Some Cemeteries in South India

After the British left India, the Church of South India was formed out of all Protestant denominations. In most cases, if you are trying to find the grave of a Protestant ancestor, find the local C.S.I. church and ask the pastor. If he cannot help you, he will generally find someone who can.

MADRAS

The Madras Cemeteries Board

300 Kilpauk Garden Road Madras 600-010 ph. 611 506

The Board manages all Christian cemeteries in Madras. The Honourary Secretary is L.Joseph, with whom I have corresponded. He is very helpful. If you have any questions about any of the Christian cemeteries in Madras, you should address them to the Board.

Fort St George, Madras

St Mary's Church

The headstones 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.

Pallavan Salai, Madras

Old British Cemetery

This is a huge cemetery and very overgrown. Locals told me that there were snakes in the undergrowth so I was unwilling to investigate many of the older monuments. Although the grounds are in poor condition, most of the headstones appear to be intact, which is unusual for India.

Presbyterian Cemetery

I stumbled across this small, derelict cemetery under the overpass of Pallavan Salai while I was trying to find the Old British Cemetery. This cemetery is not marked on any maps that I saw. 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

(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 SURROUNDS

Poonamallee

ph.57 2009

This is a large and ill-kept cemetery. Unfortunately, many of the monuments have had their slate tablets removed, probably to use as building materials. To get to this cemetery, take a taxi or auto-rickshaw along Poonamallee High Road. It is about 30 minutes by road from Madras to Poonamallee.

Pallavaram

The former Anglican church is St Stephen's (ph.40 1472). You can catch a train or bus to Pallavaram. From the train station, I walked to St Stephen's, which is just off the highway, and the pastor arranged for a young man to give me a ride to the cemetery on his bicycle. Unfortunately, I can't accurately describe how to get to the cemetery, as I was more concerned about hanging on to the bike at the time! However, if you ask the pastor politely, I'm sure you will be guided. Don't forget to tip your guide.

ARCOT & VELLORE

The English Cemetery at Arcot

Arcot English Cemetery has graves from 1806 onwards. I was guided there by a doctor, who was asked by the local pastor of St Mary's Church, Ranipet. Ranipet is on the other side of the river from Arcot, but was the 'Arcot church' in the nineteenth century. The cemetery was very poorly preserved and most of the monuments had their slate tablets missing.

Vellore

Central Church

Has graves from 1788 to 1865, but they appear to be only of officers and their families.

Protestant Christian Cemetery

Has graves from 1870 onwards. Well preserved and cared for.

BANGALORE

St John's Church

132 St John's Church Road, Cleveland Town Post Box 544, Bangalore 560 005

ph.572 805

Established 1858. Has some graves in the churchyard.

Old Protestant or Agram Cemetery

Police Reserve Lines Richmond Road, Bangalore This cemetery is under the control of the ASC Officers' Mess and permission from them is needed to enter the cemetery. There are Protestant graves from 1813 to 1867. When I last visited it in 1994, it was extraordinarily overgrown, even by Indian standards. However, since then, Admiral Dawson has done a fantastic job cleaning it up and documenting it. Ronnie Johnson has created a database of the headstones in this cemetery. For photos of the Agram cemetery, visit Ronnie's page on the Agram Cemetery. When I visited this cemetery in 1994, I found the grave of my 4g-grandmother, Elizabeth KILLMAIN, which is pictured to the right.

Hosur Road, Bangalore

Protestant Cemeteries

These cemeteries are split into two parts : on the left (as you face them from Hosur Road) is Cemetery No.1 and it is the continuation of the Agram Cemtery. It has graves from 1869 to1917. On the right is Cemetery No.2 and it has graves from 1917 onwards. The cemeteries are maintained by St Mark's Cathedral.

Hosur Road Catholic Cemetery

Adjacent to Protestant Cemeteries This is currently being used and is under the care of St. Patrick's Church. This cemetery is maintained fairly well, and a database from 1838 onwards has been created by Ronnie Johnson. There is a cemetery for Indian Christians at the back road which is reached from Hosur around Protestant Cemetery No.1

Richmond Road, Bangalore

Church of the Sacred Heart

This Roman Catholic church formerly had many old graves. However, most of them were bulldozed and there is now no trace of any headstones. The only exceptions are the graves of the Paris Foreign Mission priests and the grave of one girl. These were moved by the Bishop into the Priests' Section.

Fort Cemetery

This cemetery was for both Protestants and Catholics who fell when taking the Fort in 1791. The cemetery has also been bulldozed and no trace of any gravestone remains. No records remain of this cemetery.

Mysore Road, Banglore

Twentieth-Century Cemeteries

There are Protestant and Catholic cemeteries here, dating back to 1926. They are not well kept. The Catholic cemetery is in the care of Christ Church, Briand's Square.

Kalpalli

Protestant Cemetery

This cemetery is under the charge of St John's Chruch. The entrance and chapel needs to be repaired otherwise it will fall into ruins. Admiral Dawson was helping to raise funds for this but the project has not been sanctioned by the Church authorities to date. He has done a special booklet on the cemetery. To some extent, this cemetery is maintained and a few graves are really historical, and some of Bangalore's colonial administrators are buried there.

Catholic cemetery

This cemetery is under the charge of St Francis Xavier Cathedral and is used today. However, maintainence is very poor as it covers several congregations and nobody is willing to pay for its upkeep. When it rains there are deep furrows made and stones are moved. There are registers at the St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, but they do not give grave location.