PERIM CEMETERY

Aden, and therefore Perim, was in the Bombay diocese. In February 1886 Hinton Spalding, the owner of the Perim Coal Company, visited Perim and whilst at Aden on the way home to Liverpool, whilst waiting for the mail steamer, wrote to the Bishop of Bombay to ask him what steps would be necessary to have the European burial ground at Perim consecrated. At the time there were five graves, one of them being that of one of the two Able Seaman who had came out to Perim with Captain Squire in 1883. He had been killed when he had fallen from the cross trees to the deck of the hulk Ben Nevis.

The burial ground had been walled in and was being looked after by the Perim Coal Company. The bishop came within the year to consecrate the cemetery when it was reported to be very tidy. The cemetery was aligned more or less North-South and was 140 feet long and 40 feet wide, with a gate at the northern end.

By 1892 the walls had been increased in height to prevent stones being thrown at the gravestones. In addition some palm trees had been planted either side of the pathway in the cemetery

Up until 1907 all Christians had been buried in this plot, regardless of denomination. In that year the manager of the Perim Coal Company, Mr Ayres, wrote to the Roman Catholic bishop in Aden to ask if he would come to Perim to consecrate a new cemetery for Catholics. This request came to the attention of the Resident whose staff then suggested that it would be preferable to build an extension to the existing cemetery. There followed a very acrimonious correspondence between Mr Ayres, who had a history of being ‘difficult’, and the Residency.

One problem was that the cemetery was not on ‘Government side’ but within the Coal Company’s concession. The upshot of it all was that the cemetery became government property and a new narrow extension for Roman Catholics was built on the West side of the existing cemetery. This ran the full length of the old cemetery, but provided only a further inside width of 23 feet. This extension had its own gate, also at the northern end.

Having taken over the cemetery the Assistant Resident applied for a chowdikar to be added to his establishment, for which he would be paid 13 rupees a month, plus free water and rations.

Arrangements were also made for the Perim Coal Company to deliver 56 gallons of water twice a week with which the chowdikar would water the trees and shrubs in the cemetery. As this would not be a full-time job the chowdikar was to also clean and oil the furniture in Murray House (by now the Assistant Resident’s residence).

On now to June 1915. There was now only space for one more grave in the old cemetery and the Assistant Resident asked whether he could use the new cemetery for non-catholic burials, the alternative being to build another extension on the East side. Looking at Google Earth the latter option must have been taken, as the cemetery today is clearly divided into three parts.

One gravestone that caught my eye in 1964 was that of Lieutenant L A Lawrence of the 1st Yemen Infantry (the predecessor of the Aden Protectorate Levies). He had been murdered on the night of 1/2 September 1924 by some of his men. At the time, as officer commanding the detachment, he was also Assistant Resident. When Lt Col Lake came to Perim following Lawrence’s murder he reported that some of the graves needed immediate attention. One problem was that many of the graves had been marked not with gravestones but with metal discs, some of which were missing and others corroded.

Nothing much appears to have been done until 1927 when it was reported that the foundations of Lawrence’s grave were sinking and that the tombstone was beneath the surface of the sand. As well as repairing this grave a record was prepared of all the graves, dividing the cemetery into four blocks and numbering each grave within a block. (Lawrence was in Grave 31 in Block A). For example there were 35 graves in Block D, for 18 of which there was no name.

On now to 1936 when it was appreciated that with the closure of the coal company the infrastructure on Perim would be a problem and that there would be no one to look after the cemetery. The Bishop of Bombay asked the senior chaplain in Aden for a return on the cemetery on Perim. His reply was that of a potential total capacity of 121 graves, 56 were occupied. Looking at a satellite image one can see nearly all are in the central strip of the cemetery.

Below right is a satellite image of Perim cemetery today. Compare detail with old map displayed at the left.

Grave of Lieutenant L A Lawrence