Anglican Burials in Victoria late 1800's to early 1900's

For the monument analysis our group decided on a small Anglican section of the Ross Bay Cemetery. According the Old Cemetery Society of Victoria (2011), it is considered to be Section A, a part of the original Ross Bay Cemetery that was first in use in 1872 and is still in use today, it is also the section with the first burial.

       The first feature noticed was the stark contrast between monuments of the families and the individual plots. All the family plots are from the same time frame, have more detail, and are all standing markers. This is unlike that of an individual plot: most are flat stones, with the name and date of birth as well as death. This could be interpreted as family wealth versus individual wealth, a family would have cumulative wealth and considering that the family will all be buried there, more money would be put into one more elaborate marker compared to an individual, who unless was a prominent figure in Victoria’s society, would not have a considerable amount of money put into the grave marker.

Grave 5, 6, 7

           However, one family monument stands out, graves five, six, and seven follow the same schema of design according the family monuments in section A, however there are three individual standing markers opposed to one like the other family plots. When first considered, a time lapse was present between the three markers allowing the possibility for a new style to emerge in Victoria. However, as the first two plots have a seven year separation and maintain the same time frame as the other family monuments studied, it could be a possibility of family choice. Of these three plots, the first wife’s plot is especially ornamental, there is a considerable amount of detail to the grave. She is buried to the right of her husband, who’s grave marker is considerably less ornate. This could be contradictory to the family dynamics of the era, where the man was considered head of house. However, the position could maintain with the dynamics since he is the center plot. The difference in styles could also be contributed to the different time period of burial. By the time the husband was buried there is a possibility that less ornate markers were in fashion.

          In grave five there seems to be part of the marker missing. By observing the other standing markers in our analysis two of the three family monuments from that period have a urn shaped ornament on the top, there is a possibility that it broke off from the small neck, or it could have been a cross like that of the first wife’s grave maker (grave seven).

Grave 10 - Stylized Marker

            Most of the individual graves seem to maintain some consistency. Although there are two that are standing monuments, they still seem to fit the same style of those who have flat grave markers. The individual marks could be separated into two groups: those with simple, less ornate rectangular surface markers, and the second being those with shape and some ornate detail being both standing and surface markers. Once again, this could be down to finances, those with less financial stability may not be able to afford the markers with detail, unlike that of the wealthier burials.

Grave 9 - Simple Marker

Another interesting side note from the monuments we have analyzed. I wondered what could have been the difference in price for a “plot with a view”, that is, is it more lucrative to be buried closer to the ocean and have a fantastic view for your afterlife. Turns out my initial thoughts were quite wrong, according to the Old Cemetery Society of Victoria (2011), only non-Christians were buried in the southeast corner facing the ocean. This was also confirmed by an article published at the time of these burials stating that Anglican burials should be segregated from "nonconformist Christians" (Curteis, 1877). Apparently during this time, being this close to the ocean had a higher risk of graves being swept into the ocean.

References

Curteis, G.H. 1877, "Burial Laws, An "Anglican" View of the",Macmillan's Magazine, vol. 37, pp. 505.

Ross Bay Cemetery, 2011. Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria. [online] Available at:

             <http://www.oldcem.bc.ca/cem_rb.htm>  [Accessed 17 February 2012].

Pagan Funeral for the Modern Man

Odd the internet can be when you are able to search for something as complex as a traditional Pagan funerary practice and come up with step by step instructions for one's own modern day Pagan ritual.

This started with a flashback to four years ago when my close friend went on a tirade on his interpretation of Pagan traditions to fit his lifestyle and personal choices. To him Pagan gave him an excuse to cop out on all arbitrary holidays (Valentines, Halloween, Christmas etc.). Once the holiday would come near his answer to what plans he was making for the holiday would be returned with what the pagan ideal tradition should be and how our society is making a complete mess out of pagan traditions.

So after a debate on whether or not I should find a scholarly article to support the idea of a pagan burial, I was tempted by google, what a wonderful source for satire worthy information. Turns out google had a bundle of equally opinionated pagan followers willing to guide my friend to his traditional pagan funeral.

The following link has a step by step detailed plan on what to do to be buried in a pagan ritual, a list of requirement listed like a grocery list and a possibly very mistranslated "traditional" chant. To how you have to be cremated and what sort of celebration should take place.

This website made me wonder if it would be taken serious, after all it managed to make the top five of the google search list. What purpose would one use this website for, either than as an example of what not to use as a scholarly source and more of a joke you could send to you friend. Maybe I should send it to my friend so he could further tell me the wonders of pagan burial. Though, as I know him, he would scoff at my horrendous choice of a unscholarly article.

http://homepage.eircom.net/~liossa/home/burial.htm