THE BRITISH (PROTESTANT) CEMETERY AT SAN PEDRO, MAKATI, MANILA, PHILIPPINES
DAVID W MAHONEY
101
In the Eternal Lawn section of the Manila Memorial Park at Paranaque, a Southern suburb of the Philippine capital, Manila, in the shade of a Candelnut tree, wafted by the fragrance of a nearby Frangipani, lie all that is left of the British (Protestant) Cemetery of Manila. (See Plates 17 and 18 at rear of this Volume).
As the simple granite memorial stone announces "Here lie the remains of those who were buried in the Protestant Cemetery at San Pedro, Makati between the years 1863-1968”. Well, that's the end of the story, what about the rest?
The first British contact with the Philippines is said to have been the visit of the “SEAHORSE” to Manila in 1644, but trade could not proceed due to a blockade by the Dutch. The first British people started to come to the islands in the early eighteenth century and established trading links selling textiles (chiefly cotton) and buying silver, pearls, skins, leather, tobacco, sugar and even horses. Trade prospered between the Philippines and Mexico and particularly with China — mostly through English merchants so that the Islands were described as an “Anglo-Chinese Colony flying the Spanish flag". As many of those involved in trade also had connections with India, it was inevitable that the country which had been ruled by the Spanish since 1565 would come to the attention of the British military. Sure enough in 1762 an expedition under Col. Draper was launched from Madras and captured Manila after a two-week campaign. (Incidentally, Col. Monson, the Second-in-Command is buried in the South Park St. Cemetery in Calcutta.)
Although this campaign has been written about extensively, it is still worthy of further investigation. — What happened to the graves of the eight hundred or so who were killed, drowned in the landing during a typhoon or died of disease? No physical evidence
David W. Mahoney is a Chartered Surveyor working for Swire Properties Ltd., and has lived in Hong Kong since 1964.
THE BRITISH (PROTESTANT) CEMETERY AT SAN PEDRO, MAKATI, MANILA, PHILIPPINES
DAVID W MAHONEY
101
In the Eternal Lawn section of the Manila Memorial Park at Paranaque, a Southern suburb of the Philippine capital, Manila, in the shade of a Candelnut tree, wafted by the fragrance of a nearly Frangipani, lie all that is left of the British (Protestant) Cemetery of Manila. (See Plates 17 and 18 at rear of this Volume).
As the simple granite memorial stone announces "Here lie the remains of those who were buried in the Protestant Cemetery at San Pedro, Makati between the years 1863-1968”. Well, that's the end of the story, what about the rest?
The first British contact with the Philippines is said to have been the visit of the “SEAHORSE” to Manila in 1644, but trade could not proceed due to a blockade by the Dutch. The first British people started to come to the islands in the early eighteenth centu- ry and established trading links selling textiles (chiefly cotton) and buying silver, pearls, skins, leather, tobacco, sugar and even horses. Trade prospered between the Philippines and Mexico and particularly with China — mostly through English merchants so that the Islands were described as an “Anglo-Chinese Colony flying the Spanish flag". As many of those involved in trade also had connections with India, it was inevitable that the country which had been ruled by the Spanish since 1565 would come to the attention of the British military. Sure enough in 1762 an expedi- tion under Col. Draper was launched from Madras and captured Manila after a two-week campaign. (Incidentally, Col. Monson, the Second-in-Command is buried in the South Park St. Cemetery in Calcutta.)
Although this campaign has been written about extensively, it is still worthy of a further investigation. — What happened to the graves of the eight hundred or so who were killed, drowned in the landing during a typhoon or died of disease? No physical evidence
David W. Mahoney is a Chartered Surveyor working for Swire Properties Ltd., and has lived in Hong Kong since 1964.
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