April 2026
A small disused cemetery, contained in a grassy-and-wooded lot on the north-eastern edge of Barrie, Ontario, is the final resting place for some of the early residents of Vespra Township. Located at Lot 5, Concession 1, along what is now Penetanguishene Road south of Georgian Drive. Penetanguishene Road has the distinction of being the first road constructed (1814-1815) in what is now Simcoe County, as a military supply road from Barrie to the Royal Navy establishment in Penetanguishene.
The land for Lawrence Cemetery was bought by Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1844 for a chapel and burial ground from John and Clarissa Lawrence.
Although the church was never built, burials took place beginning in 1850.
Amongst the sixteen known burials in the cemetery are John and Clarissa along with their son, John Duffield Lawrence and his wife, a native woman whose name is unknown, are all buried in unmarked graves near the front of the property on the north side. Other than the Lawrence family, other notable names also found on the ten gravestones, some faded and barely readable, are members of the Hickling family, the namesake of nearby Hickling Trail residential street, and the Bishop family, namesake of Bishop Drive in the south-west end of Barrie.
The last burial occurred around 1909, after which the cemetery was abandoned.
Members of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada have undertaken to repair, maintain and formally recognize the cemetery.
Sources: The Jolly Taphophile (Graveyard Junkie): Lawrence Cemetery, Barrie, Lawrence Old Methodist Cemetery in Barrie, Ontario – Find a Grave Cemetery.
