A cemetery…. interesting place to visit? Yes, with burials dating back as far as 1785, Penang’s landscaped protestant cemetery is a real heritage site.

As recently recalled by George Town World Heritage Inc. (GTWHI, Penang’s State heritage agency) it contains, among others, the tomb of Captain Francis Light, who founded colonial Penang in 1786.

The cemetery is, in particular, a witness of the high mortality rates that affected Penang’s foreign settlers in these times : up to a third of the burials are persons who died at less than 30 years of age and most of them did not reach the age of 50. Francis Light died from malaria at 54,  in 1794.

FLight PenangCemet

The cemetery is located on Northam Road, within the UNESCO World heritage zone and is listed as Category 1 Heritage site.

The Penang Heritage Trust (our “sister” NGO) is involved in the restoration and upkeep of the cemetery together with GTWHI.

For more:

GTWHI webpage on the the cemetary.

Borneo Post,  24 May 2015 : “Glimpses of tough early life in George Town”