Cemeteries in Calcutta

Information on cemeteries in Calcutta.

Entrance to Bantra Cemetery, Howrah

Bengal Obituary

Calcutta cemeteries listed in the Bengal Obituary, are:

1. St John's Churchyard - from 1709 and maybe earlier.
2. South Park Street Cemetery - "The Great Burial Ground of Chowringhee" - opened on 25 August 1767.
3. North Park Street Cemetery "New burial ground Chowringhee" - probably opened in 1799 - on the opposite side of the road to South Park Street but no longer in existence. It was the final resting place of Richmond Thackeray (father of novelist), Lt Col James Achilles Kirkpatrick (the White Mughal) and other well known persons.
4. The Mission Cemetery - "The Mission Burial Ground, Chowringhee, commonly called Mr Kiernander's" - opened in or by 1773 for the wife of Rev John Zachariah Kiernander but no longer in existence.
5. Tiretta's Cemetery - "The French or Tiretta's Burial Ground, Park Street" - earliest record 1796, also no longer in extistence.
6. Bhowanipore Cemetery - "The Military Burial Ground, beyond the General Hospital was opened in the year 1782-3"
7. Lower Circular Road (at 184 Acharya Jagadis Bose Road) - "The New Burial Ground, Circular Road" was opened on 29 April 1840 for the remains of Captain E T Milner's child. This cemetery is still in use. However, the condition of the older graves in general is not good. The Christian Burial Board now oversees this cemetery and will identify and show visitors to a relevant grave. Burial records are maintained on site and the Board is contactable by email for enquiries.
8. Scottish Cemetery (3 Karaya Road) - "The Scotch & Dissenters Burial Ground - was purchased in 1820.
9. Armenian Church & Cemetery - the Armenian Church of St Nazareth built 1724 has a burial ground attached to it.
10. Greek Church & cemetery - the Greek Church of the Transfiguration of Our Blessed Redeemer on Mount Tabor was consecreted 6 August 1781, but demolished and a new one built at Kalighat in 1926. "Greek cemetery at 105 Narkeldanga Main Road is forlorn" (NB: Interestingly I have a CD of pictures of Greek gravestones which was given to me, but need transcribing).
11. Portuguese Church & burial grounds of which there seem to be several, the most notable may be the Portuguese Burial Ground at Boithakhana, opened on 8 February 1786.
12. St Pauls Cathedral

3, 4 and 5 above adjoined opposite the South Park Street Cemetery which has been recently restored to a good standard. The sites of these cemeteries are now occupied by tall buildings.

There are Roman Catholic cemetries at 22 Convent Road and 169 Baliaghata Main Road.

Also mentioned are:

• The Jewish Cemetery at 45 Narikeldanga Main Road
• 5 Chinese Cemeteries

Burial grounds were also located at Dum Dum, Barrackpore, Serampore, Chandernagore, Chinsurah, Bandel and Howrah (epitaphs from which are represented in The Bengal Obituary - see Notes below). Many maritime related burials took place at Howrah, where St Thomas' Church and Cemetery were established in 1833.

Crematorium

A crematorium was erected in Calcutta in 1903, situated to the east of the Circular Road Cemetery. There was provision for the erection of a monument not exceeding 2 feet by 2 feet. It was intended mainly for the use of Europeans, Anglo- Indians and Indians who had adopted a European style of living. The Mini Cemetery with a closed Gas Crematorium (150 graves) is now under the control of the Christian Burial Board, Kolkata

Records

BACSA records at the British Library

The BACSA Archive at the British Library, shelfmark Mss Eur F370 includes entries in its catalogue under Cemetery Files . The Notes advise: The arrangement of this list and the names of provinces, places and cemeteries are based on the list which BACSA took over in 1976 from the British High Commission in India. The cemetery status (i.e. whether open or closed) is based on the information to hand, and may since have changed. If a particular cemetery is not in the list, some details of it may sometimes be found in the general file for the province or town in which it is situated.

The BACSA British Library archive catalogue is now available online at the BACSA website. Under the category Cemetery Files and Registers, West Bengal references at the British Library may be found for the cemeteries at Calcutta and surrounding areas.

There is also an Archives Catalogue available through the British Library website which gives the following items for the BACSA Archive:
Cemetery files:

• 620 Calcutta, General
• 621 St John's Churchyard, Calcutta
• 622 St John's Churchyard, Calcutta
  • “St John's Church, Calcutta” by Pauline Rohatgi (1979)
  • “This hallowed spot” by Reginald C Adams (typescript, c1978)
  • “St John's Church (1787-1987)”
• 623 South Park Street, Calcutta - History
• 624 South Park Street 2, Calcutta - BACSA Connection
• 625 South Park Street 3, Calcutta - photos 1
• 626 South Park Street 4, Calcutta - photos 2
• 627 South Park Street 5, Calcutta- Maps of South Park Street
• 628 South Park Street 6, Calcutta - Photographs of Standing Tombs, Area 1 (North-East) Kept in BACSA Cupboard
• 629 South Park Street 7, Calcutta - Photographs of Standing Tombs, Area 2 (South-East) Kept in BACSA Cupboard
• 630 South Park Street 8, Calcutta - Photographs of Standing Tombs, Area 3 (South-West) Kept in BACSA Cupboard
• 631 South Park Street 9, Calcutta - Photographs of Standing Tombs, Area 4 (Central) Kept in BACSA Cupboard
• 632 North Park Street, Calcutta - 1799-1880, closed
• 633 Lower Circular Road, Calcutta 1841-, open
• 634 Bhowanipur [or ‘Fort’], Calcutta - 1841-, open
• 635 Scottish Cemetery, Calcutta - 1826-1945, closed; reopened - see also Mss Eur F370/1406 for burial and plot registers, 1817-1990s
• 636 French Cemetery, Calcutta - 1796-1894, closed
• 637 Catholic Cemeteries, Calcutta
  • Murghihatta: 1712-1869, closed
  • Dhuramtollah: 1833-1892, closed
  • Boitakhana: 1809-1879, closed
  • St John's Catholic Cemetery: 1808-
• 638 Minor Cemeteries, Calcutta
  • Armenian: pre-1707-
  • Entally: 1919-1945, closed
  • Greek: c1777-, open
  • Maniktalla: 1874-1912, closed
  • St Stephen’s, Kidderpore
  • Bowrah Cotton mill 1707-1945
• 639 Jewish Cemeteries, Calcutta - 1840-1983 - open 1840-1983
• 640 "Bengal Past and Present" extracts - 1907-1940
  

Registers

• 1406 Scottish Cemetery, Calcutta - Plot Register, 1826-1990s - Burial Register, 1917-1989 - Plan of plots

Under the heading Publications - Calcutta there are the following references, also part of shelfmark Mss Eur F370

• 1207 Illustrated handbook to St John's Church (Old Cathedral) Calcutta [by E W Madge and K N Dhar] (66 pp. Calcutta, 1909)
• 1208 St John's Church (1787-1987) by Nisith S Ray. (21 pp., 1987) 2 copies with copies of Parish Magazine 1973-74
• 1209 A visit to St John's Church, Calcutta [by J A Gonsalves] (3 pp., 1971)
• 1210 St Andrew's Church of Scotland, Calcutta 1815-1965 with copies of Church magazines, July 1974 and Jan 1977 (20 pp., 1965)

  St Paul’s Cathedral Calcutta: see Mss Eur F370/1330

• 1211 South Park Street Cemetery, Calcutta. Register of graves and standing tombs: from 1767 by Maurice Shellim and others (BACSA 1992)
• 1212 The South Park Street Cemetery, Calcutta by Aurelius Khan and others (BACSA 1978)
• 1213 The South Park Street Cemetery, Calcutta 1978-1986 by Aurelius Khan and others (2nd ed, BACSA 1986)
• 1214 The South Park Street Cemetery Calcutta 1978-1997 (3rd ed, APHCI, 1997)
• 1215 French Cemetery, Park Street, Calcutta (BACSA 1983)
• 1216 "Préserver nos cimetiéres, l'example de nos collègues anglais: le cimetière francais de Calcutta" par Xavier Guyot, La Vie Généalogique, n.s. 3, no 13, (1996), pp. 17-22.

  Therefore Forward ! The Story of Carey Church Calcutta: see Mss Eur F370/1388

External links

• Burials in India The Christian Burial Boards online search facility for access to grave records and pottahs of burials dating back to the 1700s. This page from the Christian Burial Board, Kolkata’s website comments on the current situation.

• South Park Cemetery from Christian Burial Board Kolkata.

• Photographs of South Park Street Cemetery including a small group by ron de lightbox Flickr.com

• This July 2009 post and this Aug 2009 post from the India List are about Lower Circular Road Cemetery.

• This India List April 2010 post mentions several cemeteries, including Lower Circular Road.

• Records of the Scottish Cemetery, Kolkata Grave number, name and burial year transcribed from handwritten cemetery records. Further information, where available, on request. From the website of St Andrews Church, Kolkata

• Scottish Cemetery Kolkata The official blog for the team who went to Kolkata in 2008 to survey the Scottish Cemetery for The Kolkata Scottish Heritage Trust

• Photographs of Scottish Cemetery, Park Street Cemetery, St Andrew's Church BBD Bagh, Bishop's House

• Mullickbazar grave of Economist founder James Wilson, died 11 August 1860, in this link from the Telegraph, Calcutta. ‘Father of Indian finance', he was finance member of the Viceroy of India Council, akin to the post of chancellor of the Indian Exchequer.

• www.indian-cemeteries.org has photographs and transcriptions from the following cemeteries:
  • Lower Circular Road Cemetery.
  • North Park Street Cemetery.
  • Scotts Cemetery.
  • South Park Street Cemetery.
  • St Johns Church.
  • St Johns Church Black Hole Memorial.
  • St Pauls Cathedral.
• This India List thread is about the Fort William burial ground. The 'new' burial ground is part of the military base and is closed to the public. The 'old' burial ground is no longer in existence, and some of the headstones were moved and are now mounted on the walls at South Park Cemetery.
• Kolkata (Calcutta) Jewish Cemetery from Indian Jewish Heritage Center Israel including
  • A Historical Review of the Calcutta Jewish Cemetery The Oseh Haised Board also maintained the Jewish cemetery in Darjeeling.
  • Burial Records
• Online Calcutta Jewish grave records National Sephardic Library, American Sephardi Federation
• Inscriptions from Bhownaipore Cemetery, Kolkata Over 700 names from Commonwealth War Graves Commission. cwgc.org

Historical books online

• Asiaticus : In Two Parts. Part One, Ecclesiastical, Chronological and Historical Sketches. Part Two, the Epitaphs in the Different Burial Grounds in and about Calcutta by John Hawkesworth 1803. (80 pages) (Google Books)

• The Complete Monumental Register: Containing All the Epitaphs in the Different Churches and Burial Grounds in and about Calcutta by M Derozario 1815 (230 pages) (Google Books). Index of names.

• The Bengal Obituary: or, a record to perpetuate the memory of departed worth, being a compilation of tablets and monumental inscriptions from various parts of the Bengal and Agra presidencies 1851 Google Books has many records for cemeteries in Calcutta. Index of Names