MASONIC INTERMENTS IN VICTORIA CEMETERIES

VICTORIA JEWISH CEMETERY

Victoria’s Jewish cemetery is located on Cedar Hill Road near Hillside Avenue. It was consecrated in 1859, making it the oldest Jewish Cemetery in western Canada. The first burial took place in 1861. That first interment was a Freemason named Morris Price, a merchant who was murdered in 1861 in his store in Cayoosh, a settlement near the present town of Lillooet in the B.C. interior. Since Victoria Jewish Cemetery was the nearest Jewish cemetery to Cayoosh at that time, Morris Price‘s body was transported to Victoria for burial. Victoria Lodge, No. 1085 struck a committee to receive Morris Price‘s body and prepare it for burial. The Victoria Freemasons also took charge of Brother Price’s funeral.

Freemasonry has a close, amicable and long-standing relationship with Victoria’s Jewish community. Victoria’s second Mayor, Lumley Franklin, a leading figure in early Victoria’s Jewish community, was a charter member of Victoria’s first Masonic Lodge, Victoria Lodge, No. 1085, in 1858. On 2 June 1863, Victoria Freemasons laid the cornerstone of the city’s Congregation Emanu-El, the oldest synagogue in western Canada. Lumley Franklin was instrumental in financing and building this synagogue.

On 2 June 2013, on the 150th anniversary of the original cornerstone ceremony, the Grand Master of B.C. & Yukon, M.W. Brother J. Murray Webster, presided over a public re-enactment of the 1863 ceremony before an audience consisting of members of Congregation Emanu-El, approximately 400 Freemasons, the Mayor of Victoria, Israel’s Ambassador to Canada and many other interested spectators.

Here is a list of the Freemasons we know to be buried in the Victoria Jewish Cemetery (note: this list may not be complete):

  1. David BERMAN (1901-1958
  2. Harry BURNS (1874-1929)
  3. Joshua Philip DAVIES (1846-1903)
  4. Judah Philip DAVIES (1820-1879)
  5. Rabbi Elias FRIEDLANDER (1846-1927) – Chief Rabbi of Congregation Emanu-El
  6. Moses HAMBURGER (1870-1905)
  7. Adolph LANCASTER (1882-1961)
  8. Isador LANCASTER (died 1924, aged 48)
  9. Gustav LEISER (1856-1896)
  10. Max LEISER (1862-1935)
  11. Simon LEISER (1851-1917) – Vancouver & Quadra Lodge No. 2
  12. Lewis LEVY (died 1926 in Port Angeles, Washington, aged 73)
  13. Lewis LEWIS (died 1904, aged 78)
  14. Max Harvey MACARA
  15. David OPPENHEIMER
  16. Morris PRICE (died 1861 – the first interment in Victoria Jewish cemetery)
  17. Samuel Davies SCHULTZ (1865-1917) – Canada’s first Jewish judge
  18. Marcus WOLFE (1850-1896) Past Grand Master. Ashlar Lodge No. 3

Here is a map showing the location of Victoria Jewish Cemetery:

 

 

The grave of Morris Price (died 1861), the first in interment in Victoria Jewish Cemetery. [photo: Vancouver & Quadra Lodge No. 2 Historian]
The grave of Morris Price (died 1861), the first in interment in Victoria Jewish Cemetery. [photo: Vancouver & Quadra Lodge No. 2 Historian]
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