and then moved to Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilto ...

– Senator * Harcourt Burland Bull – Senator *

Andrew Trew Wood Andrew Trew Wood (26 August 1826 – 21 January 1903) was a Canadian businessman and parliamentarian. Biography Born in Mountnorris, County Armagh, Ireland, the son of David Wood, a merchant, and Frances Bigham Trew, he emigrated to Canada s ...

– Senator * Donald MacInnes – Senator * Adam Hope – Senator *

John Milne John Milne (30 December 1850 – 31 July 1913) was a British geologist and mining engineer who worked on a horizontal seismograph. Biography Milne was born in Liverpool, England, the only child of John Milne of Milnrow, and at first raised ...

– Senator *

Martha Julia Cartmell Martha Julia Cartmell (December 14, 1845 – March 20, 1945) was a Canadian United Methodist Church, Methodist/United Church missionary and educator in Japan. She founded the Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin school in 1884 which now includes Toyo Eiwa Universit ...

– founder of Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin Private Academy for Girls, Japan * Thomas Stinson * Hugh Cossart Baker Sr. – founder of the first life insurance company in Canada, the Canada Life Assurance Company * Hugh Cossart Baker Jr. – telephone pioneer * Sir

– 11th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario *

John Charles Fields John Charles Fields, FRS, FRSC (May 14, 1863 – August 9, 1932) was a Canadian mathematician and the founder of the Fields Medal for outstanding achievement in mathematics. Career Born in Hamilton, Canada West, to a leather shop owner, Fie ...

– mathematician, founder of the

Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of Mathematicians, International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place e ...

Thomas McQuesten Thomas Baker McQuesten (June 30, 1882 – January 13, 1948) was a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1934 to 1943 who represented the riding of Hamilton—Wentworth. He ...

– politician *

Allan Studholme Allan Studholme (8 December 1846 – 28 July 1919) was a Canadian trade unionist and Ontario politician. He served as Labour MLA from 1906 to 1919. Born in England near Birmingham, Studholme worked from his childhood. He moved to Canada in ...

– politician * Arthur Crisp – artist *

Hortense Gordon Hortense Gordon (24 November 1886 – 6 November 1961), born Hortense Crompton Mattice, was a Canadian artist who worked abstractly in later life and became a member of Painters Eleven. Life and early work Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Gordon w ...

– artist * George Washington Johnson – lyricist for the popular folk song

When You and I Were Young, Maggie "When You and I Were Young, Maggie" (or simply known as "Maggie") is a folk song, popular song, and standard written by George W. Johnson and James Austin Butterfield. Origin Although Springtown, Tennessee, has a small monument outside an old m ...

Common stones

A large number of the stones contain masonic symbols, as well as a number of carved tree-stumps. Several family vaults are also found here, including the Sanford Vault, the Tuckett vault, the Thomas C Watkins vault, the Col. Land Family Vault and the Stinson Family Mausoleum. Oddly, there is indication that these crypts are renovations of an existing (ancient) stone building. Even more curious, is that these crypts are half-buried in a mound of earth.

War graves

The cemetery contains the war graves of 139 Commonwealth service personnel, 127 from

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and 12 from

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

.
CWGC Cemetery Report. Breakdown obtained from casualty records.

References

External links

Ontario: Hamilton Cemetery, Wentworth County
– CanadaGenWeb Cemetery Project * {{Clear Cemeteries in Ontario