Our 2013 restoration project is now complete. Thank You to Thrifty Foods for their continued support and to all the volunteers who made it posible. 

Two projects have been recently conceived by the Old Cemeteries Society executive.

Ross Family Markers

The first is the re-creation of a Ross family grave marker and the restoration of the Isabella Ross grave marker.

The Ross family is woven into the very fabric of Victoria’s creation and early history. In 1843 James Douglas sent Charles Ross to a desolate piece of land on the tip of Vancouver’s Island with instructions to build a new fort. This new fort became what we now know as Victoria. After the untimely death of Charles Ross in 1844, his First Nations wife and her children continued to live in Victoria and influence its history.

In 1994, the Old Cemeteries Society erected a wooden replica grave marker for Isabella Ross on her unmarked grave (plot C 009 E 22). Today it is in poor shape and badly in need of refurbishing.

In the 1980’s the last wooden grave marker was removed from the cemetery and placed in storage by the City of Victoria Parks Department.

It is split in several pieces and barely legible. Thankfully someone felt it was worth saving and historically significant. This old marker commemorates the Ross family and we have used it as a pattern for other markers. It is now time to re-create and reinstall it in Ross Bay Cemetery at the Ross family gravesite (plot F 033 W 21).

The Old Cemeteries Society feels that in recognition of First Nations in our history and in this year of the 170th anniversary of Fort Victoria, it is appropriate that we honour both by restoring Isabella’s marker and re-creating the original grave marker for the Ross family. 
The new and restored Ross grave markers will remind all who visit Ross Bay Cemetery of the contribution this family has made to the creation and growth of Victoria.

Grimm Family Gravesite Fence

The second project is to completely refurbish the wrought iron fencing around the Grimm family plot (C 026/27 E 22).

Over the past 20 years the Old Cemeteries Society has restored most of the historic iron features in Ross Bay Cemetery. Our last major ironwork project was in 2002-2004 when we teamed up with the Vancouver Island Blacksmiths Association to completely rebuild the Parker-Ball fence (for more information visit the Grave Preservation page).

In 2011, the Old Cemeteries Society cleaned and painted all 55 iron features in Ross Bay Cemetery except for the Grimm fence. At that time we felt that it was too far gone and would require a major restoration. This is the year for the restoration.
The Grimm fence will hopefully stand for another century as an example of the blacksmiths art and a reminder of the harsh realities of pioneer life in Victoria

2013 Restoration of the Huston Grave (C33/34E25)

This is the anatomy of a restoration project. This project started with a totally overgrown gravesite. We first removed the 7-8 foot laurel bush, removed the tiles from the damaged concrete top and re-positioned the original granite curbing. No small feat!! A new concrete top was poured and all the tiles were cleaned and re-polished. Then the refurbished tiles were sorted, organized and re-laid. The end result is a stunning as new example of 1880’s grave art. 

Pioneer Square Update September 2013

This month saw the start of upgrades to the Old Burying Grounds on Quadra Street. The City of Victoria has allocated $700,000 over a three year period to completely revitalize what has become known as Pioneer Square. This first phase will see new paths, lighting, benches and additional landscaping. Some of the grave markers that are considered in good to fair condition will be cleaned and refurbished. Work on this phase should be completed by the end of October.

Pioneer Square (Old Burying Ground) Planning Project

Approximately 75 people attended the second Open house on March 28, 2012; 50 survey/questionnaires were completed and received. In addition, several people took paper copies or information on how to access the online survey with them so they could complete the survey later. Generally, the feedback was good – most supported the vision statement and the general ideas and goals in the plan although there were some discussion and feedback around some of the specifics.

The survey and display boards are now available on the City’s website along with a copy of the draft plan. There is a link to the information at www.victoria.ca under Latest News. The online survey will be open until April 16th. 

After the survey closes, the results will be compiled, potential revisions to the management plan will be identified and the Pioneer Square Advisory
Group will meet again.

The OCS website has a Pioneer Square (Old Burying Ground) section

Ross Bay Row Marker Project – see example

Project update April 2013

Thanks to the Thrifty Foods Smile Card Program and generous donations from our membership, we are pleased to announce the completion of Phase 4 of this 
project. Row markers are now placed in three “belts” across the cemetery from Memorial Crescent to St. Charles Lane. One belt is on plot #75 near Fairfield Road, one is across the middle of the cemetery on plot #40, and one is on plot #1 on the Dallas Road side of the cemetery. In phase 4 we have placed markers strategically along all the pathways within the cemetery. A map with all the locations and locating instructions has been placed in the shadow box at the caretakers shed across from Ross Bay Villa.

We have now placed 171 markers and it is our hope that they will continue to help everyone find grave sites for generations to come. This completes our Row Marker Project. Thank you for your support.

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