International Rabbit 12/16/2011

Winter in the Northern Hemisphere
by Janet Iles

Genealogists try to find as much information as possible about the individuals they are researching. Death related records often are more plentiful than for other vital events in a person’s life. These include obituaries, church records, civil registrations and cemetery records. As graveyard rabbits, we are interested in all of them, but in particular those of cemeteries.


As winter begins to settle in the Northern Hemisphere, the words “spring internment” are once again appearing in death and funeral notices if the person is to be buried in a smaller cemetery. From December to April, the ground freezes and is covered in snow so no burials occur. So what happens to the remains of those who die during the winter months? What happens in your area or the area of your ancestors?

In the immediate Owen Sound area, we have two cemeteries: Greenwood Cemetery and St. Mary’s Cemetery. Both now conduct winter burials. Greenwood Cemetery has the facilities to store the remains for area cemeteries.

Cemeteries have several records that they keep. One is the Daybook. The superintendant or designate enters as they occur, all internments and the arrivals for winter storage in the daybook. Greenwood Cemetery’s daybook has been microfilmed from 1894 to 1990. A copy of the microfilm is at the Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library. The daybook shows the name, lot and date of internment for local burials. For those that are there for winter storage, in place of the lot information, it indicates the cemetery to which the casket will be transferred in the spring.

I looked at some pages of the daybook for the winter months of 1942 and 1943 and noted the following area cemeteries were listed: Durham, Tara, McLeans’ Cemetery, Wiarton, Sarawak, Walters’ Falls, Shallow Lake, Lion’s Head and Mount Zion Cemetery, Holland. Not included in those pages, Greenwood Cemetery also provides winter storage for Annan, Leith, and St. Michael’s in the Irish Block. On the pages I looked at, I noted two that were going to distant cemeteries. Robert L F Strathy arrived January 19, 1942 and was shipped to Port Arthur May 26, 1942 and John Herbert Leonard arrived February 16, 1943 and was to be transferred to Mount Pleasant, London Ontario. This is useful information if you know someone died in this area but can not find a burial record for them.

The cemetery superintendent or designate keeps special records for those slated for spring internment. The caskets are clearly marked with identifying information and each spot on the shelves has a location code. This is recorded in the winter storage files. When the staff from the Funeral Home comes in the spring for the transfer to the designated cemetery, the appropriate paper work goes with them. The Greenwood Cemetery Staff involved in the transfer, dress as they would for a local committal service, whether the family is present or not at the time of the transfer.

If you look at a family history and you notice a lag between the date of death and the date of burial, perhaps it was because the cemetery did not conduct winter burials.

Thank you to Acting Cemetery Superintendant, Tim Keeling for answering my questions.