Graveyard Rabbits - Scavenger Hunt - Fraser Cemetery - New Westminster BC Canada

View of Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Fraser River beyond. Photograph, M. Diane Rogers, June 2009.

The topic for the July 2010 edition of the Graveyard Rabbits Carnival is:
Scavenger Hunt!

For this Carnival, I chose to visit one of the graveyards nearest my home, Fraser Cemetery in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. This cemetery, operated by the city since the 1930s, was in use from about 1869 and, if you're someone who lives in the Lower Mainland here, you will recognize many of the historic family names represented in its burials. Originally there were separate areas, for instance, the Masonic, Oddfellows, Church of England and Veterans' sections. (The separate St. Peter's Roman Catholic Cemetery is right next door.)

I took off for a few hours there and just had a wander by myself - choosing some examples that appealed to me that day, taking photographs and making notes as I went. Although it wasn't the nicest day weatherwise, this cemetery has an amazing view, and it's nice just to enjoy that and the 'atmosphere'. An angry crow did try to keep me away from its territory, 'dive bombing' me until I moved on, but, as you will see, another cemetery habitué was much more friendly. This is a cemetery where people visit graves regularly, and locals walk their dogs, and even their kids, and where the cemetery is small enough that one can see a lot in any visit.

The following photographs illustrate my finds from the Scavenging List we were given: Cross, Heart, Fraternal symbol, Monument, Flower. Hand, Angel, Bird, Tree, Star, Obelisk, Four-legged animal, Photo, Military gravestone, Mausoleum. As you will see, I have taken some liberties with my identifications.

Crosses - CROWCHER graves, (Reverend Charles, 1917, and Gertrude A., 1933), Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Photograph by M. Diane Rogers, June 2010.

Heart - probably for Clara FINDLAY (1919), but this heart marker is very worn. There is at least one similar heart marker from the 1920s, as well as several quite recent ones. The other marker shown here for Richard WOOD (1992). Others buried here are Scott MEREDITH (2000) and Dorothy WOOD (2006). Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Photograph by M. Diane Rogers, June 2010.

Fraternal - Knights of Pythias - symbol 'FCB' for Friendship, Charity and Benevolence - SANDERS marker (1961), Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, Canada. Photograph, M. Diane Rogers, June 2010.

Monument - This is a very large stone - as tall as I am. Beth Wood was the first woman elected to New Westminster City Council (1949) and the city's first woman Mayor. Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Photograph by M. Diane Rogers, June 2010.


Flower - Malvina NORMAN's grave (1931), Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Photograph by M. Diane Rogers, June 2010.


Hands - Elsabe RISKE marker (1902, with husband L.W. on other side). Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Photograph by M. Diane Rogers, June 2010.

Angel - a beautiful marble monument for Ella Jane KIRKLAND LYSTER (1875). Married in 1874, she had lived with her husband in Oregon, but suffered from consumption and returned to New Westminster to die. Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Photograph by M. Diane Rogers, June 2010.

Bird - A guardian crow, Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Photograph by M. Diane Rogers, June 2010.






Tree - I love this twig lettering on the zinc ARMSTRONG monument (1882, 1884), Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Photographs, M. Diane Rogers, June 2010.

Star - BURR family marker, including Raymond William Stacey Burr (1999), star of Perry Mason and Ironside. Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Photograph by M. Diane Rogers, June 2010.

Obelisk - Memorial to Ebenezer BROWN (died 1883, New Westminster), by his daughter. Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Photograph by M. Diane Rogers, June 2010.

Four legged animal - a black cat - very friendly - and obviously very comfortable visiting in the neighbourhood. Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Photograph by M. Diane Rogers, June 2010.


Photo 1 - DE LOS REYES grave, (2007). A free standing easel has a photograph on the front, with a photo and commemorative text on the back. Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Photograph by M. Diane Rogers, June 2010.

Photo 2 - John T. STEIGERVALD grave (1997), Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Photograph by M. Diane Rogers, June 2010.

Military - HOSKIN marker, Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Photograph by M. Diane Rogers, June 2010. There are a number of other HOSKIN military markers. Some may be related.





Lastly - Fraser Cemetery has no mausoleums, but does have this very modern new ossuarium (an in ground common 'vault' or receptacle for cremains), along with a new columbarium and wall space for memorial plaques. New Westminster, BC, Canada. Photograph by M. Diane Rogers, June 2010.


This post was written for the Graveyard Rabbits' Scavenger Hunt Blog Carnival.
Thanks to Julie Cahill Tarr, of Chicagoland Cemeteries, who came up with the idea for this Carnival for the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.

My Epitaph - Graveyard Rabbits Carnival - November 2009

In former times, it was the custom to write for fanciful conceits on the tombs of the dead. Acrostics, anagrams, rebuses and puzzles were frequently met with, and no doubt the mourning relative thought that they thus paid a high mark of respect to the memory of the deceased; but to what good end? Surely here in God's Acre, if anywhere on earth, true reverence and simplicity should be found. No skilful conceit of man can ever take the place of the Word of God, even though it be as pointed and direct as that quaint epitaph written in the form of an acknowledgement from the Great Mother

who will one day clasp us all to her bosom:

"Received of Philip Harding his borrowed earth, July 4, 1673.

from "English Epitaphs", by W. Everard Edmonds.¹ Victoria Daily Colonist, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Sunday, 2 June 1907, page 24. (Read the full article at the British Colonist website.)


The challenge for the November 2009 Edition of the Graveyard Rabbits' Carnival was to write my own epitaph.

'Plan Your Epitaph Day', an international observance for November 2nd each year, coincides with All Saint’s Day, often known as the Day of the Dead, and was created by Lance Hardie, "committed epitaph crusader and consultant".

This challenge wasn't hard as when I first published this blog, I included as a side piece a depiction of the epitaph that I hope is appropriate for myself - Most Days She Did Her Best.

Now it's true that, on the back, I'd like to see my dates and place of birth written and, if I could, a family tree showing at least my parents, grands and greats too.

But I'm set now on being buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver, BC, where my parents, my uncle, and my paternal grandparents and my paternal grandmother's parents are buried, as well as a good assortment of other family. I doubt there will be room for a big stone just for me!

1. The Harding epitaph, I believe, was from Crudwell, Wiltshire, England. See Antiente epitaphes (from A.D. 1250 to A.D. 1800) collected [and] sett forth in chronologicall order by Thomas FitzArthur Ravenshaw (London: Joseph Masters & Co.. 1878), page 127. Read this at the Internet Archive.

Reverend W. Everard Edmonds, born in Ontario, Canada, wrote several books and articles about Canadian history. After World War I, Edmonds, a high school teacher and an Anglican minister, was Editor of the Alberta Historical Review, the journal of the Historical Society of Alberta. "The Historical Society - early years 1907-1952" by Hugh A. Dempsey (Alberta History, Autumn 2007 - read on-line.)