At the beginning of 2025, The Old Cemeteries Society collaborated with two other local societies to create a new project. The BC Black History Awareness Society and The Victoria Genealogical Society both expressed interest in erecting grave markers for prominent pioneers who currently had no marker. The Old Cemeteries Society took the lead and over the past six months we have completed the project.

The BC Black History Awareness Society chose Sydna Edmonia Robella (nee Dandridge) Francis. She was a Black pioneer, suffragist and abolitionist.

The Victoria Genealogical Society chose Eliza Norman Morison Wishart (Anderson) Lyall. She was born in 1852 on the HBC ship Norman Morison during a sailing from London, England, to Victoria and was named after the captain’s wife, the ship, and the captain.

The new grave markers are made from local cedar, sandblasted to give them a sign-like appearance and finished with white painted lettering. We started off with 2X6 cedar planks. These were glued together to form a 24-inch by 6-foot blank. After much sanding and planing, a decorative scroll was cut into the top. Now ready for finishing, the sandblasting matts were ordered for Mortimer’s Monumental Works, applied to the blanks’ surfaces and taken to Blast It Sandblasting Victoria for sandblasting. Once sandblasted, the matt material was removed; the total surface was given two coats of preservative and allowed to dry for two weeks to ensure a good cure. Then the lettering was painted white and the finished grave markers were erected on their respective grave sites at Ross Bay Cemetery.

The OCS would like to thank Al Bruch for his help and the use of his shop, Wilf Bruch for his work and coordination of the project, Mike Woodcock from the Victoria Genealogical Society and Jamila Douhaibi from the BC Black History Awareness Society for their leadership on the project.