Ross Bay Cemetery
Encyclopedia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, on Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
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History
The cemetery was opened in 1873. The 27.5 acre (111,000 m²) cemetery is part of a public park and its south side faces Ross Bay on the Pacific OceanPacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. In 1911, a sea wall had to be constructed because of the severe erosion that occurred as a result of the relentless pounding of the ocean's waves. During the 1930s, the City began planting a large number of trees and today the cemetery is quite different from the original that was mainly barren ground.
The Victorian-style Ross Bay Cemetery, contains numerous elaborate mausoleums and tall pillars from the early elite. Because the city of Victoria is the capital of the province of British Columbia, until the second quarter of the 20th century when improved ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
service and air travel made mobility to and from the island much easier, most senior politicians made Victoria their permanent home. As such, Ross Bay Cemetery is the burial site for many of the province's premiers.
Although the Ross Bay Cemetery had long been considered full, the City of Victoria discovered approximately 270 unused plots in the cemetery in the late 1990s. Through a lottery process the City of Victoria sold seven of these plots in April 2004,
and an additional 65 plots in February 2007.
The money raised through the plot sales was used to fund refurbishment work at the Ross Bay Cemetery.
Notable interments
Some of the notable personalities among the more than 27,000 interred here are:- Billy Barker (1819-1894), frontiersman, prospector
- Sir Frank Stillman Barnard (1856-1936), statesman
- Robert BeavenRobert BeavenRobert Beaven , son of James Beaven, was a British Columbia politician and businessman. Beaven moved to British Columbia from Toronto, where he had been educated at Upper Canada College, because of the gold rush. He entered business in Victoria, which was then the capital of the Colony of Vancouver...
(1836-1920), statesman, Premier of British Columbia - Sir Matthew BegbieMatthew Baillie BegbieSir Matthew Baillie Begbie was born on the island of Mauritius, thereafter raised and educated in the United Kingdom...
(1819-1894), First Chief Justice of British Columbia - Harlan Carey BrewsterHarlan Carey BrewsterHarlan Carey Brewster was a politician in British Columbia, Canada. Brewster arrived in British Columbia in 1893, and had various careers working on a ship and then in a cannery. He eventually became owner of his own canning company...
(1870-1918), statesman, Premier of British Columbia - Emily CarrEmily CarrEmily Carr was a Canadian artist and writer heavily inspired by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the first painters in Canada to adopt a post-impressionist painting style, Carr did not receive widespread recognition for her work until later in her life...
(1871-1945), painter - Nellie CashmanNellie CashmanEllen Cashman , better known as Nellie Cashman, was a native of County Cork, Ireland, who became famous across the American and Canadian west as a nurse and gold prospector.-Early years:...
(1845-1925), nurse and gold prospector - Sir Henry Pering Pellew CreaseHenry Pering Pellew CreaseSir Henry Pering Pellew Crease was a British lawyer, judge, and politician, influential in the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia...
(1823-1905) First BC Barrister and early Supreme Court Justice - Sarah Lindley Crease (1826-1922), artist
- Alexander Edmund Batson DavieAlexander Edmund Batson DavieAlexander Edmund Batson Davie, QC who is usually referred to as A. E. B. Davie, was a British Columbia politician and lawyer, and was premier of British Columbia from 1887 until his death.Called to the bar in 1873 he was the first person to receive his entire law education in British...
(1847-1889), statesman, Premier of British Columbia - Theodore DavieTheodore DavieTheodore Davie was a British Columbia lawyer, politician and jurist. He practiced law in Cassiar and Nanaimo before settling in Victoria and becoming a leading criminal lawyer. He was the brother of Alexander Edmund Batson Davie. Theodore Davie was first elected to the provincial legislature in...
(1852-1898), jurist, statesman, Premier of British Columbia - Edgar DewdneyEdgar DewdneyEdgar Dewdney, PC was a Canadian politician born in Devonshire, England. He served as Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories and the fifth Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.-Early life and career:...
Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, 1892-1897. - Amor De CosmosAmor De CosmosAmor De Cosmos was a Canadian journalist, publisher and politician. He served as the second Premier of British Columbia.-Early life:...
(1825-1897), statesman, Premier of British Columbia - Sir James DouglasJames Douglas (Governor)Sir James Douglas KCB was a company fur-trader and a British colonial governor on Vancouver Island in northwestern North America, particularly in what is now British Columbia. Douglas worked for the North West Company, and later for the Hudson's Bay Company becoming a high-ranking company officer...
(1803-1877), Hudson's Bay Co. executive, 1st Governor of British Columbia and 2nd Governor of Vancouver Island - James DunsmuirJames DunsmuirJames Dunsmuir was a British Columbian industrialist and politician. Son of Robert Dunsmuir, he was heir to his family's coal fortune. The Dunsmuir family dominated the province's economy in the late nineteenth century and were a leading force in opposing organized labour...
(1851-1920), businessman, statesman, Premier of British Columbia - Andrew Charles ElliottAndrew Charles ElliottAndrew Charles Elliott was a British Columbian politician and jurist. Elliott's varied career in British Columbia included Gold Commissioner, stipendiary magistrate and, following the union of the Island and Mainland Colonies in 1866 was appoint High Sheriff of the province, resigning his...
(1828-1889), statesman, Premier of British Columbia - Roderick FinlaysonRoderick FinlaysonRoderick Finlayson was a Canadian Hudson's Bay Company officer, farmer, businessman, and politician.Born in Loch Alsh , Scotland, Finlayson came to North America in 1837...
(1818-1892), considered the "Father of Victoria." - John Hamilton Gray (1814-1889), pre-Confederation Premier of PEIPrince Edward IslandPrince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
, a Father of Confederation and a BC Supreme Court Justice.Supreme Court of British ColumbiaThe Supreme Court of British Columbia is the superior trial court for the province of British Columbia. The BCSC hears civil and criminal law cases as well as appeals from the Provincial Court of British Columbia. Including supernumerary judges, there are presently 108 judges... - Byron Ingemar JohnsonByron Ingemar JohnsonByron Ingemar "Boss" Johnson , born Björn Ingimar "Bjössi" Jónsson,to family of Icelandic Immigrants,he served as the 24th Premier of the province of British Columbia, Canada, from 1947 to 1952...
(1890-1964), statesman, Premier of British Columbia - Sir Richard McBrideRichard McBrideSir Richard McBride, KCMG was a British Columbian politician and is often considered the founder of the British Columbia Conservative Party. McBride was first elected to the provincial legislature in the 1898 election, and served in the cabinet of James Dunsmuir from 1900 to 1901...
(1870-1917), statesman, Premier of British Columbia - William Henry McNeillWilliam Henry McNeillWilliam Henry McNeill was best known for his 1830 expedition as the captain of the brig Llama, which sailed from Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 12,000 miles around Cape Horn, to the Pacific Northwest on a fur trading expedition.Boston merchants owned the brig whose cargo consisted of...
, Master of the SS BeaverBeaver (steamship)Beaver was the first steamship to operate in the Pacific Northwest of North America. She made remote parts of the west coast of Canada accessible for maritime fur trading and was chartered by the Royal Navy for surveying the coastline of British Columbia....
from which, in 1843, while at McNeill BayMcNeill Bay (British Columbia)McNeill Bay lies within the boundaries of Oak Bay, British Columbia along the coast of Vancouver Island. It was named after Captain William Henry McNeill, master of the Hudson's Bay Company steamer SS Beaver, and one of the five original landowners of Oak Bay.On 14 March 1843 the SS Beaver...
, Governor DouglasJames Douglas (Governor)Sir James Douglas KCB was a company fur-trader and a British colonial governor on Vancouver Island in northwestern North America, particularly in what is now British Columbia. Douglas worked for the North West Company, and later for the Hudson's Bay Company becoming a high-ranking company officer...
located Fort VictoriaFort Victoria (British Columbia)Fort Victoria was a fur trading post of the Hudson’s Bay Company, the headquarters of HBC operations in British Columbia. The fort was the beginnings of a settlement that eventually grew into the modern Victoria, British Columbia, the capital city of British Columbia.The headquarters of HBC...
. Port McNeillPort McNeill, British ColumbiaPort McNeill is a town in the North Island region of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada with a population of 2,623 . Located on Vancouver Island's north-east shore on Queen Charlotte Strait, it was originally a base camp for loggers, Port McNeill became a settlement in 1936...
is named for him. - Joseph Despard PembertonJoseph Despard PembertonJoseph Despard Pemberton was a surveyor for the Hudson's Bay Company, Surveyor General for the Colony of Vancouver Island, a pre-Confederation politician, a businessman and a farmer. He was born in 1821 in Dublin, Ireland and died in 1893 in Oak Bay, British Columbia...
(1821-1893), Surveyor-General of Vancouver Island - Sophie PembertonSophie PembertonSophie Pemberton was a Canadian painter.Born in Victoria, British Columbia, she was the daughter of Teresa Jane Grautoff and Joseph Despard Pemberton...
(1869-1959), painter - Edward Gawler PriorEdward Gawler PriorEdward Gawler Prior, PC was a mining engineer and politician in British Columbia. Prior worked as a mining engineer in England until 1873 when he moved to the province where he settled in Nanaimo and took employment as assistant manager of the Vancouver Coal Mining & Land Co., Ltd...
(1853-1920), statesman, Premier of British Columbia - John RobsonJohn RobsonJohn Robson was a Canadian journalist and politician, who served as the ninth Premier of the Province of British Columbia.-Journalist and activist:...
(1824-1892), statesman, Premier of British Columbia - George Anthony WalkemGeorge Anthony WalkemGeorge Anthony "Boomer" Walkem was a British Columbian politician and jurist.Born in Newry, Ireland, Walkem moved to then Colony of British Columbia in 1862 and served as a member of the appointed Legislative Council of British Columbia from 1864 to 1870 and was a supporter of Canadian confederation...
(1834-1908) statesman, Premier of British Columbia
Blasphemy
Ross Bay Cemetery has been the subject of desecration and photo shoots for the infamous black metal band "Blasphemy". During a photoshoot for their "Fallen Angel of Doom" record, they caught police attention when setting fire to one of the old grave stones, charges were later dropped. The band admits to performing various Satanic Rituals at the cemetery, but denies allegations of desecration because of course it may be incriminating.Cultural References
Ross Bay Cemetery was also the alleged site of satanic rituals as described in Michelle RemembersMichelle Remembers
Michelle Remembers is a book published in 1980 co-written by Canadian psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder and his psychiatric patient Michelle Smith. A best-seller, Michelle Remembers was the first book written on the subject of satanic ritual abuse and is an important part of the controversies beginning...
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