Royal Navy Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Royal Navy Burying Ground
Royal Navy Burying Ground, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Details
Established	1781
Location	Halifax, Nova Scotia
Country	Canada
Coordinates	44°39′41″N 63°35′30″W / 44.661331°N 63.591574°W / 44.661331; -63.591574
Type	Closed
Owned by	Naval Museum of Halifax
No. of graves	400+
Website	Official website
Find a Grave	Royal Navy Burying Ground

The Royal Navy Burying Ground is part of the Naval Museum of Halifax and was the Naval Hospital cemetery for the North America and West Indies Station at Halifax, Nova Scotia. It is the oldest military burial ground in Canada. The cemetery has grave markers to those who died while serving at Halifax and were treated at the Naval medical facility or died at sea. Often shipmates and officers had the grave markers erected to mark the deaths of the crew members who died while in the port of Halifax.

The number of burials is estimated at over 400, however, there are only 89 stone markers remaining.^[1] There was a register of deaths established in 1860 for the burial ground. As well, surgeons of a ship registered the deaths of crew members, including how the person died and where they were buried. These reports were entered in the official register, with a detailed account sent quarterly to the Medical Director-General, Admiralty, England.^{[fn 1]} There is no local record of who is buried. The four most common causes of death in order are: disease, falling from the topmast, drowning, and death as a result of naval battles.

Along with two monuments that commemorate casualties of the War of 1812,^[3] the most prominent markers are for the crew that died on the flagships of the North American and West Indies Station: HMS Winchester (1841), HMS Wellesley (1850), HMS Cumberland (1852), HMS Indus (1859), HMS Nile (1861), HMS Duncan (1866), and HMS Royal Alfred (1869). There were many buried during the wars of the 18th century (American Revolution, French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars) that do not have grave markers.

The following is a list of the flagships and their commanders who commemorated their lost crew members through erecting a monument in the Burying Ground. Some monuments reflect those killed in a single event and other monuments include all those who were killed while the flagship was stationed on the North America and West Indies Station at Halifax. After the names of the ship there is a date that is the year the last person listed on the monument died.

• 
  HMS Vernon (1833)
• 
  Cockburn's flagship HMS Vernon
• 
  Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet,; served at Halifax (1832–1836)

• 
  Sir Peter Halkett
• 
  HMS Melville (1837)

• 
  HMS Vindictive – four died (1846)^{[fn 2]}
• 
  HMS Vindictive
• 
  Francis Austen, brother of Jane Austen; served in Halifax (1844–1848)^[4]
• 
  Captain Charles Austen, commanded flagship HMS Winchester in Halifax (1828–1830) (Jane Austen's brother)^[5]

There is a monument to eleven crew that died over a two-year period on HMS Wellesley at Halifax (1848–1850). The ship was commanded by Captain George Goldsmith and was the flagship of Vice-Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, North America and West Indies Station.^[6]

• 
  HMS Wellesley – eleven died (1850)
• 
  Thomas Cochrane
• 
  HMS Wellesley
• 
  "Captain George Goldsmith RN, H.M. Ship Wellesley, Halifax", July 1850

There is also a monument to six crew who died on the flagship HMS Cumberland from 1851 to 1852. The commander was Captain George Henry Seymour, and his father was the Vice Admiral Sir George Francis Seymour. ^[7]

• 
  HMS Cumberland – six died (1852)
• 
  Sir George Francis Seymour
• 
  HMS Cumberland, c. 1852

The crew and officers of HMS Indus created a gravestone for one of their fellow crew members who died in 1859. The vessel was the flagship of Sir Houston Stewart, Vice-Admiral of the Blue. The commander was Captain William King-Hall.

• 
  Sir Houston Stewart
• 
  One died – HMS Indus and Squadron leaving Halifax Harbour, 1858
• 
  Captain William King-Hall and crew, HMS Indus, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1860

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alexander Milne (Commander-in-Chief, North American Station at Halifax, 1860–64) erected a monument to his son and 14 other crew members who died over a period of 18 months on his flagship HMS Nile (1861).^{[fn 3]} The Admiral's son was one of six who died in one week. Two more died within the month. (Note: There is another stone that commemorates a single crew member. No date.)

• 
  HMS Nile Monument – 16 died (1861)
• 
  Admiral Milne – buried his son
• 
  HMS Nile^[9]

The shipmates/messmates of HMS Duncan erected four stones for five crew (8 September 1864, 1865, 1865, 1866). 6 January 1864: Commanded by Captain Robert Gibson, flagship of Vice-Admiral James Hope, North America and West Indies.^[10][11] Whilst serving on the North America and West Indies Station, Captain John Bythesea VC was carried on the books of Duncan as second captain from 1 April 1866 to Spring 1867, for special service as Naval Attaché in Washington.^[12]

• 
  HMS Duncan – five died (1866)
• 
  Sir James Hope
• 
  HMS Duncan, Halifax, Nova Scotia, c. 1865

In 1869, a monument to the four crew that died aboard flagship HMS Royal Alfred was created by Admiral of the Fleet Rodney Mundy (Commander-in-Chief, North American Station).^{[fn 4]} The crew of HMS Royal Alfred have the most markers in the burying ground. There are seven gravestones for ten people. The last grave marker was for the infant daughter of the surgeon on board ship.^[13] The Royal Alfred was the flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir George Rodney Mundy, 1867–1869.^[14]

• 
  HMS Royal Albert – ten died (1869)
• 
  Sir Rodney Mundy
• 
  HMS Royal Alfred, Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia, ca. 1870

There are only two stones that mark the graves of officers. The identity of the admiral has never been confirmed.

• Admiral Domes (Barnes? Tomes?) drowned while posted on the flagship HMS Renown (–1898).^{[fn 5]}
• Captain George Oliver Evans, (–1868) Capt., Royal Marines Light Infantry, 6 June 1868, 36 years. Captain Evans fought in both the Crimean War (Balaclava, Sevastopol, Kinburn), as well as the Second Opium War (Canton).^[16][17] He served as the aide-de-camp to Sir Thomas Holloway (1858–60).^[18]

• 
  HMS Renown, Halifax, Nova Scotia (1898)
• 
  Captain George Oliver Evans (1868)

Listed below are the ships that were not flagships and whose crews commemorated the loss of a single sailor with a gravestone:

• HMS Vernon (1808); HMS Mersey (1820); HMS Alligator (1827); HMS Columbus (1837); HBM Sloop Pilot (1841); HMS Sydenham (1843); HMS Scourge (1848); HMS Edgar (1862); HMS Medea (1865); HMS Doris (1868); HMS Constance (1868); HMS Valorous; HMS Racoon (1874).

• 
  HMS Galatea, 1865 (left of center)^{[fn 6]}
• 
  HMS Galatea, Halifax, Nova Scotia, c.1868.
• 
  HMS Crescent, Halifax, Nova Scotia (1885)
• 
  HMS Tourmaline (1888)
• 
  HMS Winchester (1841)^[20]

The following four ships were not flagships and had multiple deaths while at the Halifax station, which the crews commemorated by a single monument.

• Six died – HMS Orion, 1857 – Halifax, July 27–August 5, 1857, Captain John Elphinstone Erskine

• 
  HMS Sphinx – five died (1874)^{[fn 7][21][22][23]}
• 
  HMS Canada – three died (1887)
• 
  HMS Canada, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1889^[24][25]

There are also grave stones for women (9) and children (18). Many of the children were infants. The most prominent of these grave markers was erected by Charles Stubbing who was the Admiralty Clerk between 1867 and 1893.^{[26] [27]} He created a grave stone that lists his first and second wife and five of his children. He lost two of his children and his second wife in the same year (1882). He created another gravestone for the loss of his third wife.

During the War of 1812, 220 British naval sailors died in the Naval Hospital at Halifax.^[28] The most famous of these were those that died as a result of the battle between USS Chesapeake and HMS Shannon. The marker for the Shannon was created in 1868, while the marker for the Chesapeake was created in 1966.

Admiral of the Fleet Rodney Mundy (Commander-in-Chief, North American Station) refurbished the original monument that was created for the seven who died in the Naval Hospital who served on HMS Shannon (1868).^[29]

Shannon's midshipmen during the action were Messrs. Smith, Leake, Clavering, Raymond, Littlejohn and Samwell. Samwell was the only other officer to be wounded in the action. Mr Etough was the acting master, and conned the ship into the action. Shortly after the frigate had been secured, Broke fainted from loss of blood and was rowed back to Shannon to be attended to by the ship's surgeon. After the victory, a prize crew was put aboard Chesapeake and Shannon escorted her and her crew into Halifax, arriving there on 6 June. Lieutenant Bartholomew Kent, of Nova Scotia brought the first news of the British victory back to London.

At Halifax Chesapeake's crew was imprisoned. Chesapeake herself was repaired and taken into service by the Royal Navy before she was sold at Portsmouth, England in 1820 and broken up.

• 
  HMS Shannon – 7 died (1813)
• 
  HMS Shannon leading USS Chesapeake into Halifax Harbour in June 1813, by John C. Schetky

There was a monument erected to the twelve crewmen of USS Chesapeake who died in the Halifax Naval Hospital (1966).

Captain Philip Broke boarded Chesapeake at the head of a party of 20 men. They met little resistance from Chesapeake's crew, most of whom had run below deck. The only resistance from Chesapeake came from her contingent of marines. The British soon overwhelmed them; only nine escaped injury out of 44.^[30] Broke was severely injured in the fighting on the forecastle, being struck in the head with a sword. Soon after, Shannon's crew pulled down Chesapeake's flag. Only 15 minutes had elapsed from the first exchange of gunfire to the capture.^[31][32]

Reports on the number of killed and wounded aboard Chesapeake during the battle vary widely. Broke's after-action report from 6 July states 70 killed and 100 wounded.^[33] Contemporary sources place the number between 48 and 61 killed and 85–99 wounded.^[34][35] Discrepancies in the number of killed and wounded are possibly caused by the addition of sailors who died of their wounds in the ensuing days after the battle.^[36] The counts for Shannon have fewer discrepancies with 23 killed; 56 wounded.^[37] Despite his serious injuries, Broke ordered repairs to both ships and they proceeded on to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Captain James Lawrence died en route and was buried in Halifax with military honors. The British imprisoned his crew. Broke survived his wounds and was later made a baronet.^[38][39]

• 
  USS Chesapeake – 12 died (1813)
• 
  HMS Shannon capturing USS Chesapeake off Boston, 1 June 1813, by W. Elmes
• 
  Memorials to USS Chesapeake and HMS Shannon

• Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
• Garrison Cemetery (Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia)
• Military history of Nova Scotia
• Fort Moncton – oldest British military gravestones in Canada

Citations

Bibliography

• Royal Navy Burying Ground: List of known interred, Maritime Naval Museum pamphlet.
• "William Batchell. Old Royal Navy Burial Ground Halifax. 6 Feb. 2016". Nova Scotia History. 6 February 2016.
• Beach, Edward L. (1986). The United States Navy: 200 Years. New York: H. Holt. ISBN 978-0030447112.
• Cooper, James Fenimore (1856) [1839]. History of the Navy of the United States of America. New York: Stringer & Townsend.
• Maclay, Edgar Stanton; Smith, Roy Campbell (1910) [1893]. A History of the United States Navy, from 1775 to 1901. Vol. 1 (New and Enlarged ed.). New York: D. Appleton & Co.
• Roosevelt, Theodore (1882). The Naval War of 1812. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
• Stubbing, Charles H. (1908). "Dockyard Memoranda, 1894". Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society. XIII. Halifax, Nova Scotia: McAlpine Publishing Co.
• Toll, Ian W. (2006). Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the US Navy. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0393058476.