During my time in Georgetown I chanced upon the Northam Road cemetery which, I would subsequently discover, is the oldest Christian cemetery in Penang and the resting place of many colonial settlers and notable historical figures from the early years of that settlement.

Although disused since the 1890’s (due to the huge number of colonial deaths from tropical diseases such as malaria the British authorities decided to shift the burial site from Northam Road to the newly opened Western Road cemetery instead) the Northam Road cemetery has undergone a series of conservation/restoration efforts in recent decades and is now a Class 1 Heritage site maintained by the Penang Heritage Trust.

Established in 1786 as a Christian burial ground Protestants were interred in the northern section of the cemetery and Roman Catholics in the southern. These are separated by a dividing wall with a locked gate (likely due to the absence of regular grounds staff and to avoid the possibility of vandalism and other unwanted behaviours that might take place there).

The unknown

Unfortunately it is not known how many people were buried in the Protestant cemetery. During a 2013 survey 459 graves were located within the cemetery although the occupants of 150 of these graves were unable to be identified. Attempts at identifying the interred are hindered, and may even be impossible, due to many of the existing grave memorials and church burial records being destroyed as a result of Japanese bombing during World War 2.

The fact that there were many individuals buried in unmarked graves and that newer graves often overlaid older graves also complicates and adds to the burden of attempting identification of those interred in the cemetery.

Demographics

Although originally intended for the burial of British colonial settlers after Penang’s establishment in 1786 the cemetery also forms the resting place for a small number of American, Australian, Armenian, Dutch, French, German and Chinese residents too.

The majority of those interred in the cemetery occupied prominent social positions within Penang’s early years as governors, administrators, merchants, wealthy landowners, military personnel and missionaries.

Some of these notable figures include:

• Captain Francis Light (founder of Penang (his grave )
• Quintin Dick Thompson (brother in law of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles - the founder of Singapore)
• Commodore Charles Grant (the Naval Commander in Chief of the then East Indies)
• Thomas Leonowens (husband of Anna Leonowens - the same Anna who is immortalised in the 1944 novel ‘Anna and the King of Siam’)
• Sir William Russell (the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Calcutta)
• Phillip Dundas (Governor of the island from 1805 - 1807)
• William Petrie (Governor of the island from 1812 - 1816)
• John Alexander Bannerman (Governor of the island from 1817 - 1819)

There are also some graves believed to be those of Chinese refugees who fled the Taiping rebellion that took place in China between 1850 - 1864.

One saddening aspect of those interred within the cemetery are the large numbers of settlers who died young (before the age of 30) as a result of deaths from tropical diseases - a reminder of how harsh certain climates were (and still can be) without modern medicine.

The last known burial to take place in the Northam Road cemetery was that of Cornelia Josephine Van Someren in 1892. This would likely have been prior to Christian burials shifting to the Western Road cemetery.

Interestingly, although somewhat sadly for the circumstances surrounding their death, the burial site of Thomas Kekewich is notable for being the only known case of suicide to be interred within the Protestant cemetery.

Impressions

Sitting on the edge of what was Northam Road (now Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah), not too far from the site of the derelict Shih Chung Branch school building, the cemetery appeared surprisingly quiet considering the volume of traffic passing only a few feet from its walls.

The gates to the cemetery were locked and the grounds appeared to be closed although I wasn’t sure if this was due to my arriving there in the late afternoon (or whether they were permanently closed - I couldn’t see any notice informing me that visitors were/weren’t allowed to be there). I was intrigued by the sight of the various headstones and grand looking monuments that I could see clustered throughout the cemetery and, for reasons I can’t explain, I felt compelled to climb the wall (which was fortunately quite small) and enter the resting place of those interred there.

With hindsight I’m not sure if visitors are actually allowed to walk through the grounds of the cemetery or not (I suspect that they are but I do hope that I wasn’t violating any cultural norms or taboos that may exist in that part of the world by being there after the gates were shut) but there was something about the location that drew my attention. I can’t explain nor articulate what exactly that was (because I don’t really know myself) but I felt drawn to want to visit the cemetery and, in the process of doing so, I did my best to be as respectful as I possibly could on consecrated ground.

Near to the entrance gate are 3 carved tablets: the first describing the history of the cemetery, the second depicting the layout of the cemetery and the third listing notable historic figures interred there. I was a little disappointed to not be able to find any further information on the Catholic section of the grounds but I suspect this was due to having entered from the Protestant quarters. That’s one for subsequent research.

The cemetery itself was incredibly peaceful (surprising given the volume of traffic passing by on Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah) and, despite the presence of mosquitoes (thank you Southeast Asia) intermittently taking turns to feast on my blood (luckily I had my mopiko to hand), I found myself alone during the 30 or so minutes I was there.

I began walking at a gentle pace down the path lined by frangipani trees, taking in and responding to the atmosphere of that location; calm, tranquil and relaxing. There was a peaceful quality about being there that soothed the mind. Despite my initial reservations about entering the cemetery I now felt completely at ease and, in a strange sort of way, it almost felt as if my presence was welcomed by the location. I always find it somewhat incredible that people tend to find cemeteries foreboding, depressing and even frightening - in my experience they have always been the exact opposite (well, during the day at least).

Despite recent (and I believe ongoing) restoration efforts some areas of the cemetery were difficult to navigate (and some of the monuments and tombstones were still dirty, covered in fungi/vegetation and/or in a state of disrepair) although, in all honesty, this didn’t detract from the experience of being there. Hopefully the remainder of the cemetery grounds can be restored (although this might be wishful thinking given the state of some of the tombs and their monuments - not to mention the loss of church records and the damage accrued in some parts of the cemetery over the previous century).

It was interesting to walk through those clusters of tombs that were accessible and learn more of the interred, particularly those historical figures significant to the early history of Penang - whilst admiring the grand designs and size of many of these tombs. It was clear from the architecture and its scale that these were people who, in life, had been important and occupied positions of high status - even an event as momentous as death wasn’t going to diminish that legacy.

Then there were those tombs that were less grandiose and splendid in their appearance whose occupants had died at ages far earlier than my own and/or met their demise in the most pitiful of ways. Seeing such resting places always makes me appreciate that much more the gift of the life I have been granted. There may be many things not well with the world but my situation is a far cry from what many have had to endure (and still do in some places), particularly in times when medical knowledge and technology was in its infancy.

I wish I could have spent longer walking around the cemetery as there was more to see. Unfortunately as the evening was starting to set in the light was beginning to fade and this made being in the cemetery somewhat risky with all the trip hazards present (thanks to broken, discarded tree branches littering the floor).

What I did get to see was interesting though but, as is often the case with wherever you travel to, there’s always more that you know you missed at the time (or find out about later). There’s definitely further tombs I wish I could have got round to seeing not to mention being able to visit the nearby Catholic cemetery (although I don’t know if this is even accessible as when I was there the only entrance I could see was a locked gate).

Maybe next time?