Bourda Cemetery is an eighteenth-century cemetery situated on Bourda Street in
Georgetown,
Guyana
Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...
. Formerly known as "Bourda's Walk", Bourda cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Georgetown, and the only surviving plantation cemetery in the city. It is considered a national landmark and has been listed as a monument by the
National Trust of Guyana
The National Trust of Guyana is a 1972 Guyana, Guyanese Building Preservation Trust, conservation organisation to protect and conserve monuments of historic and national importance. Their main function is to preserve objects of national interest as ...
.
History
Boarda cemetery was originally constructed as a part of Plantation Vlissengen, which was owned by
Joseph Bourda (d. 1798) – a
Dutch
Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
** Dutch people as an ethnic group ()
** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship ()
** Dutch language ()
* In specific terms, i ...
colonist who was twice governor of
Demerara
Demerara (; , ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state from 1792 unti ...
(then a Dutch colony). When Bourda's son (and principal heir) disappeared at sea, the government of
British Guiana
British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana.
The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...
entered into an agreement with his remaining heirs to take over the plantation, which included the wards of Bourda, New Town, Queenstown, and Robbstown. The agreement – called the Vlissengen Ordinance of 1876 – entrusted the government with custodial duties to maintain Bourda cemetery.
Bourda Cemetery has repeatedly come under threat of demolition or relocation from Mayors and City Councils of Georgetown. In 1960 H. R. Persaud and the Historical Society organised a campaign to save the cemetery after the local government when it first came under threat. In 1992, the local government proposed the relocation of the cemetery in order to make way for a road to run through its present site. Shortly before works were about to start, however, the Guyana Heritage Society obtained a legal injunction preventing the Mayor and the City Council from constructing a road through the cemetery grounds.
Proposals for demolition or re-location have been made by different administrations in 1960, 1982, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2011.
Burials
Many prominent people from the Guyana's colonial era are buried in Bourda cemetery, including William Booker, John Croal (the first mayor of Georgetown), John Patoir and Peter Rose.
See also
*
Botanical Gardens
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...
: also built on Plantation Vlissengen (now separated by several blocks)
References
External links
"Historic Bourda" at the National Trust of Guyana Website* {{Find a Grave cemetery
Historic sites in Guyana
Cemeteries in Guyana
Georgetown, Guyana