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EILEEN HEWSON'S research of the memorials (about 900 names) in Holy Trinity Church and the old graveyards of Nuwara Eliya from written records, surveys and biographical details is recorded in this publication, the first since 1913. Several tombstones have been lost from the early 20th century survey but many others not previously recorded were found in this later survey of 2008-9.

Nuwara Eliya with its comfortable climate was an oasis for the planters who came in from the surrounding tea estates for some home comforts and social life. Under the influence of Sir Samuel Baker the hill station had became a prosperous commercial town and a carbon copy of an English village with the planters' Hill Club as its social centre. Many planters opted to stay on after retirement why go home when you can eat steam pudding and roast beef here and be served by waiters wearing white gloves. The planters' pensions went a long way in Ceylon and the thought of the cold and expensive climate at home did not appeal.

There are still some reminders of the British period in Nuwara Eliya, the Grand Hotel once the residence of Sir Edward Barnes, Governor of Ceylon, the Hill Club, the Post Office and the fragmented remains of lives in the graveyards.

EILEEN HEWSON is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the founder of Kabristan Archives.