Project Lead Dr Myra Giesen delivered a talk titled “Ballast Hills Burial Ground: Ethical Engagement and Inclusive Commemoration in a Historic Urban Landscape” at Bridging Seas and Centuries: The Beiyang Sailors’ Legacy Symposium, held on 21 July 2025.
The symposium brought together international scholars, heritage practitioners, and community leaders to explore the lives, deaths, and remembrance of the Beiyang sailors. These Chinese sailors came to Newcastle in the 1880s as part of a delegation to receive cruisers that had been designed and built for the Qing Dynasty’s Beiyang Fleet.
Myra’s presentation highlighted BHBG as an important record of Newcastle’s social history. She emphasised the potential of the BHBG project to unearth Newcastle’s maritime past through the stories of those buried there, many of whom were connected to seafaring, shipbuilding, trade, and global movement. By examining BHBG as a layered historical landscape, the project helps reframe Newcastle not only as an industrial centre but as a dynamic seaport city shaped by migration, dissent, and working-class experience.
The talk drew thoughtful parallels between local and global memorial practices, showing how a small, often-overlooked burial ground can illuminate broader histories of labour, mobility, and identity. It also offered reflections on ethical engagement, collaborative stewardship, and the value of community-led approaches to heritage interpretation. Contributing to this international symposium raised the profile of the BHBG project and underscored its relevance to global conversations about memory, place, and inclusion.
