Ross Bay Cemetery - Long-lived Victorians

It's easy to get a little melancholy when wandering around a graveyard, especially when one sees the grave markers of young children. In an old cemetery like Ross Bay there are many such graves, testament to how fragile life was for the young a century ago. Diseases we no longer worry about such as diptheria and scarlet fever routinely killed children before vaccination became widespread. But some balance is provided by the large number of graves belonging to people who lived long full lives. Ross Bay Cemetery currently holds about 28,000 graves so it is not surprising that there are a few centenarians. Above are two I noticed, Natalia Buchan who died at 100 years of age, and Elizabeth Whitby, who lived to be 105 years old.

Ross Bay Cemetery - Statuary

Most of the graves are marked with simple stone memorial markers with the name, dates of birth and death and perhaps a phrase or quotation or a bit of biographical information. Some grave markers are quite ornate with symbols of employment such as anchors for seamen or organizational symbols such as Masonic symbols. Other graves are marked by statuary such as above or other stone carvings in relief such as below. While I suspect much of the sculpture is generic it ages well and makes me wish we had more sculpture scattered around other parts of the city.

Ross Bay Cemetery - Religions

Originally the inhabitants of the graveyard were buried in different sections according to their religious affiliations - Anglican, Presbyterian, or Methodist, etc. There was also a section for non-Christian burials where "heathens" were interred. Above and below are two of the memorials in the Catholic section. The statue above overlooks a number of graves of the Sisters of St. Clare, an order of nuns.

Ross Bay Cemetery - Sir James Douglas

I mentioned on Saturday that the Ross Bay Cemetery holds many Victoria citizens who were prominent in the early days of the city. Probably none is more significant than Sir James Douglas, who founded the city and governed the colony during its early days. He was a Hudson's Bay Company factor as was Alexander Ross, who gave his name to the bay and the cemetery that faces it. A number of the older graves such as Sir James' are surrounded by wrought iron fences. This ironwork is often quite ornate.

Somewhere Saturday - Cappon, Alberta

Last summer my brother and I traveled across the Canadian Rockies for a family reunion in Alberta. During that trip we visited this lonesome graveyard. Most of the graves you can see are those of members of our extended family dating back a hundred and fifty years or more. This landscape is so vast that for those of us who live amongst mountains it is a bit daunting, though it has an austere beauty. I take this opportunity to wish you all the happiest of New Years.