Welcome to the St. Martin’s Sunnyside Cemetery Revitalisation Page

This project was revived by Erin de Zwart. who counts Hewitts and Milligans as her ancestors buried at St. Martin’s Sunnyside Cemetery. She is a student of French and Canadian Studies, and her project is based on research by Mary Leah (Milligan) de Zwart and Hilda Milligan in the 1980s. Erin put together a community project to tidy up St. Martin’s Sunnyside Cemetery, a cemetery that saw its last interment over 80 years ago, and has not been maintained since its previous caretaker, the late Kathy Borreson of Bon Accord, organized a cleanup in 1997. Gordon Carson shared the information generously from the work he and Kathy Borreson did.

Erin put together a work party on April 29, 2023 in order to make the cemetery accessible. At that point it was terribly overgrown and impossible to visit. If lending a hand to help preserve the cemetery sounds interesting to you, then add your name and email address to the box below and we will keep you updated via email on our plans for further work parties to continue the cemetery reviatlization in 2024. We will keep your email address confidential, use a Blind Carbon Copy when contacting you, and we will not give it or sell it to anyone. 

Below is an alphabetical list with names of people interred and/or with a headstone, at Sunnyside Cemetery, given to Hilda Milligan by Mary Yeo in 1982. The list was provided by Mary’s uncle Bob (Bob Gibbons). 

The list is not complete. Please contact me through the comment form above if you can offer any information. Up to 35 people are buried at Sunnyside, and we would like to complete the list with the help of the community. The list will be updated online.

Alphabetical: Last name, First name.	Born D/M/Y	Death/ Burial at Sunnyside	Details/Comments
Cardinal, Frank	1876	1899	Métis ancestry. Alternate spelling: Cardinell. Worked on the Landing Trail.
(Charles Frances)			Orphan from Ontario Lived with Gibbons family, hired man. Plot 8
Carson, Priscilla Sybil	12-02-1870	12-31-1895	Daughter of C.C. and J. Sabella Maxfield. Married Joe Carson. Died after birth of baby girl.
Barr, John Charles Freeman	1852, Ohio	1910	02-04-1910 Lived at Battenberg with wife and  stepson. Prosperous farmer. Member of Knights of Pythias, Jasper Lodge. Survived by wife and stepson in Battenberg. First wife and three sons in Cambridge, Ohio. “Came to this country 7 years ago”. [Ancestry.ca]
Gibbons, Hannah Lucy	01- 26- 1923	11-15- 1923	Youngest child of G.A. Reynolds (Ren) Gibbons and Hannah Lewis Gibbons. Died in infancy.  Granddaughter of W. R. and Susannah Gibbons Plot 10
Gibbons, Susannah Willows	01-19-1853	06-23-1927	Born Stallingborough, Lincolnshire, England. Escorted to Coldwater, ON with her future sister-in-law Ellen to marry W.R. Gibbons in 1883. Moved to the Sturgeon in 1893. Three sons.
Gibbons, William Reynolds (W.R.)	05-24-1855	02-27-1916	Born Brocklesby, Lincolnshire, England. Went from England to South Africa as an emigrant during the Zulu wars. Returned from S.A. in 1880 and came to Canada in 1881 to Coldwater, ON. Homesteaded land around Sturgeon and proved up land with the Sturgeon River running through it. Town of Gibbons was named after him the day after he died.  Plot 9.
Goodwin, Clara Clark		12-01-1910	Wife of Archie Goodwin, mother of 12. From Wisconsin. Olive Frederickson’s mother. Died of an epileptic seizure. Her daughter Olive Frederickson wrote “Silence of the North” about her pioneer experiences.
Hewitt, Agnes Victoria Milligan	c, 1885	12-26-1911	Born in Ontario, daughter of James Milligan and Annie McPherson. Came west the same time as her brother John. Known as “the schoolteacher. Married to Ernie Hewitt, son of Benjamin and Mary Anne Hewitt and sister of John Milligan. Died in childbirth with her second daughter. The baby, “Little Aggie” was raised by John and Edith Milligan.
Hewitt, Mary Ann Brindley	1844	June 1902	Married to Benjamin Hewitt. Born Bradley, Staffordshire, moved to Roscrea, Ireland in 1861. Came to Canada in 1892. Daughter- Edith Mary Thalia. Sons – Geoff, Ernie, Rex, William, Bryor (Byron), Albert, & oldest Walter Thomas Brindley Hewitt (South Africa). All children born in Ireland. Was head of household in 1901.
Hewitt, Benjamin	1843	08-19-1901	Born at Derbyshire, England. Son of Thomas Hewitt and Mary Thalia Eaton. Joined Irish Merchant Marines and farmed at Summerhill House, Roscrea, Ireland. Ben and Mary Ann Brindley Hewitt were first permanent settler of Bon Accord District. Grave marker is in NE corner of Sunnyside Cemetery. Discovered or uncovered in 1978. Died at Brandon Institution in Manitoba. Plot 11?
Hewitt, Lucy		1910 age 5	Died age five. Child of Geoff and Winnie (Morris) Hewitt, granddaughter of Ben and Mary Ann Hewitt.
Hewitt, William Eaton		1879 – Roscrea, Ireland	Son of Benjamin and Mary Ann (Brindley) Hewitt. Died age 12 1/2 in April, 1893. Possibly first person to be buried at Sunnyside. Also known as Wilbert Hewitt. Shot accidentally by his older brother Jeffrey (see above) who was showing how his new Winchester rifle threw out the cartridges. Plot 12.
Kibblewhite, Mabel Amelia Taylor	1884	October 21, 1917	Wife of George Kibblewhite. Daughter of Willie Taylor and his wife Margaret Bremner. See further notes about Charles Bremner, Mabel’s grandfather, buried at Bon Accord Cemetery. Mabel died of peritonitis, according to her family, and tubercular peritonis on her death certificate.
Maxfield, Janet “Sabella”	09-11-1840	02-05-1895	Died suddenly from “the bursting of a blood vessel in the brain, producing paralysis”. Mother of Mrs. C.A. Procunier of Revelstoke. Married to C.C. Maxfield (see entry). Died May 1 at Sunnyside, Sturgeon Settlement. Source Edmonton Bulletin, May 2, 1895
Maxfield, Charles Clarke	14-09-1837	01-1919	Helped build Sunnyside Church and school. Died at Victoria, BC, buried at Sunnyside (Cameo of the West). Famous for doing a headstand on the roof when the church/school was completed.
Peters, Sarah Jane	10-15-1881	08-17-1896	Kicked by horse after leaning forward while driving a carriage. Plot 4. Edmonton Bulletin report. July 20, 1896.
Peters, William Henry	02-23-1884	01-09-1893	Died of appendicitis. Plot 5.
Ray, Arthur Millard.	Age 8	04-10-1902	See Edmonton Bulletin 04-14, 1902. Died of croup at Wetaskiwin, age 8. Brought to the Sturgeon for burial. Father, Joe Millard Ray homesteaded on CPR quarter  (NW 16-56-23-W4 (bordered Hancocks, later known as Forbes quarter.
Squarebriggs, Annie Laurie		09-16-1900	Severe hemorrhage of the lungs (Tuberculosis) Plot 1. Wife of Dan Squrebriggs who owned the Little Mill for a time.
Squarebriggs, Jenny Bell		1903	May also be called Janie Squarebriggs. Plot 1. Tuberculous.
Sleap, Edward	1870	1923	Soldier, sailor, cello player. Served in British military in the River War between Egypt and Sudan. Medals from Atbara and Khartoum. Active in community, played music in local churches and bars.  Artist and master gardener. Plot 7. Died in his sleep.
Stamp, James		1898	He was moving a separator for one of several cheese factories at Lamoureux (e.g. the Paradis factory). “The horses ran away and is is supposed the deceased was struck by the bagger attached to the side of the machine”. (P. Ream History of Fort Saskatchewan). No relatives in the district. From Ontario by way of California.
Taylor, Myrtle Edith		1896	Died in infancy. child of George Taylor. Plot 2.
Taylor, Ruby Alice		1899	On previous list, two Taylor infants were said to be buried in Plot but only one (Myrtle Edith Taylor) has been confirmed. Ruby Taylor was living with her sister Mabel Kibblewhite in the 1916 census).
Willows, George Henry	1818	06-22-1893 – one of first burials at Sunnyside	Father of Susanna Willows Gibbons. Came to visit from the U.S. and died.  Plot 6.