Mike Woodcock, VGS Director and President of the Victoria Branch of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada, conducted a tour in Ross Bay Cemetery on Saturday, 22 Jul 2023 in celebration of BC UEL Day. Mike and others were dressed in period costumes, adding charm and flavour to the tour.
During his one-hour and well-attended tour, Mike focused on graves of UEL descendants from New Brunswick, providing photos and details of their lives and lineages as he led everyone around the cemetery.
The finale of the tour was the ceremonial unveiling of a new commemorative gravestone on the previously unmarked grave of U.E. Loyalist descendants William Delong and his wife Eleanor Bunnell, both from New Brunswick. William is the only known child of a United Empire Loyalist buried in British Columbia. The ceremony was complete with a town crier and a piper, who was one of several descendants in attendance.
Also in attendance was VGS member Yvonne VanRuskaveld, there to represent the Old Cemeteries Society, who thanked the UEL Association for their contribution to the cemetery and for enhancing our knowledge of our historic residents.
Such a fun and informative event!
Photos courtesy of Claudia Boorman, VGS Director.