Phase I - Halifax Regional Municipality

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Archaeological Resource Impact Assessment Pre-development Assessment Spring Garden Road/Queen Street Public Lands Plan In 1973, the Infirmary ownership and management was transferred from the Sisters of Charity to the Province, sparking more renovations, additions, and new facilities on the property 16 . In 1998, the Infirmary was closed, and due to concerns by the Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Service, it was demolished in 2005. Currently, almost all of Area A is reserved for parking. 3.2.2 Area B: The Halifax Memorial Library Property Located at the northwest corner of Spring Garden Road and Grafton Street, the land where the Halifax Memorial Library sits today was used for the burial of soldiers and the poor as early as 1762, only thirteen years after the founding of Halifax. 17 The surviving document pointing to this date is unfortunately an 1845 copy of the 1762 map, but nevertheless some weight should be given to the map’s depiction of the cemetery so early in Halifax’s history (Figure 3.2.2-1). Figure 3.2.2-1: An 1845 reproduction of a 1762 map showing the burial grounds. 16 Halifax Mail Star 1976 January 19 th pg.21. 17 Spry, William. Lands Adjoining or Near the Governor’s Farm, Spring Garden Road. NSARM Map Collection V6/240-1762. Davis Archaeological Consultants Limited 25
Archaeological Resource Impact Assessment Pre-development Assessment Spring Garden Road/Queen Street Public Lands Plan The Journal of Assembly reported in 1845 that the cemetery had been in use in 1780 or 1781 for the interment of paupers and Hessian soldiers. 18 In 1778, a Hessian regiment was stationed at the “Great Barrack,” probably the South Barrack at the south end of Albemarle (Market) Street. 19 The Poor House Cemetery was almost immediately adjacent to this barrack, and would be a logical choice for conveniently burying a large number of soldiers. The city’s poor house was adjacent the cemetery at Spring Garden Road, Queen and Doyle Streets (Figure 3.2.2-1). Around 1818, the burial ground was reportedly a “standing nuisance in consequence of the want of drainage and the careless manner in which bodies of paupers were interred. After the law for closing all places of burial in the city had been carried into operation, this open space was planted with trees and the ground carted in to fill up hollow places, and a substantial wall built around it.” 20 The manner of burial of the poor is not clear at this time. The above passage seems to indicate they were not carefully interred, but beyond that it is a mystery. None of the expenses associated with burial are listed in mid-19 th century account books for the Poor House, but Mitchell (1999) notes that in England and Germany the burden of burial expenses was placed on the community or on the parish. 21 She also notes that in Europe the poor were often buried in a simple shroud or in a shared “communal” coffin. 22 A. E. Marble estimates the number of burials in the cemetery to be an extraordinary 4,500 people. 23 He postulates that the 1833 statute passed in Halifax, preventing burials inside the town, 24 did not take effect in this particular case. An 1845 petition on the subject of the cemetery supports this hypothesis: it makes reference to the land, which “now is used and occupied for the purpose of the Burial ground for the said Asylum.” 25 The purpose of the letter is to request permission to continue to use the land as a burial ground. The petition also mentions that the cemetery, along with St. Paul’s Cemetery (now commonly known as the Old Burying Ground at the corner of Barrington and Spring Garden), was transferred to the Church Wardens and the Vestry of St. Paul’s in 1793. At this time, the land the cemetery occupied was listed as “somewhat more than an acre.” 18 Journal and proceedings of the House of Assembly. Halifax, N.S.: s.n., 1845, Appendix 66. 19 Marble, Alan Everett, Surgeons, smallpox and the poor : a history of medicine and social conditions in Nova Scotia, 1749-1799. Ontario: McGill-Queen's University Press 1993 p.27 20 Akins, T. B. History of Halifax City. Belleville:Mika Publishing, 1973 (reprinted from 1895 edition). 21 Mitchell, April D. An Anthropological Analysis of Burial Practices in Halifax Between 1749 and 1833 as Reflected in Two Halifax Parishes, 1999 p.13. 22 Mitchell 1999 p.13 23 Marble, Allan Everett, Physicians, pestilence, and the poor : a history of medicine and social conditions in Nova Scotia 1800-1867. Halifax: Trafford Publishing, 2006 p.217 24 Whidden, John and James F. Gray, Esquires 1835 Chapter XXXI. The Statutes of the Province of Nova Scotia, Volume 4, p.207–211. 25 Unknown (signature illegible). Petition to the House of Representatives of Nova Scotia, from the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners. NSARM Microfilm Collection #15623, RG5 Series P Vol. 82 #56, 19 February 1845. Davis Archaeological Consultants Limited 26
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PHASE I ENVIRONMENTAL SITE ASSESSME
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APPENDIX F QUALIFICATIONS OF PROJEC
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Phase I - Halifax Regional Municipality

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