Description

CEM 135-Rev_flamborough_rockton_st_albans_cemeteries

Other Known Names: Morden Cemetery

Street Address: East Side, Old Highway # 8, Rockton

Location: Lot 21, Concession 42, Beverly Township

Type of Cemetery: Municipal

Responsible Agency: City of Hamilton

Status for Burials: Open for burials          Plot Plan: None

Size:         Small, 40 monuments

Fencing: Chain link with open sections Monument Types:          Flat , upright and column Monuments of: Marble, granite

Date of Opening: 1862

History

With the establishment of an Anglican Cemetery in Rockton, the larger, non-Anglican community felt the need for a non-denominational village cemetery. For this reason, Beverly Township resident Wallace MacDonald donated a piece of property adjacent to the St. Alban’s Cemetery to create a municipal burial ground in Rockton. First used in 1862 for the burial of George Stockwell, the cemetery came to be known as the Morden Cemetery, because of the work of Cliff Morden, who was the cemetery caretaker for many years, and was also married to Wallace MacDonald’s grand- daughter, Blanche. The cemetery remains open, and is currently maintained by the City of Hamilton.

St. Albans Anglican Church and Cemetery is located on Old Highway 8 just south of the Village of Rockton, in the former Town of Flamborough (now the City of Hamilton). Its small burial ground: is located on the north side of the church. Adjoining the church property is a larger triangular-shaped burial ground to the east, originally known as the Morden (Methodist) Cemetery and now owned and operated by the City as Rockton Cemetery.

History The church, located on Lot 21, Concession t.V, in the former Township of Beverly, stands on lands that were originally part of a two.,.hundred acre Crown Grant to Philip Carter in 1796. Following the transaction the property passed through several owners with a number of parcels of the original 200 acres being sold off. A half-acre parcel was eventually sold for $75 by Margaret Blackburn to the Church Society, Diocese of Toronto on March 3 1869. In that year, the present church, known as ”St. Albans the Martyr”, was built and a burial ground established to the north-east. The church was consecrated in 1871 and the first rector was Reverend R.J. Harrison. From 1869 to 1889, services were held twice daily on Sundays. During the first half of the twentieth century, the congregation slowly declined; and by 1949, services were held only once a month and ceased altogether in 1950. Since then the church has been occasionally used for services and concerts. Prior to construction of St. Albans Anglican worship originated in the Township as a small congregation or mission at Romulus, near Sheffield, where Reverend Boomer of Galt held services. Anglican services in Rockton likely commenced in the late 1850s in the Beverly Township Hall, where they continued to be held until 1869 when St. Albans was erected. Only St. Albans, Grace Church (Waterdown) and Christ Church, (at Bullock’s Corners in the former Township of West Flamborough) remain as examples of Anglican churches from the former townships of Beverly, East Flamborough and West Flamborough. St. Albans is now a rare surviving example of a rural Anglican church.  The small burial ground has 28 graves with approximately 25 standing markers of granite or marble. Interments date from 1871 (John Anderson) to 1983 (Hannah Abel). The gravestones bear the names of some early settlers to the area, including the Riddell, Alardyce, Vingo, and Rayner families. The most prominent individual buried here is Robert Kernighan a local poet and writer (1855-1926), whose grave is marked by a cairn.