East Perth Cemeteries
Encyclopedia
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
in East Perth
East Perth, Western Australia
East Perth is an inner suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located next to the Perth CBD.Primarily an industrial area in the early twentieth century, it was the location of the East Perth gas works, East Perth Power Station , the East Perth railway yard, and East Perth engine sheds.A considerable...
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. It is estimated that as many as 10,000 people were buried there between 1830 and 1919; however, only around 800 gravesites
Grave (burial)
A grave is a location where a dead body is buried. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as graveyards or cemeteries....
have been identified. A large section of the original site has since been built over, leaving about 5 hectares (12.5 acres) remaining and commonly referred to as the East Perth Cemetery.
The site, which is a short distance from Gloucester Park
Gloucester Park
Gloucester Park is a harness racing course in Perth, Western Australia. In the suburb of East Perth, the oval course is adjacent to the WACA Ground...
and the WACA Ground
WACA Ground
The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....
, is bound by Wittenoom, Plain and Bronte Streets and Waterloo Crescent.
History
John Septimus Roe
John Septimus Roe was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, and a Member of Western Australia's Legislative and Executive Councils for nearly 40 years.-Early life:...
on 24 December 1829 soon after the central portions of the Perth townsite had been surveyed. The area was originally known as Cemetery Hill and was established in 1830. The first burial was of Private John Mitchell from the 63rd regiment
63rd Regiment of Foot
The 63rd Regiment of Foot known as "The Bloodsuckers", was a British Army regiment in the 18th and 19th centuries.As part of the Childers Reforms, the 63rd and the 96th Regiments of Foot amalgamated in 1881 to form The Manchester Regiment the heritage continuing through to The King's Regiment in...
. Mitchell died on 6 January 1830; the exact location of his grave site is unknown. A public notice from Peter Broun
Peter Broun
Peter Nicholas Broun , known for most of his life as Peter Nicholas Brown, was the first Colonial Secretary of Western Australia, and a member of Western Australia's first Legislative Council.-Early life:...
, the Colonial Secretary
Colonial Secretary of Western Australia
The Colonial Secretary of Western Australia was one of the most important and powerful public offices in Western Australia, in the time when Western Australia was a British colony. The Colonial Secretary was the representative of the British Colonial Office in Western Australia, and was usually...
on 13 February 1830 said:
... to prevent indiscriminate Burials and unpleasant consequences arising therefrom in a warm climate, a Burial Ground will be set apart in Every Township or Parish ... burials will take place in them only and a Register will be kept ... all Burials by the Chaplain will be restricted to times as soon after sunrise as possible, or an hour precisely before sunset ...
Both Broun and Roe were buried in the cemetery and their tombstones are still visible.
The Trustees of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
were granted Perth Town Lot R1 as a general cemetery in 1842. The cemetery was consecrated
Consecration
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...
in 1848, and over the following decades sections of this were granted to various other denominations and ethnic groups with each cemetery being owned and controlled separately. The subsequent grants were: Roman Catholic (1848); Wesleyan (1854); Congregational (1854); Hebrew (1867); Presbyterian (1881); and Chinese (1888). Each of the grants were administered independently, with the exception of the Chinese section.
Karrakatta Cemetery
Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, with Robert Creighton. Currently managed by the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board, the cemetery attracts more than one million visitors each...
became the main burial ground in close proximity to Perth, and from July that year burials officially ceased at East Perth, except where special applications were made to use family graves. The cemetery was used intermittently from then until the last burial in 1919.
Throughout most of the 1900s, the grounds, which adjoined an industrial area, were subject to vandalism and neglect. Appeals from individuals and the Royal Western Australian Historical Society
Royal Western Australian Historical Society
Royal Western Australian Historical Society has for many decades been the main association for Western Australians to collectively work for adequate understanding and protection of the cultural heritage of Perth and Western Australia...
for it to be refurbished given its historical significance continued over some time. In 1931, The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (Western Australia)
The Sunday Times, owned by News Limited, is a tabloid Sunday newspaper printed in Perth and distributed throughout Western Australia.-History:...
reported:
When a representative of this paper visited the cemetery yesterday he found a skull almost intact, leg and arm bones, and other parts of poor mortal remains. These were lying on the rank green grass close to a bricked hole leading to the vault. From the ground above, the rest of the bones could be plainly seen.
When the general public can depend upon viewing the actual remains of a dead person, and when mere children also have sight and access to such, it is time that someone in authority awakened.
In the 1930s, the various church authorities relinquished control of the individual grants and the entire site was then re-vested as Crown land
Crown land
In Commonwealth realms, Crown land is an area belonging to the monarch , the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....
and declared a disused burial ground. From the mid 1930s, control and responsibility for the grounds moved between various government departments and numerous projects were undertaken to refurbish the historic site.
Much of the Chinese, Hebrew and Presbyterian cemeteries were originally located west of Plain Street, and an unused Anglican section was located south of Bronte Street. In the late 1940s, these sections were excised and headstones bulldozed and removed. The land west of Bronte Street became tennis courts for the former Perth Girls' School. Fences separating the individual cemeteries were removed and those areas are now roadways, carparks and commercial and residential buildings. An access road called Forrest Avenue (previously Cemetery Road) crossed diagonally over the block which now houses the multi-storey Main Roads
Main Roads Western Australia
Main Roads Western Australia is an agency of the Government of Western Australia that is responsible for implementing the state's policies on road access and main roads. It operates under the Main Roads Act 1930 ....
office building. Extensions of Wickham and Horatio Streets have been incorporated into the grounds.
A major redevelopment project in the late 1980s provided for landscaping and perimeter fencing to protect the church and remaining monuments from vandalism.
Much of the retained burial ground lacks visible signs of graves or markers, partly because perishable timber crosses and monuments were used for burials of the poor.
St Bartholomew's Church
Richard Roach Jewell
Richard Roach Jewell was an architect who designed many of the important public buildings in Perth during the latter half of the nineteenth century....
was incorporated and the enlarged building was consecrated as a parish church by the first Bishop of Perth, Mathew Blagden Hale on 16 February 1871.
The church was further extended in 1900 with the enlargement of the sanctuary
Sanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
and nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
. These extensions were consecrated on 22 March 1900 by Charles Owen Leaver Riley
Charles Owen Leaver Riley
Charles Owen Leaver Riley was a clergyman and the first Anglican archbishop of Perth, Western Australia.Riley was born in Birmingham, Warwick, the eldest child of Rev. Lawrence William Riley, vicar of St Cross, Knutsford, England, and his wife Emma, née Shaw...
, the third Bishop of Perth.
St Batholomew's became a popular place of worship for many of the wealthier and predominantly Anglican households in the city which typically lived on Adelaide Terrace
Adelaide Terrace
Adelaide Terrace, Perth, is an easterly extension of, the main street in the city of Perth, Western Australia, St Georges Terrace . It runs parallel to the Swan River and is a major arterial road through the central business district....
and overlooked the Swan River
Swan River (Western Australia)
The Swan River estuary flows through the city of Perth, in the south west of Western Australia. Its lower reaches are relatively wide and deep, with few constrictions, while the upper reaches are usually quite narrow and shallow....
. Attendances declined, however, from about the 1930s when many of Perth and East Perth residents moved to West Perth and other more socially acceptable areas. It was refurbished in 1954 but ceased to function as a parish church in 1963 and for a period operated as a refuge for homeless men from nearby St Bartholomew's House. In November 2002 the Perth Diocese recommenced services at the church and these continue to be held on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Saturdays of each month.
The church and the East Perth Cemeteries were entered on the Register of the National Estate
Register of the National Estate
The Register of the National Estate is a listing of natural and cultural heritage places in Australia. The listing was initially compiled between 1976 and 2003 by the Australian Heritage Commission. The register is now maintained by the Australian Heritage Council...
in 1978.
Timeline
- 24 December 1829 — site surveyed by John Septimus RoeJohn Septimus RoeJohn Septimus Roe was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, and a Member of Western Australia's Legislative and Executive Councils for nearly 40 years.-Early life:...
- 6 January 1830 — first recorded burial. That of Private John Mitchell.
- 1848 — first portion of St Bartholomew's built
- 16 February 1871 — St Bartholmew's enlarged. Consecrated as a mortuary chapel by Matthew Hale, the Bishop of Perth
- 19 August 1888 — St Bartholomew's consecrated as an Anglican parish church. First service conducted by Dean Goldsmith.
- late October 1889 — A belfryBell towerA bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
constructed near the church. - 1899 — Cemeteries closed, but due to public demand, burials in existing vaults or family graves were extended.
- 1900 — St Bartholomew's extended with the addition of a sanctuary and the enlargement of the nave. Extensions consecrated by Charles Owen Leaver RileyCharles Owen Leaver RileyCharles Owen Leaver Riley was a clergyman and the first Anglican archbishop of Perth, Western Australia.Riley was born in Birmingham, Warwick, the eldest child of Rev. Lawrence William Riley, vicar of St Cross, Knutsford, England, and his wife Emma, née Shaw...
on 22 March 1900 - 1963 — St Bartholomew's ceases to function as a parish church.
- 17 December 1975 — St. Bartholomew's and its driveway vested in the National Trust
- 1976 — St Bartholomew's restored.
- 6 May 1986 — the entire cemeteries site enclosed with a wire-mesh fence to stop the repeated vandalism
- 1994 — National Trust assumes responsibility for the entire site.
- 2002 — Services recommence at St Bartholomew's
External links
Further reading
- Bodycoat, Ronald. (1992) The East Perth Cemeteries conservation plan: prepared for the National Trust of Australia (WA) Perth, W.A: National Trust of Australia
- Easton, Leonard A., and Shardlow, R.H.(1980) The East Perth cemetery and Saint Bartholomew's Church Perth: National Trust of Australia (W.A.) ISBN 0909259100
- Oldham, Ray, (1988) The old East Perth Cemetery, 1829-1988 in. Early days, Vol.9, pt.6 (1988), p. 89-97,
- Richardson, James A. and Davies, David (1986) East Perth Cemetery : resting place of Western Australian pioneers Perth, W.A: Royal Western Australian Historical Society, Based on Surveys 1983-1986 for the Royal Western Australian Historical Society, Inc.".