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Nanaimo Cemetery Trustees fonds [textual record]. -- 1877-1924.

          7 cm of textual records. 

         By 1875, Nanaimo's first Cemetery, at the corner of Wallace Street and Comox Road, was full.  In 1877, the Vancouver Coal Mining and Land Company donated land for a new cemetery near the present day intersection of Comox Road and Howard Avenue.  In the same year, the Lieutenant Governor appointed the Mayor and Councilors, and their successors, as the Board of Cemetery Trustees under the Cemetery Ordinance of 1870. The Trustees oversaw the fencing, draining, and regular maintenance of the Cemetery, as well as the construction of roads and the planting of shrubs and trees.  The City Clerk acted as Secretary to the Trustees, and was responsible for the Cemetery's management, including supervision of the gravedigger, the sale of plots, and burials. The last burial in the Pioneer Cemetery was in 1895.  
         The records were transferred to the City Archives Vault at an unknown date.  The plot book and the minute volume were transferred to the Nanaimo Community Archives in January 1992.  Other minutes are available at the City Hall Vault.
          The fonds consists of the Nanaimo Cemetery plot book and minutes of meetings of the Cemetery Trustees.
          Title is based on the contents of the fonds.
          Series descriptions available. 

ACCESSION           1992 014 C
REPOSITORY         NCA, CITY HALL
LOCATION              NCA Vault A-05-03 Box 5 

          City Hall Vault (Council Minute Books) 

Series 1.

          Cemetery Plot Book [textual record]. -- 1879-1897.
          1 v. 

          Series comprises a cemetery plot book which records plot purchases and burials from 1879-1897. Entries are arranged by range and plot numbers. Plot information includes date and method of payment, the name of the person paying for the plot, names of persons buried, date of burial, and receipt number. Miscellaneous comments are made throughout.  Tully Boyce, City Auditor, audited the volume in 1897. Purple ink denotes plots that were small, short or in the "Broadway".  Boyce's audit appears to have resulted in the transfer of some bodies to other graves.
          Title based on the contents of the series. 

Series 2. 

          Minutes [textual record]. -- 1877-1924.
          1 v. 

         Series includes minutes generated by the City Council, who sat as the Cemetery Trustees. A record of their meetings from 1877-1897 was recorded at the end of the official Council Minutes. Even after a separate minute book was established in 1897, minutes were also often attached to the Council minutes. This volume contains minutes of meetings held in 1897-1898, 1912 -1914, 1919, and 1924.
          Title based on the content of the series.