Established in 1855 on land that was designated at the time as being part of River Lot 107 in the area, St. Mary's Anglican Cemetery is one of the older cemeteries in the province. The first recorded burial is that of Henry Garrioch who was buried on October 3, 1855.

This cemetery has records gleaned from 3 sources:

1. Transcription from the stones

2. Information from drawings obtained from the City of Portage

3. Reading of the church registers at Anglican Centre in Winnipeg.

(N.B., These latter records date from the beginnings of the parish into the 1970s)

The burial records for the cemetery, which tell who was buried where were, apparently burned in a fire a few years ago which destroyed the church at this location which was never rebuilt.

The church registers contain many more names than are noted by stones or on the drawings. There is some confusion in the reading of the registers as some of the ministers noted where the burials took place and some did not. Also, the cemetery is referred to by several names.

Further: There are many flat stones which appear to have previously been vertical

Memorial Cairn: Erected to the glory of God and to mark the site of the first church erected west of St. John's, Winnipeg, built by Ven. Archdeacon Cochrane during the years 1853-54.

(Source: Manitoba Genealogical Society [Adapted])

In 1853, Bishop Anderson appointed the Rev. William Cochrane to establish a missionary station here, the first Anglican church west of St. James. Cochrane had previously relocated 25 families from the Red River Settlement to this area in 1851. The original church, known as St. Mary's La Prairie, was built between 1853 and 1855. It was the first Anglican church west of St. James.

This cemetery was part of the original grant of River Lot 107, deeded to the Rev. Henry George in 1870. In 1922, the cemetery was taken over by the City of Portage la Prairie and is presently administered by it.

(Source: Manitoba Historical Society [Adapted])

Dominion Land Survey coordinates: LSD02-30-36-28-W1

Operated as a City, Portage la Prairie is adjacent to and the administrative centre for the Rural Municipality of Portage La Prairie

A part of the story of the area and its inhabitants from the early days of European settlement through roughly 1932 is told in the volume "Tread of the Pioneers", especially starting on page 30. A free digital version of this and many other Manitoba local history books can be found online in the University of Manitoba Digital Collections. There is also a list of such books organized by district and town name on the Manitoba Historical Society's website on their page entitled "Finding Aid: Manitoba Local History Books".

A list of burials in this cemetery is available from the Manitoba Genealogical Society (reference #0321), as transcribed by a member or members in 1981 and updated in 2001. Also available to MGS members is a searchable online database named the MGS Manitoba Name Index (or MANI).

The cemetery is the responsibility of Parks / Cemeteries Division of the City of Portage la Prairie, whose website includes a very detailed map of the cemetery.

Additionally, many records for Anglican congregations in Manitoba and over part of the territory designated historically as "Rupert's Land" (esp, as bounded on the south by the U.S. border, extending north into the Manitoba Interlake Region past Fairford, with the western boundary reaching into the Pembina Hills and includes Portage la Prairie, eastward the diocese stretches to Sioux Lookout/Atikokan) are now with the Diocese of Rupert's Land and are kept in their offices in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.