Madras Cemeteries

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Some cemeteries in the city of Madras.

1909 Map of Madras[1]

The Madras Cemeteries Board manages Christian cemeteries in Madras. The website displays images from Kilpauk and Kasimode Cemetery.

Fort St George, Madras

St Mary's Church

The headstones of St Mary's, Fort St George have been removed from their original locations, but can still be viewed around the church. All the headstones have been transcribed and are listed in a booklet entitled 'A Walk Around St Mary's'. Only the very earliest burials took place here, as the churchyard quickly filled up. Once St Mary's was full, the British Cemetery was opened.

  • Photographs of 28 gravestones collected and placed nearby St. Mary's Church in the 'Guava Garden' can be viewed via the FIBIS database.
Archive.org version. Note, illustrations in the first file are superior, even though both files are supposed to be from the same source.
  • At the British Library, Official Publications: Church Registers IOR/V/27/73 gives details of the four volumes of the book List of burials at Madras compiled from the register of St. Mary’s Church, Fort St. George by C.H. Malden, for the period 1680-1900, published 1903-05, these being for the years 1680-1746; 1749-1800; 1801-1850 and 1851-1900. Also available as Shelfmark OIR 929.5 open access , where the four volumes are bound in one.
All four volumes are available online, see Cemeteries - Inscriptions in online books.

Pallavan Salai, Madras

(This section appears to have been written in April 2007)

Old British Cemetery

This is a huge cemetery and very overgrown. Although the grounds are in poor condition, most of the headstones appear to be intact, which is unusual for India.

Presbyterian Cemetery

This small, derelict cemetery is not marked on any maps. It is near the overpass of Pallavan Salai near the Old British Cemetery. An old lady, who apparently lives on the grounds, has a complete listing of all the inscriptions. She speaks no English, and will simply hand the booklet to any person of European appearance who wanders into the cemetery. If you visit, you should tip her.

Washermanpettah Cemetery

(This section appears to have been written in April 2007)
Washermanpettah is an area of northern Madras. This is a huge and very disorganised cemetery. Although the burial records of my ancestors showed that some had been buried at Washermanpettah Cemetery in the nineteenth century, I was unable to find any graves earlier than the 1940's. It is possible that there may be more than one cemetery, although the locals assured me that there wasn't, or alternatively I may just have not gone to the right spot within the cemetery.

Pursewalkum Cemetery

This is the burial ground for St Matthias' at Vepery. The cemetery has had many of the headstones demolished to build a Tamil church. When I visited in 1993, half of the remainder was under water. Nevertheless, I found the graves of two of my ancestors. To get to this cemetery, you will need to visit St Matthias' on the corner of V.K.Sampath Road and Vepery High Road, and ask for a guide. It is about a 15 minute walk.

Madras War Cemetery

External links

The Cemetery was formed in 1903 and is maintained by the Madras Cemeteries Board.[2]
  • "Will Chennai's Jews be there?" by S. Muthiah Sep 30, 2002 The Hindu, archived. Includes mention of a Jewish cemetery in a corner of the larger cemetery off Lloyd's Road.
"Uncovering a story of ill-fated romance and tragic death" by Andrew Whitehead 11 June 2017. BBC News Magazine. The Jewish cemetery "tucked away on a busy market street not far from Marina beach, with stalls obscuring the entrance". Includes photographs.

Historical books online

References

  1. ↑ Imperial Gazetteer of India, Volume 26, Atlas 1909 edition, Madras, page 54.
  2. ↑ Quibble Island Cemetery Chennai April 29, 2014. Muthusamy's Photo Stream.
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