By Barry Irving
MEMBERS of the Rye Historical Society attended Rye Cemetery for the unveiling of a bronze plaque they had donated to acknowledge and honour the final resting place of the “lost souls”.
For years it was believed that there were unmarked and unrecorded graves located in the far north-west corner of the cemetery. The persons interred there are known as the “lost souls”.
It is believed bodies from shipwrecks, drownings and others non-identified bodies were buried in this area, although were not marked.
The government of the day would offer a five pound payment to anyone finding a body, as long as they moved the body to the nearest hotel.
They were also required to construct a coffin or “box of sorts” and then dig a grave to place the body in.
Groundsmen from the cemetery have cleared and prepared the area, placing a large rock onto which the “lost souls” plaque has been mounted.
The plaque was unveiled on Tuesday 18 August 2026 by Ms Lynne Woollard President of Rye Historical Society accompanied by members of the society and the chairman of the Rye Cemetery Trust, Ian McBeath.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 2 September 2026
