Old Protestant Cemetery in Macau
Encyclopedia
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
in 1821 in Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
in response to a lack of burial sites for Protestants in the Roman Catholic Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
colony
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
.
It is the last resting place of the artist George Chinnery
George Chinnery
George Chinnery was an English painter who spent most of his life in Asia, especially India and southern China.- Early life :Chinnery was born in London, where he studied at the Royal Academy Schools...
, missionaries Robert Morrison and Samuel Dyer
Samuel Dyer
Samuel Dyer 台約爾 , was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China in the Congregationalist tradition, who worked among the Chinese in Malaysia. He arrived in Penang in 1827. Dyer, his wife Maria, and their family lived in Malacca and then finally in Singapore...
, Royal Navy captain Henry John Spencer-Churchill (son of the 5th Duke of Marlborough
George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough
George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough FSA , styled Marquess of Blandford until 1817, was a British peer and collector of antiquities and books.-Background and education:...
and great-great-grand-uncle of Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
) and US Naval Lieutenant Joseph Harod Adams (grandson of the second president of the United States, John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
, and nephew of the sixth, John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...
). Humphrey Fleming Senhouse
Humphrey Fleming Senhouse
Captain Sir Humphrey Fleming Senhouse, KCH, CB , was a British officer in the Royal Navy. He served in the Napoleonic Wars, War of 1812, and First Anglo-Chinese War.- Early life :...
, a captain
Captain (Royal Navy)
Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...
in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, is also buried here. Senhouse died on board in the morning of 13 June 1841, from fever contracted during the operations in Canton in May 1841.
In 2005, the cemetery was officially enlisted as part of the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
Historic Center of Macau.
History
Macau was considered by the Portuguese to be sacred Roman Catholic ground and the authorities barred the burial of Protestants within its city walls, whilst on the other side of the barrier gatePortas do Cerco
Portas do Cerco is an area on the Macau Peninsula , in the former Portuguese colony of Macau, now a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, near the border checkpoint with the rest of the People's Republic of China at Gongbei, Zhuhai, Guangdong Province...
the Chinese were equally as intolerant of the burial of foreigners in its soil. This left the Protestant community of British, American and Northern European traders with the only option of a secret night-time burial in the land between the city walls and the barrier gate, and the risk of confrontation with Chinese should they be discovered, or worse, desecration of the grave once they had gone.
The matter was finally resolved in 1821 after the death of Robert Morrison's wife, Mary, when the local committee of the East India Company voted to purchase a plot of land and resolve its legal status with the Portuguese such that the burial of Protestants would be permitted there. Later, the East India Company allowed burial of all foreigners, and several graves were moved from other locations outside the city walls into the cemetery, explaining why some graves are dated before its founding in 1821. Nationals of Britain, the United States of America, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Germany are buried there.
The cemetery was closed in 1858, after which the cemetery began to be referred to as the "Old" Protestant Cemetery.
Macau Protestant Chapel
Macau Protestant Chapel, commonly known as Morrison Chapel is a small Anglican chapel situated off Camões Square, near Camões Park, in the Chinese Special Administrative Region of Macau...
, named in honour of Robert Morrison.
See also
- St Michael Macau - Chapel and Cemetery (Cemitério S Miguel Arcanjo) - Catholic 1854-
- Religion in Macau
Further reading
- Robert Morrison, A Master Builder; Marshall Broomhall; China Inland Mission 1925
- The Memoir of Samuel Dyer: Sixteen Years Missionary to the Chinese by Evan Davies, John Snow, London, 1846
External links
- Morrison Chapel Website
- Information about the Morrison Chapel (some information is out of date - see link below)
- Report on the appointment of a new clergy-in-charge at the Morrison Chapel
- Ola Macau Guide entry on the Old Protestant Cemetery