The Church of England cemetery on upper King Street was established in 1794 as “a public burying place” on land obtained for one farthing (one quarter of a penny) from Jeremiah Pote. In 1821 an adjoining lot was obtained from Colonel Thomas Wyer. These gentlemen were prominent among the town’s Loyalist founders.
The cemetery served all the residents until other churches set up their own burial grounds, beginning with the Presbyterians in 1824. The cemetery is the last resting place of many of the town’s Loyalist settlers, soldiers from the local garrison, later arrivals, assorted family members and strangers. It was closed in 1867 when provincial authorities prohibited burials within municipal limits.
The iron and stone fence and gate were erected in 1905 with a bequest for that purpose of £1,000 from Owen Jones, a local lad who achieved success in England. As the cemetery contained his parents’ graves he acted to set it off in a more permanent way from the many wooden fences which had come and gone over the years. It was called “Roary’s fence” in reference to his boyhood nickname.
In 1903 the gravestone inscriptions were printed in the historical journal Acadiensis, a quarterly concerning the Maritime Provinces. In 1977-78 the cemetery was refurbished, the gravestones mapped, photographed, and inscriptions transcribed anew.
The cemetery is under the care of the Anglican Parish of St. Andrews and can be visited by arrangement with the Parish Office next to All Saints Church on King Street.
From All Saints Church