Using the 'Ross Bay Cemetery Burial Records, 1872-1995' Database

The information presented is not exactly as it is displayed in the original records. Firstly, the original burial records have additional fields, such as date of burial, time of burial, name of clergy, name of undertaker etc. If this additional information is required, please contact the City of Victoria Archives. Secondly, words such as year, month, child etc. have been abbreviated for consistency and space considerations. Thirdly, some of the data has been edited and cross-checked against other cemetery records, obituaries and vital statistics records.

There are over 29,500 entries in this database. To make searching easier for researchers, we have made it possible to search by last name, first name and date.

Dates

The metric system of dating YYYY.MM.DD is used throughout.

Dates recorded in the burial records are generally accurate. Dates can be searched by year, month, and day; by year and month; or by year alone. Type in the year and all entries for that year will be returned. Type in the year followed by a period and then the two-digit month (eg, 1902.01 for January 1910), and all entries for that month and year will be returned. The same pattern is used for searching a specific day (eg, 1902.01.29 for 29 January 1902). The lists that are returned are in alphabetical order for the date specified.

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIPP)

Under the FOI &PP act, death information may be released 20 years after the death of an individual. Each year, the death information for the subsequent year will be released.

Age

The age at death should be considered approximate in many cases.

Block and Plot

Blocks are identified by either a number 1-4 or a letter A-W (excluding I). Plots are identified by a number, a direction (E or W) and a road number. For example, A 44 W 26 identifies block A plot 44 west of road 26.

Often a plot location will look like D 1b2 E 30. The "b" indicates the person in buried between plots 1 & 2.

Errors

Apart from misspelled names, other errors and discrepancies can sometimes occur. Every effort has been made to make this database as accurate as possible.

If you do find errors and have proof (i.e. a certificate) that an error has been made, please contact the City of Victoria Archives and we will be happy to make any corrections.

Misspelled Names

Publications of all kinds invariably misspell last names (surname), and families often use variants in the spelling of both last (surname) and first (Christian) names. This is particularly true with "Mc" and "Mac" names, Clark and Clarke, Peterson, Paterson, Patterson etc.

Users of the database are advised to consider exploring all possible variants in spelling before concluding that the information they seek is not found in this database.

Abbreviations

c
circa (about)
ch
child
f
female
h
hours
m
month
mins
minutes
stb
stillborn
wks
weeks
y
year
nee
maiden name