There are already quite a few posts on Mount Caroline Cemetery, and I contributed to the early discussions, having found myself in the cemetery during my initial search for traces of my grandfather’s house at the top of Broadwood Road.
I had not previously come across Sir Henry May’s gazetted order of 23 October 1914 to remove “certain graves on Crown Land which are not in an authorised Cemetery namely: - all graves situated on that piece of ground adjacent to Mount Caroline Cemetery shortly to be known as Inland Lot 1947.” This gave me a shiver, as my grandfather, Charley Warren, or at least his company, C.E. Warren & Co., was responsible for building all the houses on I.L. 1947, including his own, known as “The Towers”. Even in English culture, let alone Chinese, it is unlucky to live on ground where bodies have previously been buried. Bad luck and ill health certainly afflicted my grandfather in the final years of his short life.
I can’t imagine that the removal of Chinese graves didn’t occasion commentary in the press, especially the Chinese press. My notoriously feeble newspaper searches haven’t turned up anything for “Mount Caroline graves”. I’d be grateful if anyone can do better than me for the 1914-1915 period. I also wonder if there is any record of the exact area where the unauthorised graves were located.
Alex Wong mentions in a post that he heard stories that Mount Caroline Cemetery was haunted when he was young. I wonder if anyone else is familiar with those stories. “The Towers” stood empty in the 1950s. I don’t know if there is anyone still around who can tell me if it was supposed to be haunted.
Nine houses were built on I.L. 1947. They were nos. 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 21 Broadwood Road.