Newson's Pioneer Cemetery

The well maintained cemetery consists of two headstones enclosed by a metal fence. It is bordered by agricultural land on three sides and the Ferry Road on the south side.

This small cemetery is valued for its association with the Newson family, early pioneers to the Cornwall area.

William Augustus Newson (1796-1875) and his wife Sheba (Strowger) Newson (1801-1880) came to the Cornwall area of PEI from Suffolk in East Anglia, England, at some point between 1829 and 1832. William was a carpenter and purchased thirteen acres of land on May 10, 1834 at Pye's Corner - as Cornwall was then known. This land remained in the Newson family until 1998.

The Newson family's Suffolk roots are shared with other East Anglian families (such as Easter, Francis, Groom, Hunt, Jay, Large, Larter, Ling, Meggett, Mayhew, Leggat, Peake, Poole, Rackham, Seaman, Sheppard, and Vessey) who had emigrated to PEI during the early 1830s. They were part of an estimated 500 people who came on nine ships because of depressed agricultural prices resulting in poor employment prospects for labourers and craftsmen.

The cemetery is located on land near the former farmstead of Otto Newson. Only two stones are present, but they indicate that there are seven individuals interred on the site including William and Sheba Newson, their son, Francis Newson (1827-1843) as well as four unnamed infants.

Source: Culture and Heritage Division, PEI Department of Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7N8

File #: 4310-20/P17

The heritage value of the cemetery is shown in the following character-defining elements:

- the two headstones with inscriptions, one of which has a square base and tall pyramidal shaft, while the other shorter stone has a round arch top

- the grassed plot with tree

- the metal fence which encloses the site