Graves and grasses

Grasses shining in the afternoon sun in St Mary's Cemetery

Rev Francis McCleland’s grave

Over the last two years every time I visited the St Mary's Cemetery I've had a look for Rev Francis McCleland's grave without any success. Grizel Hart, the curator at No.7 Castle Hill, explained to me where to find it and on my last visit - after again walking right past it twice - I found … Continue reading Rev Francis McCleland’s grave →

St Mary’s Cemetery gate

The entrance into the historic St Mary's Cemetery at the bottom of Valley Road. I love wandering through St Mary's and discovering all the old graves, some belonging to original 1820 British Settlers.

Victoria Park Crematorium

I have a fascination with cemeteries. You can find the most interesting information, grave stones and monuments browsing through old grave yards and although I may look over my shoulder every now and then, I'm quite fine exploring them. The Victoria Park Crematorium, built in 1953, on the other hand I just find creepy. Don't ask … Continue reading Victoria Park Crematorium →

Scottish Cemetery at St Georges

St Mary's Cemetery used to be the only cemetery in Port Elizabeth in the 1820s, but with the influx of visitors to the town it started to put a lot of strain on the little grave yard next to the Baakens River. Small pieces of land was then given to the various Christian churches in … Continue reading Scottish Cemetery at St Georges →

1902 Great Gale Memorial

I took some time at the 1902 Great Gale Memorial in the South End Cemetery last week and tried to imagine myself what that day must have been like. On Sunday, 31 August 1902 there were 38 ships at anchor along the then North End Beach. Rain and a south-easterly wind started to lash the bay … Continue reading 1902 Great Gale Memorial →

Celtic crosses

A couple of Celtic crosses in South End Cemetery

St Mary’s scene

The historic St Mary Cemetery in South End

Grave Search #2

The second grave in my Grave Search series was a request I received not long after the first one. Indigo asked me if it wasn't possible to track down her great grandmother's grave in the South End Cemetery. After the first search I knew where to go and find the information and found this one … Continue reading Grave Search #2 →

Grave search 1

Regular readers of both my blogs probably know of my fascination with old cemeteries which leads to often posting grave pictures, specially on The Firefly Photo Files. The only reason I post most on there and not here is cause I often discover interesting grave yards in small town while on holiday and weekend outings and … Continue reading Grave search 1 →