Cemeteries

Many of the churches had adjoining cemeteries.  These cemeteries were maintained by the energy and time donated by the residents in the various communities.  As we review the records of these cemeteries it is not difficult to imagine the hardships of these pioneer settlers.

  The records of the Musquash Community Cemetery, across the road from St. Anne’s Church, serviced all denominations and shows a history of burials from 1857 – 1933.  Some names of note are Gamble, Boyle, Kane, Devine and Tolan.

St. Anne’s Church opened the adjourning cemetery in 1899.  There are a number of headstones presently there which were moved from the Musquash Community Cemetery; some of the names and dates on the stones that pre-date the opening of St. Anne’s are Knight, Carmen, Reed and Bedell.  There are some stones remaining in the Community Cemetery; names that might be of interest are Cairns, Graham, McHarg and Young to name a few.

In 1830 a large cemetery was established in Lepreau by Richard Bartlett and it continues to serve a large area.  Some of the names documented in other cemeteries can also be  found here, such as Shaw, Winn, Hope, Thompson, Travis, Boyne, Spear, Lomax and Clark.  The first recorded burial was in 1830.

In 1900 the Chance Harbour-Dipper Harbour Baptist Cemetery was established on land donated by Robert Janes and is still in use today.  Some familiar names to be found there are Thompson, Belding, Belmore, Janes, Tiner and Wright

The old Church of England Cemetery, on the grounds of St. Thomas Anglican Church, was started in Dipper Harbour in 1835.  This is the oldest cemetery in the three communities.  It was the burial ground for some of the first settlers and some of the names on the remaining  headstones are still legible; names such as McGowan, Mawhinney, Ellis, Corscadden, Belmore, Wenn and Caffrey.  The last burial in this cemetery was in 1913 and it is now closed.  The Trinity Anglican Church in Maces Bay maintains the grounds.

The Thomson Burying Ground was established two years later in 1857.  This is a private family graveyard for members of the Thomson and Clark Families.

Other private family burial grounds on the Campbell Road are dedicated to the Campbell and Spear families.  The Dipper Harbour Church maintains the Spear burial ground; the Campbell graveyard is overgrown.

St. Brendan's cemetery on the grounds of St. Brendan's Church was opened in 1913 with the burial of James Boyle.  The graveyard is still in use.  Some  familiar names are Cassidy, Kane, Devine, Murray and Thompson.

The  Maces Bay Cemetery land in Dipper Harbour was  donated by James K. Corscadden and it was established to replace the old Church of England Cemetery in Dipper Harbour.   The first recorded burial was for Delia Janes who died Apr. 22, 1909 at the age of 3 years and 7 months.  Some headstones from the old cemetery were moved to this cemetery.  It is currently an open cemetery.

Maces Bay Cemetary as it looked previous to 1996 (on the left) and as it looks today (on the right) 

The first burial ground in Chance Harbour was Graveyard Point, also called the Spitt.  This area can only be reached at low tide.  The first burial was an unknown soldier in 1795.  It was subsequently used for the burial of deceased settlers, one of which was David Belding who died in 1849.

The Little Lepreau Cemetery was established in 1949.  It is an open graveyard and serves the community of Little Lepreau and surrounding areas.  Some familiar names are Brown, Lomax, English, Flynn, Dean, Teare and Hanson

There is an older cemetery called the Lomax Family Cemetery which is located in Little Lepreau near the Lomax property.  Some familiar names there would be Hope & Lomax.

Below is the link to find a grave in the Maces Bay Cemetery

  Maces Bay Cemetery in New Brunswick - Find a Grave Cemetery