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Old
Garrison Burying Ground |
Located in a small
parkette bounded by Niagara, Portland and Wellington Streets is the Old Garrison Burying
Ground. The historical plaque reads as follows: "The Old Garrison Burying Ground
1794-1863. The Town of York's first burying ground lies within this park. Established by
the British Army, the cemetery occupies a 38 by 91 metre rectangle running at a diagonal
across the centre of the park. The first known interment was that of Katherine Simcoe, the
fifteen-month-old daughter of Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe and his wife
Elizabeth. Many of the known burials were the wives and children of garrison soldiers.
Notable interments include Christopher Robinson (d. 1798), father of Sir John Beverly
Robinson; Captain Neal McNeale, killed in the Battle of York on 27 April, 1813; and
Lieutenant Zachariah Mudge (d. 1831), private secretary to Sir John Colborne, whose
unexplained suicide shook the Colonial community. The last known burial was that of
Private James McQuarrick (d. 1863). Afterwards, an interim military cemetery opened at the
foot of Dufferin Street, which was replaced with one on Garrison Common to the west of
Fort York." A few of the original grave markers are cemented lying flat, beneath the
statue in this picture.
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