Malvern Cemetery

Exceprt From Lennoxville Volume 2
Compiled by Graham Patriquin and Committee
Lennoxville-Ascot Historical and Museum Society – 1981 – page 96-97

Cemeteries
DR. J.D. JEFFERIES

The decent disposal of the bodies of the dead, preferably under the aegis of the church, has always been a concern of Christians. Naturally enough, then, with the erection of the first church in Lennoxville, the Anglican St. James, in 1822, a cemetery was opened nearby within a piece of land lying between the present Maple and Glendale streets, an area of 242 feet by 95 feet, with a driveway from the present Queen street. Though owned by the Anglican church, it was for the use of all Christians. The first recorded burial, in 1823, was that of Olive Terrill, wife of Aaron Mallory. In the next generation, the Anglicans erected a new church, St. George’s, in 1845, and the Methodists built a permanent house of worship in 1847. The growth of the community and its extension in a northerly direction led to an interest i~ acquiring a larger area for a burial ground, and on 3 November 1869 a public meeting was held in the Town Hall. Under the chairmanship of Mr. A. Stevens and with Mr. J.B. Paddon acting as Secretary, it was decided to buy an area of some eight acres on Moulton Hill. In the minutes of the meeting held on 31 March 1870, this is referred to as “Malvern Cemetery.” It is no longer known why this name was chosen; no doubt it recalls the town of Malvern in Worcestershire, England. A section for Catholics, named for
St. Antoine, the patron saint of their parish, lies immediately to the west of Malvern, with an entry of its own from St. Francis street. Formerly the two burial grounds were separated by iron chains, which have been removed in a more ecumenical age.

In 1871, the shareholders were incorporated, in accordance with the Cemeteries Incorporation Act of 1870, as the Malvern Cemetery Company, and the deed of sale for the land was confirmed by order-in-council. After the consecration of the cemetery by the Bishop of Quebec, Rt. Rev. J.W. Williams, some grave-markers and remains were transferred from the old St. James cemetery, which gradually was overgrown by brush and trees till finally in 1965 the land was sold in lots to adjoining landowners in what had now become a residential development. It was probably in 1892 that a wooden fence was erected to delimit Malvern Cemetery from Moulton Hill Road, formerly known as “the road to Dudswell.” This in time was replaced by a wire fence. The need for such barriers is suggested by a motion passed by the Cemetery Company in 1899 that signs should be posted forbidding persons to tie their horses to the trees in the cemetery. The price of cemetery lots, which remained at $20 until 1885, has had to be raised a number of times. The upkeep of the cemetery is financed by income from endowments, supplemented by individual private donations, many of them annual contributions. The names of more than a thousand lot-holders stand in the books of the Company. The grave markers have been recorded and are on file at the Lennoxville-Ascot Museum. From the Registry Office, Sherbrooke, the following: On November 13, 1879, Albert G. Woodward transferred three acres of land in what is now Lot 31 in Lennoxville to the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of the Diocese of Sherbrooke, represented by His Lordship Antoine Racine, Bishop of Sherbrooke.

In 1917, the year of the fire that destroyed the Roman Catholic church, this land was transferred to the Cure and the churchwardens of the fabric fund and buildings of the parish of St. Antoine of Lennoxville, a body politic and incorporated, having its place of business in Lennoxville in the said parish. The Cure at the time was L’Abbe Joseph Alfred Parent