The Anglican St. James Cemetery is the oldest cemetery

Cemetery

A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...

 in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 still in operation. Opened in 1844 as the burial ground for St. James Cathedral. To date over 89,000 interments and 75,000 cremations have taken place at the cemetery. Recognizing the growing trend towards cremation throughout the world, a crematorium was added in 1948. The cemetery was necessary as the burial ground around the cathedral itself, in use since 1797, was out of room.
The cemetery was opened in July of 1844 for the burial of people professing the Anglican faith. At that time most of the city’s population of 18,000 lived south of Queen Street West

Queen Street West

Queen Street West describes both the western branch of Queen Street, a major east-west thoroughfare, and a series of neighbourhoods or commercial districts, situated west of Yonge Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Queen Street begins in the west at the intersection of King Street, The...

 and the cemetery's present location during that era must have been regarded as being outside city limits.
The entrance to the cemetery is located at the intersection of Bloor

Bloor Street

Bloor Street is a major east–west residential and commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, in the Canadian province of Ontario. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct westward into Mississauga, where it ends at Central Parkway. East of the viaduct, Danforth Avenue continues along the same...

 and Parliament Streets, overlooking the Don River

Don River (Toronto)

The Don River is one of two rivers bounding the original settled area of Toronto, Ontario along the shore of Lake Ontario, the other being the Humber River to the west. The Don is formed from two rivers, the East and West Branches, that meet about north of Lake Ontario while flowing southward into...

 ravine

Toronto ravine system

The Toronto ravine system is one of the most distinctive features of the geography of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a network of deep ravines that form a large urban forest that runs throughout much of the city...

. Just to the west is the St. James Town neighbourhood, which is named after the cemetery. The cemetery itself is home to the Chapel of St. James-the-Less which sites atop a knoll at the highest point in the cemetery. In its vigorous, harmonious composition, this small funeral chapel is a splendid example of Victorian Gothic

Gothic Revival architecture

The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...

 design. Its sense of strength and spirituality is derived from the subtle contrast of its stone walls, enveloping roofs, and soaring spire. Erected in 1860 and opened in 1861, the chapel was designed by Frederick William Cumberland

Frederick William Cumberland

Frederick William Cumberland was a Canadian engineer, architect and political figure. He represented the riding of Algoma in the 1st and 2nd Ontario Parliaments and in the Canadian House of Commons from 1871 to 1872....

 and Storm

William George Storm

William George Storm was a Canadian architect who designed a number of prominent monuments in Toronto.He was born in England and immigrated to Canada while still a child and was raised in Cobourg, Ontario. His father was a contractor and introduced him to the building trade. He apprenticed first...

, one of Toronto's leading 19th-century architectural firms. It and was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1990.

Notable interments

The cemetery is the final resting place of many of Toronto's oldest families and notable citizens:

• James Austin - founder of what would become the Toronto-Dominion Bank
  Toronto-Dominion Bank
  The Toronto-Dominion Bank , is the second-largest bank in Canada by market capitalization and based on assets. It is also the sixth largest bank in North America. Commonly known as TD and operating as TD Bank Group, the bank was created in 1955 through the merger of the Bank of Toronto and the...
  
  
• Robert Baldwin
  Robert Baldwin
  Robert Baldwin was born at York . He, along with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, led the first responsible ministry in Canada, regarded by some as the first truly Canadian government....
  
   - Joint Premier of the Province of Canada
  Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada
  Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada were the leaders of the Province of Canada, from the 1841 unification of Upper Canada and Lower Canada until Confederation in 1867....
  
  
• Hampden Zane Churchill Cockburn
  Hampden Zane Churchill Cockburn
  Major Hampden Zane Churchill Cockburn was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
  
   - Victoria Cross
  Victoria Cross
  The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
  
   recipient in the Second Boer War
  Second Boer War
  The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
  
  
• James Cockburn - Father of Confederation
• George Gooderham - whiskey magnate
• Casimir Gzowski
  Casimir Gzowski
  Sir Kazimierz Stanislaus Gzowski, KCMG , was an engineer who served as acting Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1896 to 1897....
  
   - engineer
  Engineer
  An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
  
   and railway builder
• William Pearce Howland - Father of Canadian Confederation
• E. J. Lennox
  E. J. Lennox
  Edward James Lennox was a Toronto-based architect who designed several of the city's most notable landmarks in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries including Old City Hall and Casa Loma...
  
   - architect of Casa Loma
  Casa Loma
  Casa Loma is a Gothic Revival style house in midtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that is now a museum and landmark. It was originally a residence for financier Sir Henry Mill Pellatt. Casa Loma was constructed over a three-year period from 1911–1914. The architect of the mansion was E. J...
  
   and Old City Hall
  Old City Hall (Toronto)
  Toronto's Old City Hall was home to its city council from 1899 to 1966 and remains one of the city's most prominent structures. The building is located at the corner of Queen and Bay Streets, across Bay Street from Nathan Phillips Square and the new City Hall in the centre of downtown Toronto...
  
  
• John P. Robarts - 17th Premier of Ontario
  Premier of Ontario
  The Premier of Ontario is the first Minister of the Crown for the Canadian province of Ontario. The Premier is appointed as the province's head of government by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and presides over the Executive council, or Cabinet. The Executive Council Act The Premier of Ontario...
  
  
• Henry Scadding
  Henry Scadding
  Henry Scadding was a Canadian author and clergyman.Scadding was born in Dunkeswell, Devon, England, and migrated to Canada with his parents, John Scadding and Melicent Triggs, in 1821. He was educated at Upper Canada College and at St. John's College at Cambridge University, Cambridge, England,...
  
   - historian

External sites

• Official site
• St. James Cemetery on Find A Grave
  Find A Grave
  Find a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...