History of McBurney Park
The Cemetery Years
McBurney Park is unique among Kingston’s parks. It began life in 1816 as the Garrison Burying Ground, then in 1819 the Common Burying Ground, so named because it was common to the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. In 1825, an Order in Council by the Lieutenant Governor officially established it as the Upper Burial Grounds which included three parts – one each for the Anglicans, the Roman Catholics and the Presbyterians. As the principal cemetery for Kingston, it became overcrowded in a few decades and the four-acre cemetery was closed to further burials in 1864.
Thirty years later, the former cemetery was in terrible shape. Gravestones had been vandalized and the grounds were overgrown with tall grass and scrubby vegetation. Cows and pigs browsed there. Residents demanded that something be done with the eyesore, so the three churches that owned the land turned it over to the city, which, acting on suggestions from the citizenry, proposed to turn it into a park. Among the three churches, only the Roman Catholics stipulated that all remains in their section be exhumed and re-buried in another cemetery. The Anglicans and Presbyterians only stipulated that exhumation and re-burial be undertaken if the families requested it. In 1893 the city hired a local contractor named George Adsit to exhume the bodies, bury the tombstones, plough and level the land and plant trees.
The Cemetery Years
McBurney Park is unique among Kingston’s parks. It began life in 1816 as the Garrison Burying Ground, then in 1819 the Common Burying Ground, so named because it was common to the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. In 1825, an Order in Council by the Lieutenant Governor officially established it as the Upper Burial Grounds which included three parts – one each for the Anglicans, the Roman Catholics and the Presbyterians. As the principal cemetery for Kingston, it became overcrowded in a few decades and the four-acre cemetery was closed to further burials in 1864.
Thirty years later, the former cemetery was in terrible shape. Gravestones had been vandalized and the grounds were overgrown with tall grass and scrubby vegetation. Cows and pigs browsed there. Residents demanded that something be done with the eyesore, so the three churches that owned the land turned it over to the city, which, acting on suggestions from the citizenry, proposed to turn it into a park. Among the three churches, only the Roman Catholics stipulated that all remains in their section be exhumed and re-buried in another cemetery. The Anglicans and Presbyterians only stipulated that exhumation and re-burial be undertaken if the families requested it. In 1893 the city hired a local contractor named George Adsit to exhume the bodies, bury the tombstones, plough and level the land and plant trees.