Old CemeteryHistorical Map Story Title

The old cemetery dates from between 1906 and 1908 when the Maddock Brothers gave a lot of land (East half, Lot 66, Plan 444) for the cemetery where 'several bodies had been buried'. The museum has a copy of a 'Deed of Land' documenting the gift but it apparently was not registered in Kamloops. It wasn't until 1918 that a formal meeting to organize the cemetery—survey the property, clean up the lot and mark out plots—was held. It was found then that a portion of the land's sub-soil was hard pan and therefore unusable. Despite this, there were burials in the cemetery until 1975.
There is no complete record of the burials because a fire destroyed the records about 1930 but there are 28 known graves, 10 other graves and five suspected sites. There are a total of 35 named persons buried in the cemetery, nine of who were Japanese. Many of the headstones are carved with oriental script.

("The Old Cemetery" by Jackie Mitchell)


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History of Ok Centre & Winfield Cemetery - Author Unknown



Sometime about 1906 to 1908 Maddock Bros former owners of OK Centre & Land Valley Co. gave a lot for the cemetery, where several bodies had been buried.

From 1908 to 1918 several cemetery meetings had been called, but owing to lack of attendance, nothing could be done until the cemetery question was put before a meeting on Dec 28th, 1918.

A public meeting held at Woods Lake School House, now the Winfield Hall, when Messrs J. Goldie, P.W. Pixton & S. Edwards were elected as trustees for the cemetery, being requested if they could arrange to secure title deed of property & to take whatever
steps they deemed advisable & to get the cemetery surveyed cleaned up & marked out a small portion of ground for graves, also at a later date to report at some public meeting the expenses incurred when funds would be raised to cover same.

Shortly after this meeting, Mr. S. Edwards left the district & Mr. F.C. Baker was chosen as trustee in his place. The trustees took steps to have three acres surveyed to 75 feet x 120 feet or little more than one quarter of an acre marked & pegged out for graves, the cost of same was $44.00.

Men were employed cleaning up, burning brush & logging off old trees etc, the cost of same being $77.00. Agents charge for deed $6.00.

It is much to be regreted that on digging for a grave in the newly surveyed portion of cemetery, it was found that subsoil was hard pan.

The community being informed of this condition, many said a new plot should be found & bodies removed.

We regret to report although much time was given to locate a new cemetery, it was found impossible to do anything in this line. Already a debt had been incurred by the trustee - nothing has been done to pay this off, and who can be expected to undertake the expense of laying out another plot of ground and removing the bodies which now lay in the old cemetery.

The trustees made a charge of $8.00 a grave for burial, this charge was paid to the trustees against the debt.

It is in our opinion that quite a portion of the present cemetery can be used for burial, which should last for several years. The trustees are not only out of pocket but they have been put to a considerable amount of trouble and time, not only over cemetery as a whole, but over each individual burial as it has occurred.

The trustees wish to inform the district through the Mens' & Womens' Institutes that the district will have to take steps to raise funds if it is their wish that there should be a place of burial for the Winfield and Okanagan Centre District.

(See SP 004.079 Archives)