Description of Historic Place

The Townsend Burial Plot is a small cemetery located on the eastern shore of Campbell's Pond in Park Corner. This pond is also known as the "Lake of Shining Waters" made famous by L.M. Montgomery. The site once contained several headstones, but these have been moved to the Geddie Memorial Cemetery in Springbrook. The remains of those interred, however, are still on the site which is now overgrown with some small bushes near the bank of the pond.

Heritage Value

This cemetery is valued for its historical association with the Townsend family of Park Corner as well as other early pioneers to the area.

James Townsend (1739-1806) emigrated from Berkshire, England, with his wife, Elizabeth (Davis) Townsend and their family in 1775. Their vessel, the Elizabeth, was wrecked in New London Bay on a sandbar. Accompanying the Townsends were members of the Blennerhassett, Churchward, and Curtis families. Thomas Curtis later published an account of the voyage.

This was the second trip for the Elizabeth. A year earlier, she had taken out members of the Adams, Chappell, Cole, and Roake families. This first voyage was led by Robert Clark, a Quaker merchant from London who had purchased Lot 21 on St. John's Island and hoped to establish a New London there. After the outbreak of the American Revolution, his plans were dealt a setback and he went bankrupt.

The cemetery located along the bank of what became Campbell's Pond may have begun in 1795, when Elizabeth Townsend died. It was never recorded on known maps of PEI and its exact dimensions are unclear. The site came to also be used by the Montgomery, Moorfield, and Truegard families. Three headstones existed on the site for the Townsend interments and one for the Truegards, but these were moved to the Geddie Memorial Cemetery in Springbrook and placed behind the Soldiers' Monument. Farmland continued to encroach on the site and it was likely thought the stones were threatened. The remains of those individuals interred, however, remain on the site.

The cemetery is an important link to the history of early settlement in the province.

Source: Culture and Heritage Division, PEI Department of Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7N8
File #: 4310-20/P31

Character-Defining Elements

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

- the location of the cemetery in an overgrown area near the edge of Campbell's Pond
- the unmarked graves on the site