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Edna Farnsworth Grave Restoration Project

As a result of our fundraising efforts and your very generous support, we are pleased and excited to announce that our goal for the funding of the restoration of the Edna Farnsworth Grave Project has been reached!

Thank you for your generous support!

A woman in a hat speaks while holding a clipboard near a gravestone in a cemetery, as a man in casual clothes stands beside her, resting his hand on the gravestone. Trees and more gravestones are in the background.
Weathered stone surface with pale patches of lichen and a faint shoeprint. A few thin pine needles rest near the top. The overall texture appears rough and aged.
A hand-drawn sketch of a floral-patterned object with various measurements marked: 42 h x 52 w, 30 w, 24 h, 15 w, 16 h, 15 h, 6 w, and flowers at three corners.
A tilted gravestone with a cross stands behind a sunken and shifted stone slab, bordered by four short stone posts connected by metal rods, in a grassy cemetery with other headstones and trees in the background.
An old gravestone with a cross stands in a cemetery, surrounded by moss-covered stone posts and black iron railings. Bare trees and several other headstones are visible in the background.

The Edna Farnsworth Grave Restoration Project will involve the following:

  • straightening, stabilizing, and leveling the main polished granite monument;
  • straightening and stabilizing the four granite corner posts;
  • removing, cleaning, and re-installing the central marble slab;
  • pouring a new cement base for the marble slab as necessary;
  • recovering and re-setting marble curbing and replacing sections as necessary;
  • re-setting the iron piping of the fence and replacing as necessary; and
  • cleaning all components as necessary.

The Society’s team of dedicated restoration volunteers can tackle some of this work, but key components require the expertise of professional monument workers with access to specialized equipment.

The total cost to restore the Farnsworth grave is $7,000, and the Old Cemeteries Society has committed $3,500 to the project. We are asking for your help to raise the remaining $3,500. As a registered charity, the OCS can provide tax receipts for all donations over $10. With your support, we hope to complete the project this year and will share updates as the work progresses.

There are several ways to make a donation:

  • by e-transfer to oldcemvictoria@gmail.com;
  • via CanadaHelps;
  • by cheque made out to the Old Cemeteries Society and mailed to: Box 50004, RPO Fairfield Plaza, Victoria, BC V8S 5L8, or dropped off at a tour; or
  • with cash at any of our tours.