Cox Estate Cemetery
Also known as: Wedgewood Cemetery
Location:
145 Wedgewood Drive, Oakville, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada.
Concession 3, lot 7, Trafalgar Township.
GPS:
Latitude: 43.4664°N
Longitude: -79.6485°N
History:
In 1826, John C Harris owned this property. In 1831 Richard Coates, who migrated to York in 1817 with his wife and two children, purchased the property. Soon he acquired the property on the south side of Lakeshore Road, and on the stream that came to be known as Coates Creek, he set up a sawmill.
The property remained in the Coates family until 1909 when Herbert C Cox of the Canada Life Assurance Company purchased it. Mr. Cox built up a fine stable at “Ennisclare” which he named his estate. His horses were exhibited in many horse shows in Canada and the United States. His horses regularly walked from the ring of Madison Square Gardens in New York City with the majority of the trophies. Mr. Cox and Mr. Hugh Wilson also started the Ennisclare Hunt Club in Oakville.
Source: Oakville and the Sixteen by Hazel C Mathews
Jane Watt
The Cox Pioneer Cemetery is associated with Trafalgar Township’s earliest settlers. It was during the ownership of local farmer John C. Harris that the cemetery was established. The absence of modern medicine in the 19th century meant a large number of children died at an early age. Two of the three marked graves are for infants and it is believed that there are several unmarked graves for other young children.
The Cox Pioneer Cemetery was named after Herbert Coplin Cox, President and later Chairman of the Board of the Canada Life Assurance Company, who purchased the property in 1909. Cox Pioneer Cemetery is representative of 19th century cemetery design. It is characterized by a naturalistic setting to attract and comfort the living. Within the cemetery are three marble headstones and remnants of a foundation, north of the gravestones. The foundation is from the former water tower on the Cox Estate. In addition to the three marked graves, it is believed that a number of unmarked pioneer graves also exist in the cemetery. (Source: Town of Oakville, By-law 1994-20)
As of September 2021, a fourth stone was found upright in the cemetery.
Dorothy Kew
Transcription purchase:
No transcription has been made available for purchase, because the cemetery had so few stones.