Material Culture of Death, Grief and Memory a Case Study

Asian Art, Culture and Heritage, 2013

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Material Culture of Death, Grief and Memory: A Case Study

Thilanka Manoj Siriwardana1

There is a Reaper, whose name is Death,

And, with his sickle keen,

He reaps the bearded grain at a breath, And the flowers that grow between….

- Longfellow, W.H. 1839

Introduction

All living beings inherit the faith of death with their birth. But, only few animals have the

sensitivity about this compulsive ending of life and it is developed among humans in a more complex

way. Jan Assmann stated “death is the origin and center of culture” and living with the dead and with

death is one of the most normal manifestations of human culture (Assmann, 2005, 1). Culture is a human

product. Archaeology, as a humanist science, studying this essence, humans expressions and perception

of themselves in society, that is death (Fahlander & Oestigaard, 2008,1). After death, carcasses are

discarded to a space and with time it provides a physical record to archaeologists to reveal that essence

about former inhabitants.

Philosophical solutions to the ultimate end of life were only invented by humans. Many philosophers

thought about an afterlife. According to the Buddhist philosophy, all the animals, plants and even gods

are bound to the cycle of death and birth in motion world (Sansāra) and death can only be stopped by

stopping the birth. Except the Buddhism, some other philosophies teach about Eternalism or eternal

ātman and Thanatism or no ātman. Monotheistic religions believe that the deceased are getting union

with the creator god or becoming lost souls if sinful. All these represent four possible answers to the

philosophical question about death.

Annihilation - It is simply the end.

Immortality: An imperishable soul lives on without the body.

Resurrection: After an intermediate period, the dead person rises to live again, in a re-created

body.

Reincarnation: Something of the essence of the dead person is reborn into another form of life.

(Gowan,2003,127)

All these explain about mental or soul related processes of death. Huntington and Metcalf expressed that

the cultural relation to death is not random but ‘meaningful and expressive’ (Huntington and Metcalf in

Chapman & Randsborg, 1981, 02). Though the philosophies and concepts are full of meaning, they are

1 Lecturer, Department of Archaeology and Heritage Management, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka

© 2013, Asian Art, Culture and Heritage, International Association for Asian Heritage, Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Material Culture of Death, Grief and Memory: A Case Study, pp. 335 – 348


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intangible and humans needed a tangible and perceptible reaction to express their feelings. With this

requirement, they formulate the practices to bid farewell to their loving ones. In these physical processes

of practices, death became only a single core matter of a process. For an example, in Catholic funeral rites

they have three main stations as, i. The visitation ii. The funeral liturgy and iii. The burial (Dowd, 2003,

01). Expressions of the living relatives about the one at rest, turned into tangible materials, and these

materials are becoming the source to archaeologists to read the past. Actually in some cultures as ancient

Egypt, Inca or Indian Vedic Brahmanism were highly dominated by the conceptually developed events

related to death.

Each culture has their way to leave a carcass in space. It can be cremated or buried, placed in a

largely built pyramid or stupa, discarding into the desert or jungle. This is also a cultural determination.

With the concern on this paper, it can explain with the Catholic’s practice of burial. As Dowd (2003)

cited from the book of Genesis (Dowd,2003,03),

“God created the first human being out of the earth and only then breathing a soul into him. After

a loved one’s soul has gone to God in death, it is now time to return his or her body to the earth from

which it was made by burying it in consecrated ground”

Some cultures prefer to place the remains of the deceased under a special building or mausoleum.

With the words of Jesus as in John 14: 2 of Holy Bible “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were

not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?” is well liked by Catholics.

Their burial tradition is linked with the practices of creating the Father’s (God’s) house, established a

great place to mean and express the feeling toward the death.

Our knowledge about the way of our pre-historic ancestors understand and express death is a

distorted image while the most recent graveyards contain full stories for archaeologists to read and each

cenotaph is a book. Reading is not only about the death but also about the whole society, their culture and

psyche, economy, politics, religion, rituals, foreign relations and many. The term cenotaph can be used

for a rock placed on a burial to a largely constructed Stupa. Skillfully and strenuously finished tombstones

are the most common cenotaph type in recent human history which let humans to symbolize and recur

their deceased relatives. This can be explained with the material culture in present study which was grown

with monotheism, i.e. Christianity. The design carved on tombstones, the materials they were made from,

the language inscribed upon them, name of the manufacturer and the stories they tell, provide the glimpse

of the past to us (Veit & Nonestied, 2008, 01). Resurrecting the memory of the deaths is dealing with

such epitaphs.

Materiality of the burials often represents the deceased’s socio-economic status with the energy

expended on the funeral. In some terms, the main reason for holding the rituals was to stress the

continuing power of the aristocracy and to prove that it remained unaffected by the death of the one. This

view of society, in which no one was indispensable and everyone could simply be replaced by another

person of similar rank (Gittings, 1988, 175). Burial practices in human history always associated with the

materials which representing the wealth, power and gender facts and as a symbolic animal, human could

associate his feelings into a constructed object as sometimes a direct expression like a tomb which

represent the death, or another figure such as Ivy leaf or weeping willow to express a hidden ideas.

Custom of depositing the objects in constructed burial, which is used by the deceased person can be found

from the pre-historic period, and the concealed meaning of erecting cenotaphs is the requirement of


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maintaining the social hierarchy and show the relation between living relatives and death for keep the

inheritance of properties. But we should not ignore the argument of some archaeologists that graves not

necessarily imply the social status and beliefs (Chapman & Randsborg, 1981,08)

Previous studies

The idea of compiling a list of Sri Lankan tombstone inscriptions of Europeans was introduced by

the Leopold Ludovici in 1877. In his Lapidarium Zeylanicum (Ludovici, 1877) he compiled the drawings

of some of Dutch epitaphs with a concise introductory page. Inaccuracies and missing phrases in

Ludovici’s work was latterly corrected by F.H. de Vos, with translations, arms and remarks, in his worthy

papers published in the Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, Ceylon branch. Further he added a new list of

tombstone and medal inscriptions in to literary sources by these papers (Vos, 1901, 1903). Some of the

English epitaphs were published from time to time in Ceylon news papers, periodicals and in R. Massie’s

‘Trincomalee inscriptions to 1871 (Lewis, 1913, v). Recording inscriptions and epitaphs became popular

among the nineteenth century historians of world (Veit & Nonestied, 2008, 07). Sri Lankan representation

of this was made in 1913, by J. Penry Lewis with a regional approach by recording each cemetery in Sri

Lanka. His publication, List of Inscriptions on Tombstones and Monuments in Ceylon (1913) was the first

(and so do the last upto now) widely distributed study of tombstones in Sri Lanka. Works about

tombstones in Sri Lanka since then can found only few and far between as Edmond Pieris’s Gonzalves

tomb at Bolawatte (1951), etc.

Methodology

Tombstone inscriptions described in this paper are from the Holy Trinity church which may be the

one of largest nineteenth century cemetery in Nuwara Eliya district, provides glimpse of contemporary

history of the life of Europeans lived in the country. The preliminary study on the site was done in year

2006 and several other studies were done in consecutive years. Carver’s signatures and epitaphs are

recorded separately with photographs and drawings. While taking notes of epitaphs, we strictly adhere to

the quaint orthography of the originals. Therefore, the fonts (capital, simple, superscript, etc.) and its

composition (acronyms and word breaking) are given here as they in the inscription. Material, shape and

height of each tombstone recorded separately. We could found 29 previously unrecorded tombstones and

five memorial tablets belonging in to the period between 1843 -1900 CE which is not included in the

Lewis’s catalogue. Some omitted phrases of epitaphs by Lewis could also found. Archival research

helped to bring the study to life. Deceased were from foreign countries and related archives were aided to

find information such as genealogical data of some people. Numbers given to the tombs in the map of

churchyard are cited here in brackets with letters “C.M” (church map) and the “map” denoting the map

drawn by the author.

Deceased European residents of colonial Nuwara Eliya had been inhumated in the cemetery and

memorial tablets placed inside of the church. These burials help to unite feelings and designated a special

place to visit on special days and anniversaries to pray and they cleaned the tombstones in each time.

Due to that, the graveyard had not exposed to vandalism and hardly touched by the destructive violence

of the tropical rain and weather. The use of land for re-burials is the only identifiable factor of vanishing

the tombstones, ten of tombstones in Lewis’s list is no longer exist in the church premises (reference

numbers of these given by Lewis’ 1913 can found at the end of the paper).


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Resurrection of death

Britain colonial measures hit the highest point of Sri Lanka which was already susceptible to the

decline and was success in 1815 CE. Acquisitiveness of Britain's and freedom rebellions of Sri Lankan’s

had highly emphasized the requirement of well organized administrative and military systems. The

established machinery of this was supported by the Europeans who sailed to east for seeking their destiny

but was not return to the motherland. Some corroded to the death by tropical climate and nature. Only few

were fortunate to have a mausoleum on their grave.

In Europe, the erection of permanent funerary monuments was well established among rich class

of Britain, as Francis Bacon noted in 1592. Gradually it led to the setting up of tombstones to ordinary

people as well as their social superiors. Some made wooden markers called bed-heads or leap boards and

some needed to be remembered in durable stones. Many of these people were buried in the churches and

they are remaining to this day. They spent tens of pounds for these tombs decorated with carvings and

metals, which got popular in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries (Gittings,1988,144).

Contemporarily this trend flowed to the eastern world with Portuguese and Dutch colonialism. Dutch

Reformed Church of Matara or Wulfendol church of Colombo and many other are representing the glory

of funeral practices in 17th

-18th century in Sri Lanka with remarkably carved headstone and ledger type

tombstones. Majority of colonial material culture are belonging to the British, who continued the

practices it in colonies since the end of 18th century.

The 19th

century cemeteries can name as ethnic cemeteries, which were entirely associated with

western immigrants, mainly from Britain. None of the burials in this certain study are belonging to the

natives. The first European settlers (especially British) in Nuwara Eliya, needed a place for match their

religious requirements. In 1845, construction of an Anglican Church was start resembled the Canterbury

church at England, and ended with long seven years late, in 24th

February, 1852. The church was founded

by James Chapmen, the first Bishop of Colombo, who also founded St. Thomas’s College in 1851. First

clergy served at Church was H.H. Von Dadelszen (1843-1846) and since there were eighteen clergies

(150th anniversary memento, 2002) who served in the period up to 1900CE. Within that period the church

was mostly served to the coffee - tea planters and military - civil officers. Oldest document in the

possession of church is not older than 1888CE, i.e. burial records and the map of Holy Trinity church’s

cemetery was first surveyed and mapped by W. Milbanke Mayes in 1886, Phillip Franke in 1906 and

finally by the Nuwara Eliya survey agency in 1941.

Tombstones of this cemetery can simply be classified into five main types by their form.

1. Headstone

a. Normal head stone

b. Head stone with cross

2. Ledger

3. Coffin

4. Free standing cross

a. Normal cross

b. Cross with pedestal


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5. Pedestal

All these forms stand on earth to represent died humans and have a concise description about him or

her. Varying forms, shapes and materials of the tombs represent the details of economy and wealth and

here we mainly concern on what an epitaph can say about the deceased.

Death and Grief

What people who have experienced loss, believe, feel and do varies enormously from culture to

culture. Muted grief with emotional control in bereavement is highly priced in Balinese culture in Bali

and the Ifaluk culture, a Pacific atoll people. Completely different from that, people of some cultures as

slums of Egypt are dwelling on pain with constant suffering. (Rosenblatt,1993,14). Some believe that

death ends a relationship and some believes that it does not (ibid, 17). People of latter group give farewell

to the deceased with grieve but with the confidence that there will be a reunion in heaven. For an

example, epitaph on the Caroline Hannah’s tomb (13) says, “weep not for me nor yet lament, I was not

yours but only lent, dry those tears and weep no more, I am not lost but gone before”. The phrase carved

as that it is a posthumous saying of died one for normalizing the grief of living people which could

neither muted nor excessive and in every time of visits, relatives are promised to keep the relationship

because they met again at heaven. In the cross cultural variation, eastern philosophies as Buddhism and

Hinduism ask not to weep nor lament because all of us are met again and again in the Sansara circle and

until the end of journey it will do so. Then Buddhists are working to attain the best pleasure of Nibbana or

stop the journey in circle and Hindus are for oneness. None of these are saying about imperishable mind.

But various philosophers of the western world as Descartes and Kant argued that we need not fear death

because the mind/soul is eternal and the decay of the body should not take heavily (Moore &

Williamson,2003,9). Then departing of a relative should not take as gone forever, but only separation for

a little while.

Death rate is remarkable with the age given in these tomb inscriptions; most of them are belonging

to the people below 40 in age. As a percentage of all tombs studied under this period 62% died before

their 40th birthday and 16% between ages 40-50. Two deaths in age range of 10-20 and 4 in 20-30. Only

four deaths are in the range of 40-70. 27of inscriptions are giving accurate age of death occurred, 6 were

died before their 1st birthday and 8 were before their 10

th birthday. There are 17 females among newly

recorded and from that 12 are child and damsels who died before their 20’s. Beside a death of an elderly

person more grief was caused with a death of a child. Catholic children are praying to god before they

sleep and one such prayer is as “now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, If I should

die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take” (Nelsen, 1993, 24). They believe the heaven is the

kingdom of child and they fell into rest at the God. Phrases in these tombs of infants says, “he fell a sleep

in Jesus (12)”, “suffer little children come unto me and forbid them not”(14), “suffer little children and

forbid them not to come unto me for of such is the kingdom of heaven (25)”, “there shall all bloom in

fields of light, transplanted by my care, and saints upon their garments white, these sacred blossoms

wear(27)” “called home (26)”. God is the father of all humans and he expressly cares about infants as

they are pure in mind and heart. Consequently in Christianity, infant is portrayed as an innocent childlike

lamb and god as good shepherd who hold lamb in hand. “he shall gather the lambs with his arm” can


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found in Philip Thomas’s (11) tomb and where citation can found from the Isaiah 40:11 of the Old

Testament. Christians are believing the God is made up with three aspects, i.e. father (creator), son

(Jesus) and Holy Spirit, together known as Holy Trinity. Inevitably the kingdom of heaven is belonging to

child because the holiness can purely be found in them.

What kind of grief can occur with the death of loving wife? According to the existing records of

this period, many of European females were married in the first of their 20’s and almost vulnerable to

death in minor due to arid climate of the country, lack of health facilities in maternity and delivery,

pandemics, etc,. Three men lost their wives (13,16,17) at Nuwara Eliya. Caroline Hannah (13), the

beloved wife of George Summers, died in her youth. Grief of her husband is expressive with the phrase in

epitaph, what she asking for not to weep or lament. However some men manage the grief and not revolve,

married after a little while. Oxton Jones lost his wife, Daisy (16) in 1891, and says she was a loving

memory to him, and it seems that he married again, because according to the genealogy of a girl called

Kathleen Phyllis Oxton - Jones, she was born in 1898 to the Samuel Oxton in Ceylon (internet -

familytreemaker). But no records exist about this latter spouse.

There are 67 burials (36 female) belonging to our studying period in this grave yard and eight

females of them do not have a date on their tomb, which is similar to some lineage documents of British

and American families. Birth and deceased years of many female antecedents were omitted and always

cited with their name only. Further at times their names associated to marriage details only. This can be

an influence of contemporary social inequalities between man and women, further it may possibly

develop along with the British people who worked in oriental countries for military-civil services.

Some members of the family died in consecutive months and it seems that consecutive deaths of

family members were an often incident in the colonial period. Issabella Jane (17), the wife of Walter R.

Tringham died in 23rd

January 1892. Quite six months later their 24 years old son, Walter Bossward

Tringham (18) died and buried in this same yard. According to the church burial records Winnie

Kellow’s (26) grandparents are died in the same month of the year. Their burial record is as ‘William &

Ellen Mary Kellow, who Died January 1884, Aged 65 & 66 Years’ (died within 4 days of same month -

burial record 234,235). Another such case is Charles William’s death (27), the son of the James and

Cristine Griab was died on 5th March, 1886 and again his sister, Isabel Mary (27) died in the following

month, 17th

February, 1886. The reason for these deaths can be a pandemic as aforementioned. Both of

them were buried in the same place.

Age >1 1-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70 70< Total

Male 5 (2) 2 (2) - 5(3) 7 (1) 4 (-) 2 (1) 3 (1) 1 (-) 29(11)

Female 5 (4) 6 (6) 2(2) 3(1) 2 (2) 3 (1) - 3 (1) 4 (-) 28(17)

Total 10 (6) 8 (8) 2 (2) 8 (4) 9 (5) 7 (1) 2 (1) 6 (2) 5 57

Number of individuals not given with age = 2 males (1) , 8 females (3)

Table 1. Values in the bracket are representing the individuals in present paper and other is

for whole individuals.


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After life

In Christianity, they believe about the immortality with union of God after death. But also they

believe about the resurrection as Isaiah 26:19 mentions only the righteous are resurrecting. Donald

Gowan (2003,127) suggest that the hope of resurrection means the expectation that at some future time a

dead person, after waiting some sort of intermediate state, would rise to a new life. However a question is

arousing about this intermediate state, because it is said that the righteous are in the presence of God

immediately after death and leads into eternal life and sinners are leads to immediate punishment by

Satan (ibid). Some aspirations on the tombstones as Angus Liewelyn Lewis (22), “thy will be born”,

expresses belief that the little child will resurrect or reincarnate from the death. But it is not definite

whether this rebirth ensues on earth or heaven. Living people are wishing immortality to the died persons

in heaven with union of God can take as the general belief among contemporary Catholics.

Biblical Quotations

Use of the biblical phrases and mentioning the source is a characteristic feature of these

tombstones. John 10:ii (2), Math : xi . 28 (21), Math xix – 14 (25) are such instances. According to the

citation of Caroline Sarah’s (2) the phrase “the life (illegible) in the fold” is in John 10:2 of New

Testament. But the given phrase is inconsistency with actual John 10:2 which originally says “…The one

who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep…”. In the section of John in bible, the word ‘fold’

mean a fold of sheep. Above phrase can be a wrapping up the main idea of John as “the life of the

diseased is alike to a sheep in the fold and it will be protected by Jesus”. Source places of some unique

phrases can found from the bible. In Emma Jane’s (6), “blessed are the pure in heart” is incised on a leaf

on virgin goddess’s figure and it originally can found from the Matthew 5:8 of the New Testament. “the

lord gave and the lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the lord” of William Edward’s (10) is in

the Job 1:21b-22 of the Old Testament. “suffer little children come unto me and forbid them not” (14)

can be from the New Testament, the Matthew 19:14 or from the Mark 10:14. “come unto me” (17) was

extracted from Mark 10 of New Testament.

Beside the use of biblical phrases, there are some quoted from literature. “There shall all bloom

in fields of light, transplanted by my care, and saints upon their garments white, these sacred blossoms

wear” (27) is an example for such an instance, a phrase probably quoted from the Henry Wadsworth’s

poem ‘The Reaper and the flowers’ (1839) (Longfellow,1902,31). This poem is about the reaper whose

name is death and taking all the flowers (lives) away to the heaven and further its pain and tears to the

mother because of giving her most loved flowers. I believe the reason to use such a phrase in this tomb

can be the grief of parents, the James and Cristine Graib who lost their two children in consecutive

months of 1886.

The ‘perfect peace’ can found in many places of the Bible and hymns based on it are as ‘peace

perfect peace’ is very popular among Catholics. Use of it in epitaphs is as ‘peace perfect peace’ (20) and

there is a complete hymn related to death is as ‘Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and ours? Jesus

has vanquished death and all its powers....’, which means that Jesus has defeated the death

(Spurgeon,1909,3).


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Ewen Wrottesley Hay and Annyie Eisdeu Cameron

(Source - National Portrait Gallery. London)

Genealogy

References to genealogy of some deceased can construct with the aid of memorial tablets, other

tombstones, burial records of the church and by archival records. I believe that the trend of establishing a

memorial tablets in churches is a further development of tombstones but also the relatives might need to

represent that died is living in the God’s house (church) as he does in heaven. There is a marble tablet

placed in the church for the memory of Maria Scarlet (1) includes the same epitaph of her tomb. This

tablet was erected by her two daughters, Sarah Bullock and Sophia Barker who lament the loss of a kind

and affectionate Parent. Captain William Fisher’s (3) tablet is the most fruitiest tablet of all which says

that he was in Ceylon civil service and was died on the spot by falling from his horse at Ettampitiya, near

Badulla. His wife was Sophy Fisher. Two of their child, Frederic William Fisher and Wilmot Fisher were

died at the Wavendon estate in Ramboda and inter in trinity churchyard and other two, Catherine Emily

Fisher and Kate Fisher were died at Doombegastalave estate and buried there.

Colonial Ceylon was organized into a well planed body of governing, as aforementioned and

higher official posts were born by the British too. Henry Edward Reyne was such an officer who was

employed for the Public Works department in charge of the construction of the Panwila - Kelebokka road

(Lewis, 1913,364). He had a daughter, Catherine Reyne (4) and two sons named Frances Cavendish

Reyne and Spencer Burleigh Reyne. Frances was died in 28th

October 1863 aged 3 years and 3 months.

He was also buried in this church yard but his tomb no longer exists. Frances was followed by his sister.

Lewis gives the year of the death of little Catherine as 1862 AD. (ibid), but it must be corrected as 1866

AD., which is clearly declared in the inscription.

Virginia Alice May (07) was the daughter of Ewen Wrottesley Hay Cameron (1843-1888) who

was a Businessman in Ceylon. Details about him are preserved with the records of his mother. He was the

second son of Charles Hay Cameron (1795-1880) and Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879). Ewen

Cameron married to Annie Eisdell Cameron (née

Chinery, born in ca. 1851) in 1869 who was the

daughter of Edward Chinery from Lymington, the

nearest mainland port to Freshwater. Soon after

their wedding the couple left for Ceylon to run

Ewen's Rathoongodde Forest coffee estate. Their

wedding photos and individual photos taken by

Julia Cameron, are now in the National Portrait

Gallery, London (pers. comm., Nicolaides, 2010).

Parents of Ewen’s moved to Ceylon in 1875 and

had purchased rubber and coffee plantations on the

Island, managed under difficulties of agriculture

and finance. Julia Margaret Cameron was an eager photographer, success in the field with wined medals

and she made some photographs of Ceylon in her short period, died after a brief illness in this country

(Internet - Victoria and Albert museum).

Following genealogy of some people could also found:

Samuel Oxton Jones a tea merchant who the husband of Daisy (16). He lived at Sphinx Lodge 107 IC

Nuwaraeliya (internet - familytreemaker).


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Mother and brother of little Emma Jane (6), Frances Ellen Mclaren who died in 4th

April, 1892,

aged 42 and James Arthur Mclaren, who born in April of 1870 and died in May 1914, respectively, buried

in one burial.

Father of Phillip Hubbard (11), Mr. Hugh Leonard Hubbard died on 3rd

November of 1887, aged

37 and was buried in this churchyard. His low copped granitic gneiss tomb can found next to his child’s

tomb.

Manufacturers

Settlers in Nuwara Eliya used tombstones made by various materials to commemorate their loved

ones and the use of these materials can roughly be classified in to a time line. The first tombstones are

made with Granite stones from 1857, first terraso stone from 1862 and marble stone from 1876. Sources

for granite were native and marble was imported from Italy (pers. comm. Raymond), which later became

the popular material for tombstones. The source of terraso is unknown and use of it can be found more

scarcely. All three materials can be identified until the end of our selected period. The only example of

sandstone belonging to 1879 is a rare piece of artwork. Both native and foreign manufacturers were in

the industry and some of them marked their name on the tomb. I believe the last two words in William

Edward (10) ‘Behenna, St Austell’ inscribed on the left down corner of the tombstone with little font,

stand for personal name and place name respectively. There are two villages called St. Austell in United

Kingdom, one in Bath and other in Cornwall (Google earth). Therefore the above two words may refer to

the surname of the tombstone manufacturer and his village. Manufacturer of the Annie Walker’s tomb

(20) is special among others, made by A.F. Raymond & Company (founded in 1885) of Boralla. Tomb

made with to materials, i.e. marble imported from Italy and granite from Sri Lankan sources (Pers.comm.

Raymond,21.2.2011). J. Whitelead and Sons’ in Westminster of United Kingdom was the manufacturer of

the tomb of Dougles Dovton’s (28).

Some of the nineteenth century cemeteries of the Nuwara Eliya are in the possession of Catholic

Church and they are showing a movement to protect them as garden cemeteries, while making new grave

yards for burials. The vista with the open space around the Church adds an archaic feeling to it and also to

the devotees and the tombstones do not mar the view.

List of inscriptions

1. Granatic gneiss headstone (2’3”), MARIA SCARLETT, DIED 29TH

AUGT 1861., AGED 61

YEARS.25

2. Granatic gneiss headstone (2’3”) IN MEMORY OF CAROLINE SARAH, INFANT DAUGHTER OF

HERMAN AND MARY, DIED 2ND

NOVR 1864, AGED 6 DAYS, “THE LIFE (illegible) IN THE

FOLD., JOHN 10:II. 37

3. Granatic gneiss headstone (4’1”) SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF CAPTN

WILLIAM FISHER,

LATE 78TH

58TH

& 95TH

REGTS,

WHO DIED 5TH

MAY 1866, AGED 52 YEARS. 38


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4. Granatic gneiss headstone (2’9”) IN MEMORY OF CATHERINE BELOVED CHILD OF HENRY

AND CATHERINE REYNE, DIED 1ST

SEPTR 1866. AGED 3 YEARS AND 4 MONTHES. 35

5. Headstone (4’3”) SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THE BELOVED CHILD OF THE REVD W.E

ROWLANDS, WHO DIED AT NUWARA ELIYA., DECEMBER 31ST

1867., AGED 17 MONTHS,

“OF THE SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN”,

MARK . X. 14. 48

6. Granatic gneiss headstone (5’) SACRED TO THE MEMORY (“BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN

HEART”), EMMA JANE, INFANT DAUGHTER OF JAMES & FRANCES ELLEN, MCLAREN,

WHO DIED AT NEVERA ELLIA, MAY 6TH

1874, AGED 5 WEEKS., “THE LORD GAVE AND

THE LORD HATH TAKEN AWAY”. 41

7. Marble free standing cross - SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF VIRGINIA ALICE MAY,

YOUNGEST CHILD OF EWEN WROTTESLEY HAY AND ANNYIE EISDEU(or ll) CAMERON

WHO LEFT THEM ON THE 24th

DECR 1876, AGED NEARLY SEVEN MONTHS.42

8. Marble headstone, (2’9”) In MEMORY OF THE INFANT DAUGHTER OF ANDREW L . & MARY

CROSS., DIED 12TH

JUNE 1879. 29

9. Base of free standing marble cross. IN LOVING MEMORY OF DIED HESTER INFANT

DAUGHTER OF HARRY AND MABEL SILIFANE DIED JUNE 4TH

1881 AGED 13. 26

10. Marble headstone, (3’1”) SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIAM EDWARD, THE BELOVED

SON OF JOHN AND VIRTUE MARIA COSTON, BORN 16TH

JANUARY 1881., DIED 20TH

OCTOBER 1881., “The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord;’ -

BEHENNA, STAUSTELL. 33

11. Marble headstone with a cross - PHILIP THOMAS, SECOND SON OF HUGH AND ELLEN

HUBBARD. DIED AUGUST 28TH

1883. AGED ONE YEAR. “HE SHALL GATHER THE LAMBS

WITH HIS ARM”. 49

12. Free standing cross - IN LOVING MEMORY - OF - HAMILTON MANSFIELD PATERSON,

DIED AT STAFFORD 13TH

APRIAL 1886, AGED 7 YEARS., “HE FELL A SLEEP IN JESUS”. 46

13. Granatic gneiss free standing cross (4’9”) IN LOVING MEMORY OF CAROLINE HANNAH, THE

BELOVED WIFE OF GEORGE WILLIAM SUMMERS. S.C.P., DIED 24TH

MAY 1886 AGED 35

YEARS., “WEEP NOT FOR ME NOR YET LAMENT., I WAS NOT YOURS BUT ONLY LENT”.,

DRY THOSE TEARS AND WEEP NO MORE,I AM NOT LOST BUT GONE BEFORE. 31

14. Free standing cross (2’6”) - IN LOVING MEMORY, CECIL ANNA, DEARLY BELOVED CHILD

OF DAVID AND ANNA POWER.DIED 20TH

MAY 1887 AGED 1 YEAR., SUFFER LITTLE

CHILDREN COME UNTO ME AND FORBID THEM NOT. 55


345

15. Marble free standing cross (2”11”) “CHARLES RITCHIE”, OF GRUDEM ABERDEEN SHIRE,

DIED AT NEW GALWAY, 14 SEPT 1887. 28

16. Marble free standing cross (5’) “IN LOVING MEMORY OF DAISY”, “BELOVED WIFE OF S.

OXTON – JONES. “WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE OCTOBER 10TH

1891”, “AT REST”. 8

17. Marble headstone (4’6”) SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF ISABELLA JANE, THE BELOVED

WIFE OF WALTER R.TRINGHAM. WHO DIED 23RD

JANUARY 1892, AGED 49 YEARS,

“COME UNTO ME”. 3

18. Marble headstone (4’), IN LOVING MEMORY OF “WALTER BOSSWARD TRINGHAM”, DIED

23RD

JULY 1892, AGED 24 YEARS. “GOD IS LOVE”. 4

19. Marble free standing cross (3’7”) OLAVE DOROTHY, BELOVED CHILD OF GUSTAVUS AND

SUSAN TALBOT. DIED 26TH

JUNE 1893. AGED 2 YEARS & 2 MONTHS. “THEY SHALL BE

MINE …….IN THAT DAY WHEN I MAKE UP MY JEWELLS”. 14

Remarks - According to the burial register of the Church, inhumation of Olave was done in 27th

June

of 1893, the day soon after her death (Burial record No. 295).

20. Marble and granatic gneiss free standing cross - ERECTED BY CORA, IN LOVING MEMORY OF

HER MOTHER ANNIE JANE WALKER WHO DIED MARCH 5 . 1895. AGED 40 YEARS. AND

FOR HER SISTER DAISY WHO DIED APRIAL 8 . 1895 AGED 12 YEARS “PEACE PERFECT

PEACE” - A . F RAYMOND & CO. KANATTA. COLOMBO. 51

Inhumation of Annie Jane was done in 7th March of 1895 (Burial record No. 303).

21. Marble free standing cross (5’4”) THY WILL BE DONE, IN LOVING MEMORY OF JAMES

GEORGE BARTHOLOMEUSZ. BORN 29TH

JUNE 1830. DIED 10TH

MAY 1895. “I WILL GIVE

YOU REST”.MATH : XI . 28. HENDRICK ANTHONISZ BARTHOLOMEUSZ. BORN 9 TH JUNE

1868. DIED 24TH

AUGUST 1898. 59

22. Granatic gneiss headstone with cross (3’10”) IN LOVING MEMORY OF, ANGUS LIEWELYN

LEWIS. SON OF J . PENRY AND VIOLET LEWIS, BORN IN FEB. 1895.,DIED 24.DEC.1899,

“THY WILL BE BORN”. 15

Remarks - During the period of the death of Agnus, his daughter, J. Penry was the special commissioner,

land settlement department of Matara.If this J. Penry Lewis was the same person who wrote the book

titled ' List of inscriptions on tombstones and monuments in Ceylon of historical or local interest, with an

obituary of persons uncommemorated' (1913), a question is arousing with this omitting of his daughter’s

inscription in his book.

23. Marble free standing cross (4’) “TO the dear memory of “MARY HELENA (CISSIE). SCOTT, Born

10th Dec

.R 1873,Died 28

TH April 1896., “The Hope Of Unaccomplished Years”, 16

24. Marble free standing cross (1’7”) - SYLVIA MARY, BELOVED CHILD OF, GORDON AND

ANNIE FOWLER, FELL A SLEEP JUNE 5 -1896, AGED 7 MONTHS. 2


346

25. Marble pedestal tomb (1’10”) IN LOVING MEMORY OF CONSTANCE MARY, BELOVED

DAUGHTER OF REGINALD AND ELIZABETH GLENIE OF MACDUFF ESTATE, LINDULA,

WHO DIED AT LINDULA 18TH

JULY 1896, SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN AND FORBID THEM

NOT TO COME UNTO ME FOR OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. MATH XIX – 14 . 5

26. Marble headstone (2’7”) In loving memory of WINNIE, Youngest child of MARGARET And

A.J.KELLOW, Called Home, 16th

decr . 1896. Aged 6 years.- Calcutta, Brown & co. sots. 40

27. Granatic gneiss headstone (4’2”) “SACRCU”, TO THE MEMORY OF , CHARLES WILLIAM, SON

OF, JAMES & CRISTINE GRAIB, BORN 13TH

MARCH 1879, DIED 5TH

MARCH – 1886, AND OF

THERE INFANT DAUGHTER, ISABEL MARY, BORN 6TH

JUNE 1885, DIED 17TH

FEBRUARY

1886., “THERE SHALL ALL BLOOM IN FIELDS OF LIGHT, TRANSPLANTED BY MY CARE,

AND SAINTS UPON THEIR GARMENTS WHITE, THESE SACRED BLOSSOMS WEAR,”. 9

28. Terraso headstone (2’9”) In loving memory of DOUGLES F . DOVTON. DIED 3RD

MAY 1897.

AGED 24 YEARS. R.I.P , J.WHITELEAD & SONS

WESTMINISTER. 57

Remarks - the letters ‘R.I.P.’ standing as an acronym for the ‘Rest In Peace’.

29. Marble free standing cross AUGUSTUS CAMPBELL, DIED 30TH

NOVEMBER 1899 AGED 29

YEARS. 58

Beside these 29 tombs, there is another newly recorded one which does not bear a date itself, and is not

included in Lewis’s work. According to the cemetery map it is the burial 203, and I believe it can be

belong to the late 19th century.

Marble head stone with a cross (3’9”) SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF MADELINE ISABELLA,

FOURTH DAUGHTER OF GEORGE AND MONTAGUE ABERCROMBY ARMITAGE, THE LORD

GAVE AND LORD HATH TAKEN AWAW, BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD. 44

Conclusion

Matale Demada Oya inscription (1st cent. BC.) or Abhayagiriya southern Vāhalkada relic casket

inscriptions of Kanitta thissa’s relatives (1st cent. AD) or a tombstone with an inscription erected

yesterday belongs to a diseased person’s memory but not only that, because it comes through the

memory, grief and feelings of the living. Hence we believe tombstone inscriptions and memorial tablets

are great evidence for re-identifying the consciousness of our descendants.

While thousand of new tombstones are erected every year, others disappear, victims of vandalism,

weathering or development. A good record of the cemeteries can be an invaluable piece for future

researchers. By studying the tombs that our forefathers and mothers erected, we can better understand

their lives and culture, the art they created and their sorrows. Tomb is a personalized glimpse of the past,

but it represents the social feelings of the ones who lived during the time.


347

Acknowledgments

My first acknowledgment must go to my loving mother and Pramuditha who kept me energetic and

strong while doing the study. Thanks must also goes to the Rev. Father John A. Shier for his facilitation

in 2006 survey, Rev. Father Lalith Lakjendra Kumar for 2009 survey and Mr. Sunder Raj, the caretaker of

Church. Information provided by Constantia Nicolaides of National Portrait Gallery, London, is highly

effective to the completeness of the study.

Reference numbers to the J.P. Lewis’s recorded tombstones, which are not exist any longer in the

churchyard.

1399, 1400, 1401, 1402, 1415, 1422, 1423, 1425, 1429, 1430.

References

150th anniversary memento, 1852-2002., 2002, 24th February 2002, Holy Trinity Church, Sri Lanka

Assmann, Jan, 2005, Death and salvation in ancient Egypt, trans. by David Lorton, Cornell University, New York.

Chapman, Robert & Klavs Randsborg, 1981, Approaches to the archaeology of death, pp. 1 - 24, The archaeology of death -

New directions in archaeology, ed by, Robert Chapman, Ian Kinnes, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Dowd, Thomas, 2003, Our Catholic funeral rites, St. Thomas a Becket Roman Catholic Parish, Pierrefonds.

Fahlander, Fredrik & Terje Oestigaard, 2008, The materiality of death: Bodies, burials, beliefs, BAR International Series 1768,

Publishers of British Archaeological Reports, England.

Gittings, Clare, 1988, Death, burial and the individual in early modern England, Routledge, London.

Holy Trinity Church Grounds. Central province, Surveyed by the Nuwara Eliya Survey Agency in Sept. 1941.(map)

Holy Trinity Church Nuwara Eliya, Burial Register -1888 To.

Lewis, J. Penry, 1993 (first pub. 1913) , List of inscriptions on tombstones and monuments in Ceylon of historical or local

interest, with an obituary of persons uncommemorated, Navrang in collaboration with lake house bookshop, Colombo

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1902, The complete works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Houghton Mifflin Company,

Boston.

Ludovici, Leopold., 1877, Lapidarium Zeylanicum, being a collection of monumental inscriptions of the Dutch churches and

churchyards of Ceylon, J. Maitland and Co., Colombo.

Nelsen, Vivian Jenkins, 1993, One woman’s interracial journey, pp. 21 -28, Ethnic variations in dying, death and grief :

Diversity in universality, ed. by Donald Irish, Kathleen Lundquist, Vivian J. Nelsen, Taylor and Francis publishers,

Philadelphia.

Pieris, Edmond, 1951, At the tomb of Gonsalvez, a brief history of Bolawatte, A centenary souvernier.

Rosenblatt, Paul C., 1993, Cross cultural variation in the experience, expression and understanding of grief, pp. 13-20, Ethnic

variations in dying, death and grief : Diversity in universality, ed. by Donald Irish, Kathleen Lundquist, Vivian J. Nelsen,

Taylor and Francis publishers, Philadelphia.

Spurgeon, C.H., 1909, Peace perfect peace, No. 3175-76, Sermon Vol. 55, Kerrville, USA.

Veit, Richard F. & Mark Nonestied, 2008. New Jersey cemeteries and tombstones: history in the landscape, Rivergate Books,

New Jersey.

Vos, F.H. de, 1901, Supplementary paper on the monumental remains of the Dutch East India company in Ceylon, pp.52-72,

Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, Ceylon branch, XVII 1901.

- 1903, Second supplementary paper on the monumental remains of the Dutch East India company of Ceylon, pp

51-88, Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, Ceylon branch, No.54, 1903.


348

Archives and collections

Isle of Wight Record Office, England. - JER/CAM/3 1869, Appointment of Mrs Julia Margaret Cameron.

National portrait gallery, London, England.

Personal communication

Nicolaides, Constantia., 30.03.10, Photographs cataloguer, National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London

Raymond, Shanan, 21.02.2011, Managing director, A.F. Raymond and Company, D.S. Senanayake Mawatha, Colombo 07.

World Wide Web

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, - http://www.vam.ac.uk /collections/photography

/features/photo_focus/cameron/biography/index.html

Family tree maker - http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com /users/f/e/n/Kenneth-H-Fenner/ WEBSITE-0001 /UHP-0147.html

Old Testament - http://www.gospeltruth.net

Documents

Material Culture of Death, Grief and Memory a Case Study