Hart’s Cove General Cemetery Municipal Heritage Site

Hart’s Cove General Cemetery has been designated a municipal heritage site by the Town of Twillingate because of its historic and aesthetic values.

Hart’s Cove General Cemetery has historic value as one of the older cemeteries in Twillingate and because its approximately 40 headstones contain historic and genealogical type information, and may be considered artifacts on the community’s landscape. The earliest death date appearing on extant gravemarkers at the cemetery is 1817 and the latest dates from 1929. The materials of the headstones coincide with these dates. It is possible that earlier burial places are now unmarked and that the cemetery was used as a burial place for well over a century. Surnames appearing on the grave markers include Ashbourne, Burton, Churchill, Cooper, Davy, Earl (or Earle), Guy, Hawkins, Ings, Jenkins, Kendal, Lewis, Pond, Randell (or Randle), Rapson, Vatcher, Verge (or Virge), Yetman and Young.

Hart’s Cove General Cemetery has additional historic value due to its association with some of the founding families in the community. Many of the surnames seen in the cemetery are still common in Twillingate and the cemetery is for present-day residents a physical reminder of their ancestors. One surname of great historic note is that of Ashbourne, a prominent merchant family in Twillingate. In the 1800s and into the 1900s, the Ashbourne firm outfitted schooners for the Labrador fishery and the seal hunt. Their exports of fish and seal products contributed greatly to the economic growth of Twillingate. Ashbourne descendant Thomas was involved in politics as well, serving as a member of the Newfoundland House of Assembly in the 1920s, as a delegate to the National Convention in the 1940s and as a member in the federal House of Commons.

Hart’s Cove General Cemetery has aesthetic value due to its picturesque setting. Located in Hart’s Cove on Twillingate’s South Island, the cemetery is readily visible when approaching Hart’s Cove from the main road through Twillingate and is a prominent landscape feature in this section of the community referred to as Durrell. The cemetery overlooks the body of water that separates the two islands that make up community of Twillingate and provides a view of the eastern shore of Twillingate’s North Island.