Emberley's Point, Bay de Verde - Old Anglican Cemetery

NL GenWeb

Conception Bay North ~ Northern District

Headstone Inscriptions

Emberley's Point, Bay de Verde - Old Anglican Cemetery

Headstone inscriptions were collected and compiled by ALEX & FLORENCE (BLUNDON) COWAN, September 1993. While we have endeavored to be as correct as humanly possible, there may be typographical errors.

Cemeteries from olden times

Since the 1600s, inhabitants of Bay de Verde have been living and dying on its rocky shores. Some of the early settlers had their own family burial places, e.g. the Blundon Cemetery on Blundon's Point and the Emberley Cemetery on Emberley's Point. Others used communal grounds.

Up to the late 1940s, signs of older cemeteries still existed in the harbour. One such burial ground, which held a small number of regular stones and several upright stone slabs, was located in "Back Side" and was surrounded by the Sutton and Jacobs properties. On the east, it was bound by the path passing by W.T. Sutton's home, on the south by Sutton's and Jacobs' homes, on the west by Jacobs' garden and on the north by Frank Jacobs' storehouse. No one seems to remember who owned this old burial spot. Nothing remains of the site to-day. All evidence of its existence is buried beneath a grassy meadow.

Another spot, which supposedly was an old burial site, is located on Roman Catholic property just north of and across the road from the Church Hill Anglican Cemetery. One lone headstone stands but its identification has been obliterated by time and the elements. Not too many years ago, numerous slate markers were visible in the ground. Again, the ownership of this piece of hallowed ground is unknown.

A couple of isolated grave markers are worthy of note. Years ago, the residents of the harbour often spoke of the headstone by Dan Moore's home.

Up to the late 1940s, an isolated slate blue, stone slab stood erect in the front yard of Albert Blundon's residence in Back Side. This spot is across the path from the graveyard mentioned previously as being surrounded by the Sutton and Jacobs families. Was this part of the one old cemetery? The Blundon property was originally owned by a Jacobs family and the original house on the property was built by George Jacobs in the 1800s. Some of the older residents, even to-day, say that the house was built in an old graveyard and that it was haunted. The Blundon family, however, lived there for several years and have nothing but pleasant memories of the spot. The stone no longer exists in the front yard of the now abandoned homestead.

There are just two headstones standing in this old burial ground. Only one of the two is legible and bears the following inscription:

BE YE ALSO READY

SACRED TO THE MEMORY
OF
JOHN EMBERLEY
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
MARCH 12TH 1868
AGED 60 YEARS.

SO IN ADAM ALL DIE
SO IN CHRIST
SHALL ALL BE MADE ALIVE

Unique to this cemetery and to the above headstone in particular, is a second headstone bearing the exact inscription as that presented above. The headstone is broken and lying in the grass at or near the foot of the above grave. Both headstones are similar in size and style and both bear the exact same inscription. The original stone was broken during blasting operations for the breakwater several years ago. It was replaced by a new one. The broken stone serves as a foot- stone.
There is evidence of several other graves in the Emberley Cemetery. Numerous stone slabs stand erect marking the resting place of departed loved ones. The slabs are both slate blue and cloudy wine in color and do not appear to be native to Bay de Verde. Possibly they were transported from Random Arm in Trinity Bay, when the residents were making annual migrations to that area for the procurement of wood, especially in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Rev. Oliver Rouse, who is buried in the Church Hill Cemetery, mentioned in his journal of the late 1840s, how some of his parishoners had left for or returned from the Arm. No doubt, the beautiful slate slabs available in that area, were utilized by Bay de Verde residents for generations, as they appear in all the Anglican cemeteries surveyed to date -- Blundon's Point, Church Hill, and indeed the occasional one can be seen in the present day burial grounds on the hill almost a mile from the harbour. Unfortunately, any identification which may have been painted or etched on the stone slabs have disappeared with time and they themselves are the only reminders we have of others who have gone before.

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