Epitaph: The Northam Road Protestant Cemetary, George Town Penang

The Northam Road Cemetery is probably the first burial ground to have been established following settlement of Penang by the British East India Company in 1786. It is certainly the first Christian cemetery, catering to both Roman Catholic and Protestant burials.

This richly illustrated, beautifully produced, limited-edition two-part boxed set is the most definitive work ever published about the Protestant side of this cemetery. Covering all 464 surviving memorials and tombs, with background stories to most of the identifiable persons interred there, it captures an invaluable and enthralling snapshot of a section of Penang's inhabitants during the settlement's first 100 years. It also contains a list of 1,437 names of other persons known to have been interred in the same cemetery during that time. As such it is not only a valuable social record but a rich source of genealogical and historical information on the European population during Penang's first century under British administration.

The Northam Road Cemetery is a sparkling jewel within the UNESCO World Heritage Site.