Burnhamthorpe Primitive Methodist Cemetery
Location:
Burnhamthorpe Road East (at Dixie Road), Peel Region, Ontario, Canada.
Concession 1 NDS Lot 6SW, Toronto Township.
GPS:
Latitude: 43.62212°N
Longitude: -79.60249°W
History:
This cemetery is located in the old village of Burnhamthorpe (formerly Sand Hill) which was named by John Abelson, an immigrant from Burnhamthorpe, England, birthplace of Lord Nelson. Today (1981) Burnhamthorpe is incorporated in the City of Mississauga.
The land on which the cemetery is situated was a Crown Grant to Abram Markle who sold the land to Levi Lewis in 1811. On February 4, 1825, Lewis deeded nine-tenths of an acre to John Austin, John Hawkins, James Eakens, W. Carroll, R. Rutledge, G. Shunk and A. Markle, trustees, as a site of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a public cemetery, and a schoolhouse. The cemetery remained public until 1859 when it was deeded to the adjoining Primitive Methodist Church. The names appearing on the deed are representative of some of the earliest settlers in this locality – William T. Shaver and his wife, Mariata Shaver, George Savage, Joseph Siddall, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Carr and Robert Curry.
In 1875, a new church was built on the northwest corner of the Burnhamthorpe intersection, replacing the little Methodist Chapel and a new deed transferred the cemetery to this new church. This church was once part of the Malton circuit of travelling ministers.
In 1938, Perkins Bull described the cemetery as “ground surface flat, woven wire fence erected in 1928, the cedar posts painted white”.
In 1981, the cemetery is still in use and is still well-kept and neat in appearance. It is now surrounded by a chain link fence and has iron gates hung between two stone posts and facing Dixie Road. The new Burnhamthorpe Public Library has been built directly behind the cemetery.
The following transcription is a combination of three transcriptions bringing up to date the earliest, which was done by Perkins Bull in 1938. Bill Britnell recorded it in the 70’s and Trudy Mann re-recorded it in the spring of 1981. We have not been able to locate a grace register.
Trudy Mann
Transcription purchase:
Transcriptions of this cemetery are available for digital download from the OGS website – click here to order via credit card.