Richmond William Hunt COOPER

1814 - 1835  (21 years)

• Name	Richmond William Hunt COOPER  [1, 2]
  Birth	20 Aug 1814	Southampton Parish, Bermuda   [1, 2]
  Christening	28 May 1815	Southampton Parish, Bermuda   [1, 2]
  Gender	Male
  _UID	B9142B246F60452A94B32D1FE96765A94BE4
  Cemetery	16 Nov 1835	St. John the Baptist Anglican Churchyard Cemetery, Church Hill, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada   [2]
  	There's a lot of history in the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, but it's the history under the building that could be a challenge to the church's expansion plans.  The diocese wants to build a new two-storey annex and ministry centre attached to the historic building off Duckworth Street in St. John's.  But a local historian is concerned that expansion will disturb the burial ground of as many as 20,000 migrant fishermen from more than 300 years ago.  The area was a cemetery, but the bodies seemed to have been moved sometime around 1885, and possibly re-interred at the cemetery on Forest Road.  Many of the graves would be unmarked and dating back to the late 1600s.  People would have been wrapped in cloth and placed on top of each other. Well over a million men came through the province during the days when the cemetery was operating, and with the short life expectancies of the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries in the fishing and trading industries, plus rampant spread of disease, it's difficult to pinpoint how many people could be buried there.  This operated for 170 years, with a much larger mobile population moving through it.  So, we're probably dealing with the largest pre-Confederation cemetery for working people in Canada.  People would have been stacked.  In Quebec City they're 10 deep, so probably 14 to 15 deep here.
  Death Site	At sea   [2, 3]
  	Aboard the brig "Belle"
  	The Royal Gazette (Bermuda) 22 Dec 1835 Richard COOPER, aged 21, a native of Bermuda, died at sea on 13 Nov 1835, on the brig "Belle", on which he was a mate, enroute from Berbice, British Guiana to St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.  Burial took place on 16 Nov 1835 in Newfoundland, Canada. Died at sea, on the 13th inst., Mr. RICHARD COOPER, mate of the brig Belle, after a lingering illness of 22 days, aged 21 years.  He was a native of Bermuda, whose remains were interred at St. John's.
  Find-a-Grave Cemetery ID	Find-a-Grave Cemetery ID: 2595687
  Occupation	1st Mate of the brig "Belle"  [2]
  Religion	Anglican  [2]
  Residence	Southampton Parish, Bermuda   [2]
  Death	13 Nov 1835	At sea (aboard the Brig "Belle")   [1, 2]
  Burial	16 Nov 1835	St. John the Baptist Anglican Churchyard Cemetery, Church Hill, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada   [2]
  Person ID	I3959	MOTYER Family Genealogy - NitroWings Test | MOTYER branch
  Last Modified	16 Apr 2024

  
  

  Father	Capt. Copeland Lee COOPER,   b. Abt 1790, Bermuda d. 13 Jun 1849, Southampton Parish, Bermuda (Age 59 years)
  Mother	Charity Henrietta “Pritty” BASDEN,   b. Abt 1793, Bermuda d. 4 Mar 1844, Southampton Parish, Bermuda (Age 51 years)
  Marriage	28 Jan 1813	Southampton Parish, Bermuda   [1, 2, 4]
  Marriage Site	Southampton Parish, Bermuda   [2]
  	St. Anne's Anglican Church
  Family ID	F339	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Cemetery - 16 Nov 1835 - St. John the Baptist Anglican Churchyard Cemetery, Church Hill, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada Death Site - Aboard the brig "Belle" - - At sea Burial - 16 Nov 1835 - St. John the Baptist Anglican Churchyard Cemetery, Church Hill, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S42] Richmond Harley "Dick" HAYWARD, Research: Richmond Harley "Dick" HAYWARD (Descendants of Thomas Cooper), 13 Mar 2006, p. Ahnentafel page 06 (Reliability: 3). [S42] Richmond Harley "Dick" HAYWARD, Research: Richmond Harley "Dick" HAYWARD (Descendants of Thomas Cooper), 13 Mar 2006, p. Narrative Report page 034 (Reliability: 3). [S326] Internet: Website: Newfoundland's Grand Banks, (http://ngb.chebucto.org/), accessed 16 Apr 2024), The Star & Conception Bay Journal, Carbonear and Harbour Grace, January 1835-December 1835, MF 4981 (Reliability: 3). [S42] Richmond Harley "Dick" HAYWARD, Research: Richmond Harley "Dick" HAYWARD (Descendants of Thomas Cooper), 13 Mar 2006, p. Narrative Report page 031 (Reliability: 3).