Municipality of Bayham

Dobbie Cemetery

One pleasant burial site is the Dobbie Cemetery of North Bayham, on the 10th Concession, east of Corinth.
 
(1847) Rising high and dry above a semi-border of open woodland, it is delightfully restful and sunny on a bright March day. It is small, but full of handsome monuments, introducing you to the old families of the district – Livingston’s, Crossett’s, Haley’s, Elliott’s, etc.
 
Conspicuous among the stones is the monument of George William Best and the spires of the twin obelisks of Andrew and George Dobbie, ancestors of one of the most influential families of North Bayham. In fact, it was from the estate of Colonel Andrew Dobbie that the plot for the cemetery was given. There are so many odd things that one runs across in connection with cemeteries – this burial plot was, and still is, Anglican, although the surrounding community during the memory of modern man has always been Methodist.
 
The place must have been considered a centre of population at one time. For not only did the North Bayham Methodists erect their first church on a knoll across the field, but before that, the Anglicans planned to build a church there. It was for this purpose that Colonel Andrew Dobbie’s grant included five acres, the west part reverting to the estate when the edifice did not materialize.
 
Most of the woodland that surrounded the Dobbie Cemetery has disappeared, but it is still a pleasant spot. It is more neatly kept than many country cemeteries due to the fact that a perpetual care fund was established some years ago, started by the late George Elliott, whose earthly remains now rest in this same cemetery. The fund is now administered by a Cemetery Board.
 

Dobbie Cemetery

A:  56139 Tillsonburg, ON

N4G 4G8