Chinese Cemetery - Ashcroft, British Columbia
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T0SHEA
N 50° 43.190 W 121° 16.746
10U E 621477 N 5620081
Ashcroft Chinese Cemetery is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District off Barnes Street in Ashcroft.
Waymark Code: WM116W4
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 08/27/2019
Views: 1
Ashcroft Chinese Cemetery is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District. Though not currently active, the cemetery was neglected for decades. It was a period of over 15 years, that the dedicated members of the Chinese community, Ashcroft Rotary and Lion Club membership made possible the restoration of this historic cemetery completed in 2017.
This is the final resting place of at least 49 members of the Chinese community many of whom came here to help build the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Cemetery is on CPR property, and open to the public.
There is a Chinese altar known as a Joss Temple at the north end of the cemetery and dedicated in 2017. Attached to the front is an apology statement:
BRITISH COLUMBIA
IN VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, ON MAY 15, 2014, PREMIER CHRISTY CLARK DELIVERED THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY'S APOLOGY SIGNIFYING THE DEEPEST REGRET FOR THE HARDSHIP AND SUFFERING OUR PAST PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS IMPOSED ON CHINESE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA, THE APOLOGY RECOGNIZED THE PERSEVERANCE, GRACE, AND DIGNITY CHINESE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA DEMONSTRATED THROUGHOUT OUR HISTORY WHILE ENDURING DISCRIMINATORY HISTORICAL LAWS.
"The Chinese cemetery was developed by the CPR over 100 years ago with 49 visible grave sites including 7 with original headstones. The first internment took place in the late 1800’s and the original headstones that are still there are dated in the
1940’s - 1960’s.
The first Chinese burial in the public cemetery seems to have taken place in the early 1940’s.
Prior to that all Chinese seem to be buried in the cemetery, or their bodies shipped back to China. Some were also probably exhumed and sent back to China, a custom that was practiced at the time.
In 2005 the Ashcroft/Cache Creek Rotary and Ashcroft and District Lions took on the task of cleaning the graveyard up. They had many meetings and would also meet to pull weeds, rake, etc. In 2007 many loads of white gravel were donated, the trucks hauling the gravel were also donated as well as a small loader to use in moving the gravel."
Source: Ashcroft