(For my separate blog on the European funerary monuments of Kerala, see the link here). Unlike the Dutch cemetery, which most tourists tend to visit, there is another important burial ground in the outskirts of Fort Cochin, which no one pays much attention to. The Veli C. S. I. graveyard is less than 2 km from the Dutch cemetery. Those who have traveled to Fort Cochin from Ernakulam via road using the public transport system, would have noticed this cemetery on the way, but it will appear just like any other Christian graveyards of Kerala. However, very few would realize that the plot was once used as a British cemetery. What is more interesting is that several 19th century European grave monuments still remain preserved on its grounds. In a previous post (see here), I gave an introduction to this cemetery, but at that time I couldn't access the site, and therefore was not in a position to comment on the sepulchers.
An inventory for the Veli cemetery was prepared in the early 20th century by an anonymous individual or organization, made available to us by Roberts and Chekkutty in 2017. The title given is 'Old Protestant Cemetery-1790-1913' and according to them, the first documented burial in the cemetery was in 1790, and it became known as 'The New Church Burial Ground' after 1855. Unfortunately, the authors fail to give the original source on which the inventory is based on, instead they cite a survey of unmarked burials with plot locations derived from old church registers compiled by T W Venn. Strangely, none of Venn's works give such a report or specific survey on Veli cemetery. James Julian Cotton, who has meticulously recorded the burials in Fort Cochin and surroundings-at St Francis Church, Dutch Cemetery and the Streets of Cochin, also did not survey this ground. Same is the case with other well-known studies on the graveyards in Malabar.
The inventory is not perfect as it contains many factual errors, and some of the burials mentioned did not even happen there. The earliest burial noted, Jacob Wendelin Van der Sloot (d. 1739) is a typographical error. The inventory gives the burial details of 4 Van der Sloots and it must be noted that none of them have a gravestone as per the list.
1) Van der Sloot, Clement, died 3 November 1873.
2) Van der Sloot, Hester Amelia, died 17 February 1857, age 71.
3) Van der Sloot, Jacob Wendelen, died 1739, age 60.
4) Van der Sloot, John, died 27 November 1853, age 76.
The Doopboek/Baptismal Register (1751-1804) of St Francis church and the works of T W Venn (1947 and 1950), provide the baptismal records and the burial dates of these individuals, who we also learn are closely related. Thus, 2, 3 and 4 are siblings and 1 is the son of 2. As you can see, in the inventory, the date of death for all the Van der Sloots are given from mid to late 19th century, except for Jacob Wendelin. The Doopboek has Wendelin baptised on 1781, so his death at the age 60 years or precisely 60.5 years according to Venn, (1947, p. 65), should be somewhere around 1840, so the most probable date here is 1839 instead of 1739. This brings us to the second oldest burial recorded in the inventory, named after one David Scale, 1788, age 68. Venn (1947, p. 65) is helpful again in this regard, as he quotes David Scale died at the age of 68 some time between 1829-1842, based on the Anglican Records (Registers) of St Francis Church which he had access. He gives the name of 12 men who passed away during this period (1829-1842), listed in the ascending chronological order ending with Pieter Winkler (died, 1841). Interestingly, David Scale is 3rd in the list, and Jacob Wendelin Van der Sloot is named 8th, so the former died most probably in the early 1830s. All the remaining burials in the list are from the 19th century onwards, and the earliest without a gravestone is Helena Elstendorp, wife of Pieter Elstendorp, died 4 October 1804; and with a gravestone is for A. Blane, died 6 December 1821-unfortunately both are untraceable today. Despite its shortcomings, the inventory it is still the only resource available to study the funerary monuments in the Veli cemetery.
Recently, on my way to Fort Cochin, I was surprised to find the gate of Veli cemetery opened, which is usually a rare event. I was very lucky to find Rev. Kurian Peter, the Vicar of C. S. I. St Francis Church, Fort Cochin on the site. Needless to say, without his encouragement and kind permission, I could not have accessed this historic venue. I had the freedom to explore the cemetery on my own for about an hour. The burial ground is more well-kept compared to the Dutch cemetery. Nevertheless, not all epitaphs are presentable, I had to put some extra effort to clean the thick layers of mud and leaf litter on a number of graves to read the inscriptions. Anyway, I could manage to conduct a proper survey of the graves without much difficulty. It must be noted that almost all the European tombs here are British, and there are no Portuguese or Dutch grave markers.
According to the Veli inventory, a total of 103 burials occurred in the cemetery, out of which only 66 are recorded having gravestones. I could confirm from other sources and by personal verification that 9 of the burials (7 with- and 2 without- gravestones) happened in the Dutch and not Veli cemetery, and they are:
1. Mary Evans (d. 1822)
2. James Charles Sayer (d. 1822)
3. James Tate (d. 1827)-without gravestone
4. Alexander Allardice (d. 1839)
5. Pieter Winckler (d. 1841)-without gravestone
6. Eliza Jane Allardice (d. 1844)
7. Sarah Georginia Lascelles (d. 1845)
8. Major William Hamilton (d. 1822, the date is 1882 in the headstone)
9. Joseph Ethelbert Winckler (d. 1913).
