The Toronto Necropolis

The Toronto Necropolis opened in 1850 on the edge of the Don River in what is now Cabbagetown, established as a non-denominational alternative to the city's church-run burial grounds, several of which were being closed and relocated as the growing city expanded around them. Its name, from the Greek for "city of the dead," reflected a Victorian trend toward landscaped, park-like cemeteries designed for visiting as much as burial.

A rebel's resting place

The Necropolis holds the reburied remains of several figures connected to the 1837 Rebellion in Upper Canada, including William Lyon Mackenzie, the rebellion's leader and Toronto's first mayor, and Samuel Lount, one of two rebels executed for treason after the uprising failed. Their presence has made the cemetery a point of interest for Canadian political history well beyond its role as a working burial ground, and it remains an active cemetery and a quiet green space within Cabbagetown today.

Sources

• Wikipedia — Toronto Necropolis
• The Canadian Encyclopedia — William Lyon Mackenzie

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