Monument Analysis: Pioneer Square!

1. What is your data set?

Our data set consisted of several monuments in Pioneer Square. There were many monuments associated with the colonialism paradigm, and for the sake of our research questions, we focused primarily on these. Documentation of monument orientation, engraving type, etc. and sketches were done for the Charles Dodd Bench Tomb, the John Work Bench Tomb, the Canadian Scottish Regimental Cenotaph, the Paul Medana Obelisk,and the Pritchard Tomb, Andrew Phillips Obelisk, the James Murray Yale Grave,
Based on this, we divided the tombstones and monuments into the following four groups:
-The Freemasons
-Military personnal
-Hudson's Bay Company Traders
-Everyone else [Tombstone Group]

2. What are your research questions? (e.g. What are you trying to find out?) You may have only found an answer to one of your questions, but in theory you would go into the field with a few possibilities.

We were interested in the spatial patterning of the cemetery in its current state. There is a group of a group of tombstones, which were unkempt and haphazardly placed, within a small section of the graveyard. Our group was interested in how past historical events that lead to this segregation are maintained currently. How do past ideas in regards to social status influence the maintenance of monuments? How can we contextualize the current geographic placement of graves and their upkeep? Are the placement and maintenance of the graves and monuments symbolic of previous or contemporary values concerning status, and thus segregation?

3. Now, answer your research question in the form of 2-3 paragraphs. A good quality response to this will make reference to one or two published sources (even though this is a blog), using in-text citations and a bibliography. There should also be structure (a bit of an introduction and conclusion, with body text too).

Pioneer Square is a cemetery that can be found on Quadra Street just outside downtown Victoria, British Columbia [Please see below for map and corresponding monument photos]. As indicated by the name, the site provides a physical example of ideas in the 1800s surrounding status and what accorded an individual privilege. After a bit of research into the history of the cemetery, it was clear that the colonial aspects of the 1800s are still evident in the current maintenance of the tombs and monuments.

Formed in 1855, Pioneer Square was formerly called the Old Burial Ground and was a place for British Soldiers to be buried by sea (Old Cemetery Society of Victoria, 2011). However, due to population growth, the cemetery accommodated those outside the grouping we classified in our data set as ‘military personnel.’ Coinciding with the increase in burials was a move of the cemetery from the corner of Douglas St. and Johnson St. to its current location along Quadra Street (Hughes, 1971). Thirteen hundred burials are found in Pioneer Square, though individual markings for these burials are not present. In fact a single monument, which is also one of the largest, is located centrally in the square and is explicitly for Scottish fallen soldiers. Other monuments lay scattered across the grassy plot of land, though the most extravagant by contemporary standards are those associated with the military, Hudson’s Bay Company, and the Freemasons. Large and engraved free-standing obelisks and tombs with intricate pathways and fences exemplify class segregation at the time of burials in the 1800s. The notion of grandiose funerary displays being of a higher status could be debated as a Western worldview; however, a case study by Curl (1971) demonstrates that in the nineteenth century, those who could afford more extravagant tombstones and monuments by European standards were of a higher social class.

While segregation of social status is evident in the tombstone and monument styles, physical locations of monuments and tombstones also indicate class difference. Placed in a rather helter-skelter formation at the eastern side of Pioneer Square is a clustering of graves, a result of public demand in 1908 for cemetery restoration (Hughes, 1971). Among the tombstones still identifiable is the one belonging to Hannah Estes, who was a black slave. This area of the cemetery appears as the most neglected, with monuments cracked and falling over, a decrepit and saddening reminder of a past society based on status. The rock fence surrounding the cramped conditions of this area further exacerbates the perceived societal need for a separate area of those of lower status.

The newest and best-maintained memorials in Pioneer Square are those which were erected in memoriam of those working in sectors of the government, most commonly the military. A cairn erected in 2008 for the Royal Canadian Air Force commemorates those who fought in wars, and it located right in front of the entrance to the Church beside Pioneer Square. Similarly, the flowers around the Canadian Scottish Regimental Cenotaph appeared well-maintained. There was a lack of micro-organisms associated with stone, such as moss, hinting attention being paid to these monuments.

Based on the data collected, there are many layers to consider when dissecting social status in a cemetery from a contemporary research lens. Initially, the status of individuals or the status accorded groups in the 1800s was considered by examining the difference in monument styles. The wealthier individuals who could afford nice grave tombs and those deemed significant within the society (ie: Hudson’s Bay Traders, military workers, Freemasons) were given monuments or benches. The differentiation between those and the nameless and cracked tombstones of those located on the eastern side indicates segregation. Geographic separation between the clustering of graves and tombstones and the nicely spaced out monuments, cairns and obelisks is indicative of another level of segregation. Those identified individuals within the cluster were seen as holding a lower social status contemporary with the nineteenth century. Furthermore, segregation occurs currently, as even those important monuments from the 1800s are falling victim to graffiti, decay, and moss. Those kept well-maintained belong to a government class, illustrating though even once significant, these workers no longer receive adequate attention for upkeep.


View Pioneer Square in a larger map

References:

Curl, S.J.
1971. The Architecture and Planning of the Nineteenth Century Cemetery.
Garden History 3(3):13-41.

Hughes, J.
1971. Pioneer Square Cemetery also known as Victoria Pioneer Cemetery.
Richmond: British Columbia Genealogical Society.

Old Cemetery Society of Victoria
2011 The Old Burying Grounds. http://www.oldcem.bc.ca/cem_pn.htm, accessed February 10, 2011.