Description of Historic Place

The Kindree Family Cemetery is a nineteenth century burial ground occupying an area that is a quarter of an acre in size and located next to a tributary of the Sixteen Mile Creek on Derry Road West. It consists of seven identified burials and over thirty unknown interments.

It is recognized for its heritage value by the City of Mississauga By-Law 0152-2000.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Kindree Family Cemetery resides in its historic, social and educational significance. The cemetery was established on a small piece of farmland owned by John Chew (1822) and subsequently George May (1833). It includes seven known burials, all children of Nathan and Mary Kindree, who died between the years 1829 and 1839.

The historic significance of the Kindree Family Cemetery lies in its association with the Kindree Family who settled to the southeast of the cemetery lot in the 1820’s. The Kindree Family have their origins in Wales and their travels saw them journey from New Jersey through Niagara and finally to this rural area, now within the boundaries of Mississauga, and formerly Trafalgar Township. The cemetery and in particular the graves of the Kindree children are a testament to the difficulty of life in the early nineteenth century. The gravestones unearthed at this site circa 2000 indicate that the children died between 1829 and 1839, three from tuberculosis, the causes of the other four deaths unknown.

The historic significance of the Kindree Family Cemetery also relates to its location at the intersection of a tributary of Sixteen Mile Creek and Derry Road West, one of the major historical transportation corridors in the area. The cemetery serves as a remnant of historic Derry Road and its early nineteenth century agricultural tradition. It has since become a busy four-lane roadway surrounded by residential suburbs. Today, Derry Road continues to function as a vital artery in and out of the area with the creek and adjacent natural lands forming part of a popular network of pathways and interconnected parks.

The social and educational significance of the Kindree Family Cemetery resides in its use by the community as a public space and interpretive site. In recent years, a local community group, the Lisgar Residents Association worked with the City of Mississauga to rehabilitate the Kindree Family Cemetery for passive park use. A marker has been placed on the property identifying the known burials, and the landscape has been restored to a traditional nineteenth century rural setting that includes a gateway, fence lines and plantings. The cemetery is an important community feature and illustrates the many hardships pioneers faced during the settling of the land.

Source: City of Mississauga Bylaw 0152-2000; Kindree Family Cemetery Rehabilitation Report, City of Mississauga, 1999; City of Mississauga File CS.08-DERRY ROAD WEST 3790

Character-Defining Elements

Key character-defining elements that embody the historical significance of the cemetery include:
- the burials of the seven known interments, and of the over thirty unknown interments
-the remaining gravestones
- the cemetery’s location on the historic Derry Road, adjacent to a tributary of Sixteen Mile Creek

Key character-defining elements that embody the social and educational significance of the cemetery include the cemetery’s:
- integration into surrounding park systems and pathways for public use
- continued use as an open public space for passive park use
- restored landscape including stone and wooden fences, pathways and vegetation
- interpretive features such as the marker