Tours at Ross Bay Cemetery are signified RBC and start at 2pm at the cemetery entrance on Fairfield Road, opposite the south end of Stannard Street. Others start where noted. No reservations needed. Charge: $5 for non-members; $2 for members.

OCS members get a discount on the weekly tours and receive six copies per year of the newsletter “Stone Cuttings” plus advance notification of tours and other activities. Part of each membership and all donations assist many worthwhile projects undertaken by the OCS at RBC and other Greater Victoria heritage cemeteries each year.

Please visit our membership page to join the Old Cemeteries Society.

Feb. 18. RBC. Layer by Layer. In Canada, the third week of February is Heritage Week when diverse topics of the past are featured. This year the OCS will start its 37th season of walking tours at RBC by delving deep through layers of history to explore many of our community’s stories. John Adams, a founding OCS member, will start with the present day and visit 15 graves, one for every decade since RBC was founded. Along the way he will reveal fascinating glimpses of what life was like in Victoria, layer by layer.

Feb. 25. RBC. Black History. February is Black History Month in Canada, and the OCS partners with the BC Black History Awareness Society (BCBHAS) to present stories about many of the Black pioneers buried at RBC. This year twelve tombstones will be featured, including six that are being restored by BCBHAS. Some mark the graves of people who were famous in their day and played leading roles in Victoria; others were not so well known but were an integral part of the city’s life in the 1800s.

March 3. ON ZOOM. History of Ross Bay Cemetery. Last year RBC marked its 150th anniversary and is considered one of the best examples of a Victorian-era cemetery in western Canada. It has been designated as a heritage site. This week’s presentation will be on Zoom to enable a wide audience of people who appreciate heritage cemeteries to find out more about the origins, planning and development of RBC since its origins on a muddy stump-filled farm on the outskirts of town. John Adams will present this Zoom talk.

March 10. Ross Bay Villa Tour. This historic house from 1865 stands across the street from RBC. In fact, it was there before the cemetery. Today’s tour will pay a visit to the house to view its carefully restored rooms, featuring period furnishings and reproduction carpets and wallpapers. Find out about the Roscoe family, the first occupants, and visit the OCS office, which is located in the building. Meet at Ross Bay Villa, 1490 Fairfield Road.

March 17. RBC. Emily Carr Tour – Part 1. Emily Carr’s grave is one of the most visited at RBC. Every year a team of OCS guides visits the graves of many people Emily knew. Emily herself (a.k.a. Molly Raher Newman) will delight us with readings about these people from Emily’s prolific writings. A second, different Emily Carr tour is scheduled later this year.

March 24. RBC. The Chatelaines of Government House. In anticipation of a summer 2024 exhibit at the Government House Costume Museum, we will visit the graves and hear the stories of the wives of one Governor and seven Lieutenant-Governors of British Columbia. These women were not only the “keepers of the keys” for Government House, they were interesting and accomplished women in their own right who left their mark on Victoria. The tour will be led by Nancy Kostyrka, a volunteer at the Costume Museum.

March 31. RBC. Alas Poor Yorrick. When John Adams moved across the street from RBC in 1960, he knew no one buried there. Sixty-four years later, far too many of his friends and acquaintances repose in the heritage cemetery. Two years ago, John included half the list on a tour; this year he will talk about the other half. Included will be descendants from famous old families, a popular restaurateur, founding members of the OCS, and a man who was buried with one of his favourite cigars.

April 7. Jewish Cemetery. The Jewish Cemetery is the oldest continuously operating non-Indigenous cemetery in BC and has connections to many pioneers from Victoria and other places. Amber Woods, author of the OCS’s publication Guide to Victoria’s Historic Jewish Cemetery, will explain why the cemetery’s location is away from the synagogue and talk about its people, symbolism and monuments. Meet at main gates, Fernwood Rd. at corner of Cedar Hill Rd. Men please wear a hat.

April 14. RBC. Grocery Wars. Rumours among the radishes? Debauchery in the dairy section? From small independent grocers who steadfastly served their immediate neighbours to budding entrepreneurs who used their market businesses as springboards to more ambitious projects, Larissa Ciupka will introduce us to the individuals who competed to put food on the table. (And we’ll thrown in a ne’er-do-well nephew and a suspect spouse for good measure.)

April 21. The Women of St. Luke’s. On this all-new tour, Yvonne Van Ruskenveld will lead a team of St. Luke’s parishioners who will talk about the remarkable women from their own families who helped found and shape their community. Springtime is the perfect setting for a tour in this charming cemetery. Meet in the parking lot off Cedar Hill Cross Rd. at the corner of Cedar Hill Rd

April 28. RBC. Twisted History. April 28. RBC. Twisted History. On this week’s tour, John Adams will feature unusual, gruesome and downright bizarre tales from the past — with maybe a little dark humour. Hear stories about a severed hand, an exotic aviary and its equally exotic owner, a link with Billy the Kid, a funeral that could have been an episode of Keystone Cops, an unlucky elevator, a man with an excess of wives, and more unusual true accounts of long-forgotten wacky events.

May 5. Chinese Cemetery. This tour coincides with the beginning of Asian Heritage Month in Canada. For two decades, former city councillor Charlayne Thornton-Joe has provided the fascinating history of this national historic site and recounted the lives of many who are buried here, including her own grandfather. She will also feature the recently refurbished heritage interpretation panels that she arranged to have installed. Meet at the Chinese Cemetery, foot of Crescent Road, below King George Terrace.

May 12. RBC. White Bronzes of Ross Bay Cemetery.  Scattered throughout Ross Bay Cemetery are remarkably distinctive grave markers, many of them 140 years old. They are “white bronze” markers, each of them cast in zinc. Despite their antiquity, these markers are as well preserved as they ever were, their inscriptions as legible as the day the markers were installed. Alan MacLeod will shed light on what brought about the popularity of these markers, the reason their popularity waned, and the significance of the symbols they bear.

May 19 RBC. Wentworth Villa Connections. Ben Clinton-Baker, curator of Wentworth Villa, Architectural Heritage Museum, will present today’s tour. He will focus on the Ella family, who built Wentworth Villa in 1863, and explain how their home became the centre of social life in Victoria. He will include many of their friends and contemporaries who are buried at RBC.

May 26. RBC. Point Ellice Bridge Disaster. On this day in 1896, an overloaded streetcar plunged through the rotten deck of the old Point Ellice Bridge (today better known as the Bay Street Bridge), resulting in the deaths of 55 people. Yvonne Van Ruskenveld will visit the graves of many of the victims from this tragedy, the worst streetcar accident in the history of North America.

June 2. RBC. Murder Most Foul. A team of story tellers will take us to graves of murderers and their victims and tell the grisly tales found in coroners’ files, old newspapers and through interviews with family members. As the TV shows say, viewer discretion is advised.

June 9. RBC. Early Public Servants of BC. Ross Bay Cemetery is the resting place of many of BC’s early public servants. To kick off 2024 Public Service Week, Mike Woodcock, retired BC public servant, introduces some of the fascinating characters who sought to provide a semblance of order over this brand-new rough and rowdy province.

June 16. RBC. Métis Connections. Métis are First Nations people who have had a European fur trader marry into their Indigenous family. They are one of the three recognized First Peoples in Canada. Today’s tour will demystify confusion about the term and visit graves of many Métis buried at RBC and explain their historical importance to the city and the country.

June 23. RBC. City Fathers Since 1862. Many of Victoria’s early mayors are buried in Ross Bay Cemetery. Mayor Marianne Alto will lead this tour to the graves of some of our earliest mayors, who helped to shape the city we live in today. Their stories reflect the very different times through which our city grew.

June 30. RBC. OCS Projects. Over its 37-year history, the OCS has undertaken a wide range of projects in Ross Bay Cemetery to help maintain the character of this beautiful heritage site. Wilf Bruch, OCS project manager, and other members of the OCS team will visit these completed projects, explain how they were carried out and introduce you to the individuals buried there.

July 7. RBC. Fire! Back in the day when most buildings were built of wood and open flames were common in heating and lighting, fire was an ever-present danger. On today’s tour, Diana Pedersen and Yvonne Van Ruskenveld will recount vivid stories of some of the many fires that destroyed both individual buildings and whole sections of Victoria.

July 14. RBC. Francophone Connections. Today is Bastille Day and an appropriate time to remember Victoria’s strong links to French-speaking people from both France and Quebec. Many early francophone pioneers are buried at RBC. Marie-Helene Bourret, a well-known member of the francophone community, will include early Quebecois fur traders; merchants and clerics from France; and Metis wives and children who lived in Victoria during the 1800s. This tour will be conducted in English.

July 21. RBC. Graves and Glass. Diane Persson has been researching the individuals commemorated in the beautiful stained-glass windows of Christ Church Cathedral. She will reveal the fascinating stories of some of those who are buried in Ross Bay Cemetery.

July 28. RBC. Music in Early Victoria. Music was an important part of culture in 19th-century Victoria. In today’s tour, historian and performer Kate Humble will visit the graves of singers, musicians and music teachers to tell their stories and sing some of the tunes that were popular in their day. A unique, entertaining tour not to be missed.

Aug. 4. RBC. Emily Carr Tour – Part 2. This is the second of our tours about Emily Carr, whose grave is one of the most visited at RBC. Join our team of OCS guides and Emily herself (a.k.a. Molly Raher Newman) who will visit the graves of many people Emily knew and wrote about in The Book of Small and her other writings. Today’s tour is different from the one earlier this year.

Special Event. SATURDAY, Aug. 10, 2 pm. RBC. Japanese Pioneers Remembered. Over 150 Japanese were buried at RBC prior to 1942. Their graves were neglected until the 1990s when the Kakehashi Group began to document the graves and mark the ones that had never had a tombstone. Mike Abe, a member of the Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society, will conduct a tour about some of the prominent Japanese buried at RBC. This tour coincides with Obon, the Japanese Buddhist festival for remembering the dead. The tour will end at 3:00 pm at the Kakehashi Monument, dedicated to Japanese pioneers, where an Obon ceremony to commemorate and remember deceased relatives will take place. All are welcome to participate.

Aug. 11. Pioneer Square. Also known as the Old Burying Ground, this small cemetery founded in 1855 and closed in 1873 is one of BC’s oldest. On today’s tour, John Adams will cover the history, use and redevelopment of the site and will include some of the most interesting tombstones and people buried beneath them. Meet at the corner of Quadra Street and Rockland Avenue.

Aug. 18. RBC. Architects of Distinction. Heritage advocate and former city councillor Pamela Madoff will talk about the many architects who are buried at RBC (Tiedemann, Sorby, Teague, Mallandaine) or who designed monuments there (Maclure, Rattenbury), all of whom left buildings that form the basis of Victoria’s architectural legacy.

Aug. 25. RBC. Animal Stories. Today, most of the animals that surround us are pets in the form of dogs, cats and birds, but in Victoria’s past, people were familiar with a wider range of pets, working animals, farm animals and wild animals in close proximity. Yvonne Van Ruskenveld and Diana Pedersen will talk about some of these animals today at the graves of those who knew them best.

Sept. 1. RBC. Builders, Books, and Believers. Ken Sudhues, well-known heritage advocate and popular RBC tour leader, will feature the stories behind the Hallmark Heritage Society’s award winners over the past 50 years. On this new tour, learn about the families linked to buildings that won awards, authors who wrote about them, and the dedicated owners and organizations whose time, effort and funding enabled their preservation.

Sept. 8. RBC. A Day of Signs and Wonders. Today’s tour title is the name of award-winning author Kit Pearson’s novel about the fictitious meeting between Emily Carr and Kathleen O’Reilly on a beach one day in 1881, a day in which a comet appears. Kit is a frequent tour leader at RBC and is the author of many novels for young readers.

Sept. 15. RBC. New Perspectives on History. Last week’s tour featured a daughter of the O’Reilly family who grew up at Point Ellice House. This week, Kelly Black, historian and former manager of Point Ellice House National Historic Site, examines the stories of other family members, their neighbours, friends, business associates and employees. Many of these people were often portrayed as pillars of the community in Victorian society, but today are sometimes seen in a different light that will be discussed today.

Sept. 22. RBC. Gold! Long-time OCS supporter and tour leader Tom Pound has chosen gold as the subject of his tour. More details to come.

Sept. 29. RBC. Gossip in the Graveyard. Victorian-era society was not as prim and proper as it is typically portrayed. Today’s tour is about the scandal and gossip that surrounded some of those buried at RBC. The OCS team has collected some of the choicest tidbits that kept tongues wagging in bygone days and are still a source of fascination and entertainment today.

Oct. 6. RBC. PROST! German Heritage Month in Canada. In North America, the German immigrant story had early beginnings, continual growth, and steadily spreading influence. Proclaimed by Canada in 2016, German heritage is celebrated in October with an emphasis on the nine-day build up to Oktoberfest. This tour will highlight some of our early German Canadians and their contributions to the Capital Region.

Oct. 13. RBC. Women in Sport. October is Women’s History Month in Canada, and each year, Yvonne Van Ruskenveld focuses on the women of early Victoria and their lives. This year, she’s highlighting the role of sports in women’s lives. Today we have available to us all sports and the special clothing and gear to do them. It may be hard to imagine being a woman in long skirts and participating in sports but adaptations were made and gradually more women participated in more sports. On this tour, meet some of the women for whom sport was part of their lives.

Oct. 20. RBC. Spiritualism in Victoria. From small beginnings in rural New York State in the 1840s, spiritualism went viral. By the 1860s, it was all the rage in Victoria and other places across the continent. Even Abraham Lincoln is said to have participated in seances at the White House. John Adams will talk about its main proponents here in Victoria, many of whom are buried at RBC, and what they experienced during their seances.

Oct. 27. RBC. Annual Ghost Tour. One of the OCS’s most popular annual tours is based on ghost stories linked to people buried at RBC. On some of the graves, the occupants might even seem to come to life and tell their tales. Extra guides will be on hand for large numbers.

Nov. 3. RBC. Dictionary of Canadian Biography (DCB). The DCB was founded in 1959 and the first of its 15 volumes appeared in 1966. Since then, over 8,400 entries have chronicled the lives of noteworthy Canadians from sea to sea to sea. This tour is led by a team from the Victoria Historical Society who have chosen an interesting sampling out of the dozens of people at RBC included in the DCB. Some such as Emily Carr and Billy Barker are well known but many others are significant but not as famous. 

Nov. 10. Veterans’ Cemetery.Remembrance Day Tour. At this annual tour at the Esquimalt Veterans’ Cemetery (God’s Acre), John Azar and guests will share stories of the contributions and sacrifices made by people in the service of our country. Lest we forget. Access off Colville Road near the Base Hospital.

Nov. 17. Temple Emanu-El. Victoria’s synagogue is the oldest in Canada and is a National Historic Site. On today’s inside talk and tour, we’ll see its beautifully restored interior, and Amber Woods, author of the OCS’s publication Guide to Victoria’s Historic Jewish Cemetery, will explain its history. Meet at the synagogue, 1461 Blanshard Street.

Nov. 24. Royal Oak Burial Park Mausoleum. Today’s location is another indoor one. The mausoleum opened in 1996 and features elegant granite and marble corridors lined with crypts for coffins and niches for cremated remains. It is a light-filled space with beautiful stained-glass windows. The visit will include a history of mausoleums and how this one is used. Meet at the mausoleum inside the grounds. Drive through the main gates at 4673 Falaise Dr. and keep to the left. Lots of parking near the mausoleum.

Dec. 1. ON ZOOM. Old Burying Ground Christmas Tour. John Adams will delight and amaze you with Christmas and holiday stories from Victoria of old. New Christmas tales and old favourites combine with the history of one of Victoria’s oldest cemeteries, in use from 1855 to 1873.

Dec. 8. RBC. Ross Bay Christmas Tour. On this in-person tour in the cemetery, John Adams continues the yuletide theme with more warm-hearted and humorous stories. Themes are different each year, but the final stop on the tour is always Emily Carr’s family plot where a holly wreath will be placed, now an annual tradition of the OCS. (Emily’s birthday is Dec. 13.)

Pictures from past tours

The Old Cemeteries Society has created a YouTube channel, in order to provide members and others the opportunity to view some of the video recordings from our recent Sunday Tours.

The following is a list of the videos available, to date — with a few more to be uploaded in the near future:

March 28th:   Stories Behind Our Street Names — John Adams and Yvonne Van Ruskenveld

April 4th:  More Than Angels and Obelisks — Yvonne Van Ruskenveld

April 11th:   Victoria’s Militia Goes To War — John Azar

April 25th:  Pioneer Square Gold Rush Tales —  John Adams

May 30th:  Civil War Stories:  Yvonne Van Ruskenveld

U.S. Annexationists at Ross Bay Cemetery–John Adams

Multicultural Firsts In Victoria–May Q Wong

Murder Most Foul, part 1–Michael Halleran

Empire Connections-– Michael Halleran

Annie Harper Christmas Wreath–John Adams

Emily Carr Christmas Wreath–John Adans

Christmas Tour at Ross Bay Cemetery–John Adams

Here is the link to the Old Cemeteries Society YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMwFNxzMaQpxUhLVBsPMTrA

Christmas tour 2022— John Adams https://youtu.be/Zt2ZoiSDLeo

ATTENTION TEACHERS

Cemeteries provide exciting educational opportunities for all grade levels and for many subjects. Consider a visit to Ross Bay Cemetery or the Veterans’ Cemetery this year. Note some tours are available at set dates, while others may be booked at any time. Cost $45 per class.

October 1–31 Ghost tours at RBC

November 1–8 Tours on the topic of Remembrance Day at RBC or the Veterans’ Cemetery.

Other topics to choose from at any time:

• BC History • Gold Rush • Women’s History • Emily Carr • General Tour • Burial Traditions

Call 250.598.8870 to inquire about custom tours or to book.

Groups and school tours a specialty any time.

Ross Bay Cemetery and the Old Burying Ground (Pioneer Square) are open daily year-round during daylight hours. Stop by for a stroll on your own and chat with the OCS volunteers who are often at RBC. Self-guiding maps of both cemeteries are available from the OCS.

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