Bronte Cemetery
Also known as: Bronte Village Cemetery
Location:
West Street, Oakville, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada.
Concession 4, lot 32, Trafalgar Township.
GPS:
Latitude: 43.3862°N
Longitude: -79.7135°W
History:
Probably one of the oldest Cemeteries in Trafalgar Township, Bronte Cemetery is located at the western extremity of Bronte Village facing the Old Lake Road (now Ontario St.).
The first burial to take place in this Cemetery was that of Hannah S. Haviland, aged 4 weeks, who died on the 28th of October 1823.
One of the earliest settlers to arrive at the mouth of the Twelve (now Bronte Village) was Philip Sovereign and his family. Of Palatine German descent, he had arrived in 1814 from Sussex County, New York, by way of Waterford in the District of Upper Canada. Their farm extended along the lakefront west of the Indian Reserve on the old Lake Road. He died on July 2, 1833, aged 55 years. His son, Charles, farmed on this land until his death on Dec. 21, 1885: both he and his father are buried in Bronte Cemetery.
Another early Bronte Settler was John Belyea, who was a United Empire Loyalist of Dutch or Palatine German extraction from Philipsburg, Westchester County, New York. The story of the Belyea Family and their flight to seek refuge in Canada is typical of the hardships faced by the numerous other Bronte area families who fled the United States during the War of Independence. John Belyea died April 14, 1825, aged 50 years. He is buried in Bronte Cemetery with his young son, Benjamin.
The following early settlers’ names appear in Bronte Cemetery: Adams, Belyea, Butler, Dorland, Lucas, MacDonald, McWane, Osborne, Ribble, Sovereign, Triller and Williams.
Bronte Village and also the Cemetery have now been taken over by the City of Oakville. The Cemetery, when it was recorded in March 18, 1981, had been ravaged by vandals; 7 stones were then missing, 2 were leaning against a tree and many stones were badly overgrown with grass and were almost illegible.
Designated as an historical site under the Heritage Act of Ontario, October 1987.
Cemetery History has been compiled from “The Story of Bronte Harbour” by Philip Brimacombe,
Book #2 of Halton County Series, printed by the Boston Mills Press.
Jane Watt
Transcription purchase:
Transcriptions of this cemetery are available for digital download from the OGS website – click here to order via credit card.