Hamilton Cemetery on York Boulevard in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

, 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. 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 who ...

(1808 – 1856) *

John Rose Holden John Rose Holden (sometimes called Rose-Holden) (27 September 1821 – 25 February 1879) was a Canadian politician and lawyer. He was mayor of Hamilton, Canada West in 1851. Born in Daventry, Northamptonshire, England, John Rose Holden was t ...

(1821 – 1879) * James Cummings (1815 - 1894) *

Charles Magill Charles Magill (March 1, 1816 – December 1, 1898) was a member of the 1st Canadian Parliament and mayor of Hamilton in 1854–55, 1865–66 and 1882–3. He was born in Westport, County Mayo, Ireland, the son of Robert Magill and Catheri ...

* John Francis Moore (1816 - 1870) *

George Hamilton Mills George Hamilton Mills (November 20, 1827 – August 16, 1901) was Mayor of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1858. Mills was lawyer and was called to the bar in 1851. He was elected as alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, muni ...

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 twice; in 1867 and from 1873 to 1874. In addition to his activities as a politician, Charlton was also a teach ...

(1835 - 1901) *

Hutchison Clark Hutchison Clark (August 29, 1806 – February 17, 1877) was mayor of Hamilton, Ontario, in 1868. References Hutchison Clarkat Hamilton Public Library The Hamilton Public Library (HPL) is the public library system of Hamilton, Ontario. Services ...

(1806 – 1877) *

James Edwin O'Reilly James Edwin O'Reilly was mayor of Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, ...

(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 Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolit ...

George Roach George Roach was a Canadian politician and the mayor of Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Gri ...

Francis Edwin Kilvert Francis Edwin Kilvert (December 17, 1838 – August 21, 1910) was a lawyer and mayor of Hamilton, Ontario from 1877 to 1878. Born in Hamilton Township, Northumberland County, Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link= ...

John James Mason John James Mason (4 February 1842 – 15 June 1903) was mayor of Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, ...

* Alexander McKay *

William Doran William Doran (November 13, 1834 – November 12, 1903) was mayor of Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353 ...

* 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, Ontario and was educated at Upper Canada College. He became a railway ...

Wellington Jeffers Morden Wellington Jeffers Morden (September 28, 1837 – December 26, 1928) was mayor of Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, whi ...

Sanford Dennis Biggar Sanford Dennis Biggar (November 5,1861–March 5, 1920) was mayor of Hamilton, Ontario from 1905 to 1906. Early life Biggar was born on November 5, 1861, in Saltfleet Township Saltfleet Township is a geographic township in Hamilton, Ontario ...

Thomas Joseph Stewart Thomas Joseph Stewart (July 26, 1848 – November 9, 1926) was a Canadian politician. He was mayor of Hamilton, Ontario from 1907 to 1908. He was a Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that s ...

George Harmon Lees The mayor of Hamilton is head of Hamilton City Council (Ontario), Hamilton City Council. The current mayor is Andrea Horwath. The following is a list of mayors of Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton: *Colin Campbell Ferrie - 1847 *George Sylvester Ti ...

* John Allan *

Charles Goodenough Booker Charles Goodenough Booker (April 24, 1859 – April 3, 1926) was the mayor of Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which include ...

George Charles Coppley George Charles Coppley (March 18, 1858 – October 15, 1936) was the mayor of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada from 1921 to 1922. Born in Chelmsford, Essex, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders w ...

* Thomas William Jutten * Freeman Ferrier Treleaven * William Burton *

John Peebles John Peebles (1872 – January 5, 1948) was a Canadian politician. Born in Albion Corners, Ontario, Peebles moved to Hamilton as a small child, and eventually established a jewellery business. He was elected as an alderman covering the city at ...

* Herbert Earl Wilton * Samuel Lawrence

Others

* George Hamilton (1788–1836, stone only - buried at family plot at Mountainside Park) *

James Gage ] ] James Gage (25 June 1774 – 15 February 1854) was born in North Greenbush, New York, Greenbush, New York. His father, also James Gage, served as a private in the New York militia during the Revolutionary War, and was killed fighting the Brit ...

(1774 – 1854) * Peter Hunter Hamilton * Peter Hess * Richard Butler * James Jolley * Andrew Ross *

William W. Cooke William Winer Cooke (May 29, 1846 – June 25, 1876) was a military officer in the United States Army during the American Civil War and the Black Hills War. He was the adjutant for George Armstrong Custer and was killed during the Battle of the ...

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, Upper Canada (now Ontario) to German i ...

- founded the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario *

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

- Senator * Harcourt Burland Bull - Senator *

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

- 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 in ...

- Senator * Martha Julia Cartmell - 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, Ontario, to a leather shop owner, Fields ...

- 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 the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place every four years. The name of the award ho ...

Thomas McQuesten Thomas Baker McQuesten (June 30, 1882 – January 13, 1948) was a 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 served as a ...

- 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 Mattice 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, ...

- artist * George Washington Johnson - Lyricist for the popular folk song

When You and I Were Young, Maggie "When You and I Were Young, 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 mill claiming the song was writt ...

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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and 12 from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

.
CWGC Cemetery Report. Breakdown obtained from casualty records.

References

External links

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