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predominantly Protestant, or to the Indians and Chinese who were not Christians. The Portuguese officials for a long time could not be persuaded to sell land to the Protestants for use as a recognized cemetery, and so, as on the islands up the river, the bereaved foreigners in Macao had to bury their dead on the hillsides beyond the city walls. In 1821 however, on the occasion of the death of Mary Morrison, wife of Dr. Robert Morrison, the Portuguese authorities at last agreed to let the East India Company have some land for burial purposes. The Morrisons had lost their first born, James, ten years before and he had been buried on Mesenburg Hill. During her last illness, Mary Morrison had expressed the wish to be buried with her first born, but the Chinese were reluctant to open an old grave. Strong representations were made by the Select Committee to the Portuguese and although they could not let her be buried in their cemetery, the pleadings plus the popularity of Dr. Morrison won the day, and a plot of land near one of the Company's official residences, now the Museum, was sold to the East India Company for use as a burial ground. Later, the East India Company allowed it to be used by all foreigners, and then a number of people sought permission for the remains of those formerly buried on hillsides to be moved into the newly established cemetery: that is why, if one looks carefully at the memorials, it will be found that a number of them have dates of death earlier than 1821, when the cemetery was opened. The earliest death recorded was of George W. Biddle of Philadelphia, U.S.A., he died in 1811, so that the date over the gate referred to earlier is neither that of the opening of the cemetery nor of the first death recorded there. It is probably that of the year in which the new charter came into force under which the East India Company operated in China at the time of the opening of the Cemetery.
The name "Old Cemetery" came into use after 1858 when the Portuguese authorities decided that no more burials were to take place within the city limits. This decision necessitated the closing of the cemetery and the opening of another, The New Protestant Cemetery, outside the city walls. A property named Carneiro's Gardens was bought at a public auction in 1858 by Osmund Cleverly (Cleverly Street in Hong Kong was named after him), acting on behalf of the Protestant community in Macao, and a Board of Trustees was set up to administer the property as a
14
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predominantly Protestant, or to the Indians and Chinese who were not Christians. The Portuguese officials for a long time could not be persuaded to sell land to the Protestants for use as a recognized cemetery, and so, as on the islands up the river, the bereaved foreigners in Macao had to bury their dead on the hillsides beyond the city walls. In 1821 however, on the occasion of the death of Mary Morrison, wife of Dr. Robert Morrison, the Portuguese authorities at last agreed to let the East India Company have some land for burial purposes. The Morrisons had lost their first born, James, ten years before and he had been buried on Mesenburg Hill. During her last illness, Mary Morrison had expressed the wish to be buried with her first born, but the Chinese were reluctant to open an old grave. Strong representa- tions were made by the Select Committee to the Portuguese and although they could not let her be buried in their cemetery, the pleadings plus the popularity of Dr. Morrison won the day, and a plot of land near one of the Company's official residences, now the Museum, was sold to the East India Company for use as a burial ground. Later, the East India Company allowed it to be used by all foreigners, and then a number of people sought permission for the remains of those formerly buried on hillsides to be moved into the newly established cemetery: that is why, if one looks carefully at the memorials, it will be found that a number of them have dates of death earlier than 1821, when the cemetery was opened. The earliest death recorded was of George W. Biddle of Philadelphia, U.S.A., he died in 1811, so that the date over the gate referred to earlier is neither that of the opening of the cemetery nor of the first death recorded there. It is probably that of the year in which the new charter came into force under which the East India Company operated in China at the time of the opening of the Cemetery.
The name "Old Cemetery" came into use after 1858 when the Portuguese authorities decided that no more burials were to take place within the city limits. This decision necessitated the closing of the cemetery and the opening of another, The New Protestant Cemetery, outside the city walls. A property named Carneiro's Gardens was bought at a public auction in 1858 by Osmund Cleverly (Cleverly Street in Hong Kong was named after him), acting on behalf of the Protestant community in Macao, and a Board of Trustees was set up to administer the property as a
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