Funerals and Records

The first grim priority of the mortuary committee was to identify as many of the dead as possible. It was a difficult task. Some were burned or maimed beyond recognition. Other victims' entire families had been killed: there was no one to claim them, and many people didn't carry the various forms of identification that we do today, like drivers’ licenses.

The funerals, public and private, went on for weeks. Services for the unidentified drew thousands of mourners.

As the bodies were catalogued carefully, so were the personal effects found on or near them. Most were everyday personal items: wallets, jewelry, grocery lists, schoolbooks, and keys that might help to identify their owners.

Officials waited as long as they could for families to claim those remains called “the unidentified dead,” yet over 200 bodies were never identified.

The first funerals for the unidentified dead were held on December 17. Ninety-five coffins were lined up outside the Chebucto Road mortuary for separate Protestant and Catholic services.

In her book, Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion and the Road to Recovery Janet Kitz reports that about 3000 people turned out:

"A Protestant service was held first… In his address the Anglican archbishop of Nova Scotia said, with great feeling, 'It is not by the hand of the Almighty these unfortunate human beings have suffered, but by the mistakes of others.'

"…The Catholic service followed, conducted by Father McManus and Father Grey of St. Joseph’s, the parish so hard hit… The services ended with everyone, Catholics and Protestants, singing 'God Save the King.'”

By early February, 150 unidentified bodies had been buried at Fairview and Mount Olivet cemeteries; others were still to be found. Continue >