A historic burial plot in a Manitoba cemetery has been rededicated after a $25,000 restoration that took several years, thanks to descendants of the family buried there.
The McKenzie plot at Little Britain United Church cemetery was first used in 1851, for one of the children of Roderick McKenzie, a chief trader for the Hudson’s Bay Company, and his wife. They were later buried there as well, along with a second child.
“It’s the oldest burial site that we know of in this churchyard,” explained Judy Rekrut, cemetery administrator at Little Britain United Church.
“I’ve been coming here since I was a little child, and it’s always been intriguing, to know what was behind that fence,” Rekrut said.
Members of the family funded the restoration after the church put a call out to descendants of the McKenzies in 2017. At the time, it said that if each of the surviving relatives across Canada gave $5, they could raise $20,000.
Work complete
The plot remains surrounded by fencing that came from England in 1859, but the stones inside have been repaired and cleaned.
Shirley McGimpsey, a direct descendant of Roderick McKenzie from Dauphin, Man., attended the rededication Sunday.
“I do a lot of family history, so I really like to see it carry on. And this cemetery has got lots of history,” she said, noting other Hudson Bay employees were also buried there.
-With a file from Brittany Bortolon/CTV News
