At the close of the Riel Rebellion in 1870, Manitoba entered Confederation. The postage stamp-size Province at that time did not include the area known as the Big Plains. It was not until 1881 that Manitoba's borders were extended from Sidney to Elkhorn. Between 1878 and 1890, thousands of settlers from the East moved West to take up homesteads offered by the John A. MacDonald Government in its intensive campaign to settle the fertile land of the Western Plains. Many of these settlers established themselves on the Big Plain. Many of the farmsteads around Carberry still bear the family name of the people who came here in 1878.

Late in 1881 the C.P.R. crossed the Plain. The Town of De Winton, 1.5 miles east of the present townsite, was booming with stores, a post office, hotel and grain warehouses. It came to the notice of the directors of the C.P.R. that some C.P.R. officials had an interest in land within the townsite. It was the policy of the railway to keep its officials from making personal profits on land speculation. So, the directors acted quickly. One night in the spring of 1882, one hundred imported men moved the station east into the Sandhills. Thus the fate of De Winton was sealed.

In common with most western towns, Carberry owes its existence to the Railway. The C.P.R. then selected the present townsite in 1882 and bought the land from Mr. John Bailey of Omemee, Ont. for $32,000. Two years before, Mr. Bailey had paid $550. for it. He made a profitable deal!

Carberry was named by James Hill after Carberry Tower in Musselburgh, Scotland, the seat of Lord Elphinstone a director of the C.P.R.

A group of public minded citizens in 1882 called a meeting to discuss the matter of providing a burial ground for the community. This meeting on October 25, was the start of the beautiful burial ground we have today. Unanimously deciding to go forward, a committee of three persons was appointed with instruction to procure a site, have it correctly laid out and fenced. After careful examination the site chosen was just north of the Town on the N .E. 1/4 Section 36, Township I0, Range 15, being six acres purchased from Mr. C. Rasmussen.

This committee was also the first Board of Trustees and was composed of William Spence, Chairman; Henry McLeod, Secretary-Treasurer; and George Hope, the third member.

The first caretaker was Mr. C. Rasmusssen (Sr.). The first persons to be buried in the Cemetery were Festus Lee, a 9-month-old boy, in 1882, and William Rea, aged 29, in 1883. Several persons who had died previously transferred to the Burial Ground after that date. There are approximately 2,000 persons buried in the cemetery to this date.

(Source: Carberry Plains, Century One 1882-1982, pp 215f and p 272 [1982; Adapted])

~~~~~~~~~~

Carberry Cemetery is probably the prettiest and best maintained cemetery in South-Western Manitoba. It is surrounded by a double row of spruce trees or scotch pine, the scotch pine being predominate in the newer portions of the cemetery. The cemetery is divided into 5 sections which are presently in use; Sections A, B, C, D, and E. At the intersections of Sections A, B, C, and D is a large circular flower bed which was a mass of colour from a mixture of petunias and snapdragons.

Many of the graves were covered and are covered annually under the perpetual care plan with bright petunias. The caretaker, Ernest Beswatherick (since retired) told us that over 25,000 plants were used throughout the cemetery during 1979.

It is unfortunate that for many years, the records of burials were poorly kept, if kept at all, or were lost. In certain areas of the older sections of the cemetery, there are a number of blank spaces which may or may not contain graves, therefore due to the uncertainty of these areas being occupied the cemetery board deemed it advisable to leave these spaces void.

On the whole, the older part of the cemetery has been well laid-out. It is known that some of the flat markers can become buried under the sod, particulary those of infants, and the majority of these markers were set between rows. The caretaker was unaware of the existence of many of these markers.

(Source: Manitoba Genealogical Society [1996; Adapted])

A monument in the cemetery, erected by the Royal Canadian Legion (Carberry Branch 153) commemorates those who served in Commonwealth and Allied forces during military conflict.

(Source: Manitoba Historical Society [Adapted])

~~~~~~~~~~

Incorporated in 1965.

(Source: Town of Carberry website [2024/03; Adapted])

~~~~~~~~~~

Dominion Land Survey coordinates: LSD08-36-10-15-W1

Managed by the Town of Carberry, but located In the Rural Municipality of North Cypress-Langford

~~~~~~~~~~

As noted above, a part of the community's story, and those of its inhabitants, from the early days of European settlement through roughly 1982 is told in the volume "Carberry Plains, Century One 1882-1982", especially on the cited pages. A free digital version of this and many other Manitoba local history books can be found online in the University of Manitoba Digital Collections. There is also a list of such books organized by district and town name on the Manitoba Historical Society's website on their page entitled "Finding Aid: Manitoba Local History Books".

A list of burials in this cemetery is available from the Manitoba Genealogical Society (reference #0022), transcribed by a member or members in 1979 and updated in 1996. Also available to MGS members is a searchable online database named the "MGS Manitoba Name Index" (or MANI). Some additional information is contained in the 1996 MGS publication "Carved in Stone: Manitoba Cemeteries and Burial Sites" (revised edition, Special Projects Publication, 106 pages).