In March 1885 Comber Dispensary Committee raised with the Newtownards Poor Law Guardians the unsatisfactory state of the Comber Burying-Ground at St Mary’s Parish Church. They agreed with Dr Robert Henry, the Dispensary’s medical officer, that extension of the present graveyard was necessary. The Guardians agreed to write to the Church Temporalities Commissioners, who owned the graveyard, asking if they would be willing to extend it. However, the Irish Land Commission, Dublin, replied that graveyard was merely vested under the Church Temporalities Commissioners as trustees, and it was not their responsibility to enlarge or improve it. Rather, if the burial ground was adjacent to a church, as was the case in this instance, it was vested in the Representative Church Body.
Meanwhile, the Local Government Board carried out an inspection. Mr Hamilton, the inspector, observed that the burial ground was quite full, and understood from the medical officer that some recent interments had only a few inches of soil over the coffins. In his opinion, because the graveyard was in the centre of the town and surrounded by houses, it would be unwise to extend it. Rather, a cemetery outside the town should be provided and the present graveyard closed. The Local Government Board asked for a further report from the medical officer so that they could consider the propriety of providing a cemetery outside the town. Comber Dispensary Committee was given the task of ascertaining how much ground was required, the most suitable site, and the probable cost.
Comber Dispensary Committee appointed a sub-committee, who recommended a town park belonging to a person named Corbitt. This, however, did not meet with the views of the Dispensary Committee, who decided, by a majority of two, to advise the Board of Guardians (as the Burial Board) to obtain land one mile outside Comber at the Glass Moss, situated between the Newtownards Road and the County Down Railway.
At the meeting of the Guardians Mr McMaster proposed that the Glassmoss site be taken up for burial purposes. He explained that the ground had been inspected by Mr De Wind, a competent engineer, who had examined the soil, and taken levels, and considered the place suitable as a cemetery. As to the question of cost, the ground in question was a common, and there were four landlords who claimed rights to the property. He understood they would offer no opposition. Several of the people who had grazing rights said they would be glad to see the place taken up for a burying-ground, and very little compensation would be required to purchase any rights which anybody had over the ground. Mr Samuel Stone proposed Mr Corbett’s field, pointing out the unsuitability of the Glassmoss site owing to the nature of the soil, flooding, and the cost of obtaining the place. A deputation from Comber, consisting of Messrs John McMaster, Robert Todd, Samuel Bennett, Robert Withers, James Speers, Samuel Moore, George Frame, Thomas Horner, and Alexander Murdoch, then appeared before the Board in opposition to the Glassmoss. Mr Murdoch read out a resolution, which had been passed at a public meeting of the inhabitants of Comber, in favour of John Corbett’s field, or alternatively that of Robert Simpson on the Belfast Road. He also read a memorial signed by 142 residents of Comber condemning the Glassmoss. Any decision was deferred for three months in order to give the inhabitants of Comber a further opportunity to express their opinions on the subject.
And so, in October 1885, at a further meeting of the Board of Guardians, a deputation from Comber once more appeared, submitting memorials signed by the inhabitants of the town, and seatholders of the 1st and 2nd Presbyterian Churches, in opposition to the taking of the Glass Moss as a cemetery. After lengthy discussion it was agreed that the Glassmoss idea be abandoned.
And so we come to 1886, and the question was raised as to what should be the area of taxation for the new cemetery. Samuel Stone proposed that a previous resolution be rescinded which stated taxation be based on the town and townparks of Comber only. He recommended that at least two electoral divisions be covered - Comber and Ballymeglaff. People for two miles around Comber at least would bury in the new cemetery, so why should the whole burden of expense be saddled on the town and townparks of Comber? Mr McMaster disagreed, arguing that administration would become unwieldy if a committee had to be appointed relating to a large taxation area. Better to leave management in the hands of the Comber people. It was pointed out that the committee in charge of the new cemetery would have perfect control over the tariff to be charged for burial. Those people outside the area could be charged with an additional fee, whereas those within the area would be allowed to obtain ground at a much cheaper rate. Deputations from Comber and Ballymeglaff were then heard. It was eventually agreed that taxation should be on Comber town and townparks only.
A memorial signed by 102 residents of Comber was sent to the Local Government Board objecting to these arrangements. It was Mr McMaster’s view that it would just be as easy to get up a memorial by the people outside Comber against the extension of the area, as that of the residents of Comber for it. Again the Guardians discussed extension of the old burying ground, and it was suggested that if enough pressure was brought to bear the Church governing body might give in. But no decision was taken.
There was much bad blood over the whole issue. The question of the Glassmoss just would not go away. In December 1886 Samuel Stone moved that the Guardians as Burial Board should not pay Mr De Wind the engineer for work he had carried out regarding the suitability of the Glassmoss as a burying ground. After all, they had given him no instructions to take levels or report on the Glassmoss, which was a most unsuitable place. Mr McMaster thought the account should be paid in full. Mr De Wind had been employed by the Comber Dispensary Committee to report on the suitability of the Glassmoss. The question was, had they exceeded the powers vested in them by the Board of Guardians by employing an engineer for the purpose? He contended that they had not. John Andrews, Chairman of the Dispensary Committee, contended that, although a number of the Committee were in favour of the Glassmoss, there was uncertainty as to whether it could be properly drained. Hence Mr De Wind’s involvement. Mr Ritchie said the Dispensary Committee should have come to that Board and obtained permission to appoint an engineer. It was eventually agreed that the engineer should be paid.
The matter of Comber Burying Ground was now quietly dropped. It was towards the end of 1889 that the Local Government Board put pressure on Comber Dispensary Committee respecting the want of burial accommodation in the Comber district, recommending that the Board of Guardians once more request the Church Temporalities Commissioners to extend the present burying-ground in connection with Comber Parish Church. This course of action was now adopted. In April 1890 the Representative Body of the Church of Ireland replied that they could not accede to any extension of the present graveyard, but were of opinion that the Guardians should supply a new cemetery outside the town.
By November 1890 the patience of the Local Government Board was starting to wear thin. They wrote to the Guardians stating they had observed from the report of the medical officer of Comber District that the graveyard accommodation was very inadequate, and they requested that the matter receive the attention of the sanitary authority. Mr Murdoch somewhat surprisingly commented that there was as yet no want of burial accommodation, and it was unnecessary to saddle the ratepayers with any more expense. He added that there was still a good deal of ground unoccupied in the graveyard. The Guardians moved that the Local Government Board be informed that there was no need at present for additional graveyard accommodation. The Local Government Board were not satisfied. In the words of their medical inspector - “I am credibly informed that it is almost impossible to get burial accommodation within reasonable distance of Comber, and I believe there is immediate necessity for the establishing of a new cemetery. The only burial ground which is open to all parties within three miles of Comber is the churchyard of the Episcopalian Church, situate within the precincts of the town of Comber, and it is overcrowded to such an extent that, if not relieved by the establishment of a new cemetery, will constitute a danger to the public health”. The Guardians passed the matter to Comber Dispensary Committee to investigate.
The Dispensary Committee duly met in December 1890 and came to the conclusion that the present graveyard accommodation was totally inadequate. They recommended two fields on the Belfast road, occupied by Mr Wm Falloon and Mr Wm Robb, as suitable for a new cemetery, and that the Board of Guardians take steps to procure these. This was agreed. But Comber Distilleries weren’t happy. The proposed site was too near the watercourse which supplied their Distillery and they would oppose it. The Guardians decided to proceed in any case. However, in retrospect, the Comber Dispensary Committee decided that procurement of the fields on the Belfast Road should be abandoned, and a more suitable place selected. It was thought that a field occupied by Mrs Cairns on the Comber side of the railway crossing on the Newtownards Road, containing between 4 and 5 acres, would be suitable. The Guardians agreed with this, and decided to consult with the Local Government Board as to what were the proper steps to take.
It seems that graveyard accommodation was now put out to tender but the only offer was from Nathaniel Ferguson of Ballyrickard. He offered 3 English acres about three-quarters of a mile from Comber at £60 an acre. This was considered to be far too dear. The matter was again passed to Comber Dispensary Committee. They came up with several suggestions - a field of Mr J Corbett’s about a quarter of a mile from Comber, a field of Mrs Cairns’ adjoining, part of a field of Mr Allen’s opposite this, and a portion of the Glassmoss. They recommended that the Local Government Board Inspector and the medical sanitary officers be requested to recommend the most suitable of the sites. However, the Guardians felt that the Dispensary Committee should recommend one of these sites rather than put ratepayers to the expense of getting opinions from all these officials. And so the matter bounced back again to Comber Dispensary Committee.
In March 1891 the matter was again before the Guardians. Mr McMorran moved that the Guardians try to procure Mr Corbett’s field, which was close to the town on the property of the Marquis of Londonderry, whom he believed would give them the fee-simple of it on easy terms. This action was agreed. And the question of the area of taxation again reared its head. The leading inhabitants of Comber had signed a memorial asking that the boundary for taxation be as wide as possible, as the new cemetery would be to supplement the present Parish graveyard which was used by a large area outside Comber district. There were tombstones there representing 30 townlands. It was agreed that taxation should relate to Comber Dispensary District. Mr John Corbett subsequently appeared before the Guardians to make arrangements with respect to compensation. The agreement was that he would be allowed to take out the coming crop, and the price to be paid for the land would be settled by arbitration. Later Mr Corbett offered to dispose of his interest in the field for £80, but the Guardians decided to keep him to his offer of arbitration.
Meanwhile the Local Government Board agreed that all expenses should be borne by the ratepayers of Comber Dispensary District, in other words the electoral divisions of Ballymeglaff, Comber and Moneyrea. The Board of Guardians now decided to appoint a deputation to wait on Mr Charles Brownlow, Lord Londonderry’s agent, and ascertain from him whether they could get these townparks of Mr Corbett’s, and on what terms. Perhaps this approach should have been made before that to Mr Corbett. The deputation would consist of the Chairman along with Mr Adair and Mr Murdoch.
After the deputation had met with Mr Brownlow, a letter was received from him indicating that he would advise Lord Londonderry to give a lease for ever at £6 a year. Mr McMorran thought that if the deputation waited again on Mr Brownlow he might recommend it to be given free of rent, or at least at the agricultural price of the district. Apparently Mr Brownlow had told the deputation that if the burying ground had been for the use of Comber alone, as opposed to the electoral division, he might have recommended a reduction. After some discussion, it was agreed that Mr Brownlow’s terms be accepted, but that the Board write to him to see if they could get easier terms.
Mr Brownlow asked to see the deputation again. Mr Adair and Mr Murdoch met with him, and it transpired that the field was owned, not by Mr Corbett, but by his daughter. They had urged Mr Brownlow to accept lower terms, and he said he would do his best with Lord Londonderry to have them modified. They did their best to impress upon him that the graveyard should be rent-free.
Matters dragged on, with no further progress having been made by October 1891. Mr Murdoch thought that if Lord Londonderry could give two or three acres for a burying-ground for Newtownards for nothing, he should not charge the people of Comber £5 a year. It was now proposed that Mr Brownlow’s offer, previously accepted, should now be rescinded. It was the opinion of the vast majority of the residents of Comber and the surrounding districts, that they should pay no rent for a burial ground. Mr Murdoch produced a memorial to Lord Londonderry on the subject, signed by the people of Comber, the gentry, the five ministers, and two magistrates out of three. This would be forwarded to his Lordship, and if he rejected the terms to give it free, he supposed they would have to buy it out, for paying rent was absurd. It was decided that the best way forward would be to write to Mr Brownlow informing him that the people of Comber were unhappy with the arrangements, and that they had decided on presenting a memorial to his Lordship.
And so we enter 1892, and pressure from Dr Henry, the Comber medical officer, stating that Comber Graveyard was still in as disgraceful a state as when he reported on it two years ago, and there was still the same necessity for additional ground. He recommended that steps be taken to obtain this, and now that the Marquis of Londonderry was present in the area an effort should be made to have the matter settled at once. Coffins were interred within only 18 inches of the surface, and bones thrown out repeatedly. Dr Henry’s report was referred to the Comber Dispensary Committee.
Mr Blizard, secretary of the Dispensary Committee, reiterated that they were still of the opinion that graveyard accommodation was totally inadequate and that the Board of Guardians should take immediate steps to acquire ground, recommending Mr Corbett’s field on the Newtownards Road. The Board adopted the report of the Committee, although there was a very unedifying discussion in which Mr Murdoch strongly objected to Mr Corbett’s field because it was too close to his own land.
A committee consisting of Messrs Dickson, Finlay and McConkey examined Mr Corbett’s field as well as one belonging to John McMorran. Mr McMorran wanted £500 for tenant-right alone on his 4-acre field, while Mr Corbett would give possession next November for £60 for his 2-acre site. The committee favoured Mr McMorran’s field, but the price was exorbitant. The Board adopted the report of this committee and agreed to ask the Local Government Board to send down an arbitrator to assess the value. The Local Government Board said their function was limited to the appointment of an umpire, and if agreement could not be reached with the owner the course was to obtain a provisional order. That could not be obtained until November. At a subsequent Board meeting it was agreed that the resolution selecting Mr James McMorran’s field should be rescinded for the following reasons: - the price was five times what it was worth, it was too close to dwelling houses, it was farther from Comber than desirable, it was near a railway crossing, and had never been recommended by Comber Dispensary Committee. Once again a deputation was appointed, consisting of the Chairman, William Boyd and John Adair, to approach Lord Londonderry’s agent, Mr Brownlow, with the object of purchasing Mr Corbett’s field instead of renting it.
Messrs Boyd and Adair decided to make a direct appeal to Lord Londonderry when they met with him at Ards Recreation Sports, giving the opinion of the Board and the Dispensary Committee that the field should be given free to Comber. And Lord Londonderry immediately agreed to this. Mr Corbett was given notice to quit by 1st November. Messrs Boyd, Adair and Ritchie were appointed as a committee to take the necessary steps to procure the field. Mr Corbett was offered £25 compensation, but he appeared at a meeting of the Guardians asking for an extra £10 for unexhausted manures. This was refused, and £25 was paid to Mrs Mary Jane Robinson, Mr Corbett’s daughter, for possession of the field.
At the end of March 1893 Mr Ritchie reported that the committee appointed had visited the ground and given instructions to Mr Lamon, the civil engineer. They had also decided to build a caretaker’s house at a cost not exceeding £200. Mr Lamon duly prepared plans and maps of the work required. He estimated the cost at £850 to cover an 8 feet high wall enclosing 2 acres and 2 roods, drainage, caretaker’s house and embellishment. The Guardians agreed to apply for a loan of £850. Later they decided to ask for £1,000. The Local Government Board sanctioned this, payment at 4 per cent interest to be made over 30 years, and the loan to be issued in three instalments of £500, £300 and £200 respectively. Application for the money should now be made to the Commissioners of Public Works, but no expense should be incurred before it was authorised.
The loan was duly granted and the Guardians asked the Clerk to confer with Mr Lamon to prepare an advertisement for tenders. The contracts totalled £759 and were all secured by Newtownards firms. By October 1893 the wall had been built and the roof was almost completed on the caretaker’s house. But vandals were at their work and by the end of January 1894 Mr Lamon was reporting damage to the gate and railings, and suggesting the appointment of a caretaker.
In February 1894 the Guardians were advertising not only for a caretaker for the cemetery (wages fourteen shillings a week with free house and garden), but a secretary as well (at £25 a year). The final instalment of the loan was applied for as payments and liabilities already incurred came to £923 18s 4d, and payment was made to Mr Hanna, the builder, although £159 was not to be paid until the contract was satisfactorily completed. Mr Lamon’s plans for laying out of the grounds were approved, although subsequently amended. From now on the committee in charge of the cemetery would be known as the Comber Burial Board Committee.
There were eleven applicants for the caretaker job, and David Parker of Newtownards was appointed. Two candidates applied for the position of secretary – John W Ritchie and Alex G Murdoch, both of Comber. Seventeen of the Guardians voted for Mr Ritchie, none for the unfortunate Mr Murdoch, and four did not vote. Mr Ritchie therefore got the job.
In April Mr Lamon refused to certify the work done on building the cemetery wall. It was unsatisfactory, built of inferior masonry, especially on the side next to Mr Murdoch’s land. The Guardians withheld the £159 still due to Mr Hanna, the builder. But the Comber Burial Board Committee were pleased with the manner in which Messrs Alex Dickson & Sons had laid out and planted the grounds. They now instructed Mr Lamon to prepare a specification for the bottoming and gravelling of the walks, and recommended the Guardians to come up with an estimate for this as quickly as possible, as the walks and main entrance were all ready for finishing.
By the end of April 1894 the Comber Burial Board Committee had met to draw up rules and regulations, and to fix the prices for plots of ground. But the saga of the defective wall rumbled on. Mr Hanna claimed the portion of wall being objected to had been built with three or four feet of earth over a sewer on top of the foundation. Mr Lamon could have had the wall built before the sewer was opened by sending a small sketch of the boundary ditch to Mr Delacherois. But he had not done this and a large quantity of stones and mortar was left beside this wall, some of which was covered with sewer stuff. Mr Hanna did not have time to remove this. He was very critical of Mr Lamon, who had not sent any plan of the entrance until the time for completion of the contract had almost expired, and Mr Hanna had to employ a man to draw plans of pillars to make the railing fit. He complained about contradiction of orders relating to 80 loads of sand which he had laid down and which Mr Lamon then ordered him to spread over the field as he wouldn’t allow it to go into the wall. Nor at the commencement of the contract would he pass the sand until the lime had been laid down to be slacked by wind and weather. There seems to have been some sympathy among the Guardians for Mr Hanna, who was said to normally carry out a satisfactory job, but their hands were tied with regard to payment without certification by the engineer, and the committee who examined the wall agreed with him. And Mr Lamon completely refuted Mr Hanna’s allegations.
On 20 May Comber Burial Board Committee met with Mr Lamon and Mr Hanna at the cemetery. They made a survey of the entire boundary wall during which Mr Lamon pointed out the deficiencies. Mr Hanna expressed willingness to allow a portion of the balance outstanding to be taken into account for the deficient work, although no specific sum was mentioned. The Committee also reported to the Guardians in June of their satisfaction with the way in which Mr William Gill had completed the contracts for walks etc. Two interments had taken place. Incidentally the first of these was that of Martha McDowell of Troopersfield on the Ballygowan Road.
Mr Lamon now suggested that £62 would be a suitable sum to deduct from the money outstanding to Mr Hanna. But Mr Hanna does not appear to have been satisfied with this, and in July the matter was put to arbitration, and was presumably resolved shortly afterwards.
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