In 1839, William Reynolds granted 4 acres of land from his farm for construction of an Anglican
Church and burial ground. On the 24th September 1848 the Church of St. John the Evangelist and the
burial ground were consecrated. Based on inscriptions on the headstones, cemetery burials began by
1840. The first interment in the burial ground recorded in the Parish Register was that of a child,
Doris Jones, who was buried 25 May 1849. The last burial recorded in the Registers was that of John
Buchanan, aged 65, who was buried 29 November 1883; all local burials thereafter were in the Elora
Municipal Cemetery. In all, there were at least 232 burials based on those recorded in the Church
Registers (217) and others that were listed on headstones that were either buried prior to the start of
the Church Register (6) or were buried but not recorded in the Church Register (9).
The Elora Municipal Cemetery opened in 1864. In 1867, the Parish negotiated for two blocks within
the Elora Cemetery for the burial of Anglicans. In 1875, a new church building, of brick, was
constructed at Henderson and Smith Streets in Elora and the following year the old church was
dismantled. In 1940 following sale of adjoining lands, a cairn was built on one acre of the old
churchyard incorporating the tombstones and fragments of stones that were found on the site. In
2007, a three-stage archaeological assessment under the guidance of the Cemetery Registrar for
Ontario was undertaken of the site which included removal of the topsoil the one acre site. The
excavation revealed a total of 157 grave shafts as well as the location of the original church building.
Although not part of the study, it is likely that other graves may be located on the adjacent property
which had been sold in 1940 since many burial shafts were located along the boundary line. It was
estimated that 85-90% of the bodies remain on the site. In 2008, the cairn was relocated from the
North-East corner to the South-East corner of the burial section and a green space created so that the
burial ground was properly memorialized.

Old Anglican Cemetery

Extracted From The Ontario Canada Cemeteries Finding Aid

ADIE, Elizabeth
ADIE, James
ADIE, Walter Charles
ALLAN, Agness
ALLAN, William
ALLAN, William Hill
AR, Robt.
BECRAUFT, Jemima
BURT, Charles
BURT, Jemima Becrauft
BUTCHART, Ann
BUTCHART, George
BYRNE, Elizabeth
CARTER, John
CARTER, Rebecca
CARTER, William
E. M. (?), M. E. (?)
ELKERTO, Wm.
GRAIN, Cecily
GRAIN, Tho's.
GRAIN, Thomas J.
HALE, Henry
HALE, Mathew Wreford
HALE, Susan
J. B. (?), B. J. (?)
J. M. (?), M. J. (?)
MAGUIRE, Hugh
MAGUIRE, Joseph
MAGUIRE, Sarah
MARLIN, Mary
MARLIN, Thomas
MARLIN, Thomas Hamilton
MARRIOTT, Catherine
MARRIOTT, Elizabeth
MARRIOTT, Jemima
MARRIOTT, John
MARRIOTT, Mary
MARSH, Francis Smart
MARSH, George Walker
McFARLAND, Walter
McKAY, Catharine
McKAY, Fredrick
McKENZIE, - (infant)
McKENZIE, Ann
McKENZIE, Elizabeth
McKENZIE, George
McKOWAN, Elizabeth
McKOWAN, James
McMILLAN, Nancy
McMILLAN, Robert
MILLER, Deidamia W.
MILLER, H. W. W.
MILLER, John
MILLER, Mary
NEWMAN, Caroline
NEWMAN, Catherine Louisa
NEWMAN, Walter
O'CONER, -
PATERSON, Catharine
MARLIN, Eliza Susanna
PATERSON, Elizabeth
PATERSON, Peter
PATERSON, Rachel
SHIELDS, Alex
SMITH, John
SMITH, Margaret
SMITH, Mary Hannah
SNELLING, James
SWAN, Cecily
SWAN, Robert
WATSON, Nancy
WILSON, Cecily


Source:
Bowley, S. R. (Ed.). 2008. Old Anglican Cemetery, Elora: Transcription & Burial Register, Third
Edition. Wellington County Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society. Guelph, Ontario.
ISBN 978-0-7779-4054-9
Availability:
Publication copies can be purchased from the following sources:
•Wellington County Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society. http://www.ogs.on.ca/wellington/
•Ontario Genealogical Society e-Store. http://www.ogs.on.ca/ogscart/index.php
Transcriptions of cemetery inscriptions are also available through Pay-Per-View via the Ontario
Genealogical Society website. http://www.ogs.on.ca/
Digital photographs of each tombstone have been recorded and the originals are held by the
Wellington County Museum & Archives. http://www.wcm.on.ca/