The Cemeteries of New Westminster

Presently New Westminster has three major cemeteries:

• Fraser Cemetery (the City cemetery dating from 1869/70)
• St. Peters Catholic Cemetery (private Catholic cemetery dating from the 1880s)
• Schara Tzedeck (private Jewish cemetery dating from the 1920s)

Historically,
New Westminster has had a number of burial grounds and even a few other sites (not cemeteries) where people have been buried. These include an early cemetery site (now built over) at Dufferin St. and Agnes St., cemetery grounds (now built over) where the present high school now stands, the cemetery for Woodlands (previously known as the Provincial Hospital for the Insane), and the cemetery associated with the former BC Penitentiary (closed in 1980). For information about the latter see: Boot Hill: Stories from the British Columbia Penitentiary Cemetery and The Collection and Preservation of Information About Those Who are Buried in the BC Penitentiary Cemetery

Watch this space for news of a booklet dealing with all the City’s cemeteries.

Tours

Tours presented for the City of New Westminster in 2007

Other Tours
Other Tours (separate and privately arranged and prepared) are offered year round for groups, school classes, and so on. Cemetery tours are offered of Fraser Cemetery, 100 Richmond St., and these often include burials and stories in St. Peters Catholic Cemetery (located right next to Fraser)

To find out more
For information on the Cemeteries of New Westminster, the ongoing historical research presently being completed about these cemeteries, cemetery information in general, the City sponsored tours of the local cemeteries, and the other tour possibilities, please contact:

Archie and Dale Miller
1405 –69 Jamieson Court
New Westminster, BC  V3L 5R3
Phone: (604) 526-6113
Fax:     (604) 522-5466
Email: information@senseofhistory.com

FAMILY HISTORY
Looking for information for a family tree on someone buried in New Westminster?

CONTACT THE

New Westminster Museum and Archives
302 Royal Avenue
New Westminster, BC V3L 1H7
Phone: (604) 527-4640
Fax: (604) 527-4641
Email: cstevens@city.new-westminster.bc.ca

OR THE

New Westminster Public Library Reference Department
716 - 6th Avenue
New Westminster, BC V3M 2B3
Phone: (604) 527-4665
Email: reference@nwpl.ca

OR

For leads on where to look,

Archie and Dale Miller as noted above.

A visual tour of the cemetery: views and a few examples

The views are of Fraser Cemetery and St. Peters Catholic Cemetery in New Westminster, BC. The address of the Fraser Cemetery is 100 Richmond St., New Westminster, BC, Canada. [for information on the views contact Archie and Dale Miller as noted]

Note: the Cemetery sections are still referred to by their original designations such as Masonic and Church of England to aid in locating graves but the official status of these names ended when the City took over the area of the cemeteries in the 1930s. Click here for a virtual tour of the Fraser Cemetery.

Click on any image below for a larger picture.

Return to the Local History Page.