Memorial Park Cemetery (Albany, Western Australia)
Memorial Park Cemetery also known as Pioneer Cemetery and Old Albany Cemetery is a cemetery located along Middleton Road in the city of Albany in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.
It was constructed in 1836[1] and is the first consecrated cemetery in Western Australia, gazetted in 1840 as a public burial ground to provide for the needs of a growing community. It was closed as a public cemetery in 1959,[2] with a few burials being held there until 2000 and ashes placed there until 2009. Most burials now being held at Allambie Park Cemetery.[3] It is thought to be the longest serving public cemetery in Western Australia.[1]
The hillside cemetery occupies an area of approximately 2.5 hectares (6 acres) and is divided into demoninational sections containing a total of approximately 5,000 graves.[4] It is composed of two parts, the upper cemetery and the lower cemetery, separated by Middleton Road.[2] Easily accessed by pedestrians the site has a number of mature native and exotic trees and a range of diversity, style and age of memorials and grave fittings on the plots.[1]
Classified by the National Trust in 2000, the cemetery was listed on the permanent register of the Heritage Council of Western Australia in 2003.[1]
Notable burials
- Francis Bird
- Henry Camfield
- John Wollaston
- Alexander Collie
- Alexander Cockburn-Campbell
- Spencer family
- Hassell family[2]
- William Grills Knight
- Moir family
- Robert Andrew Muir
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Albany Memorial Park Cemetery". inHerit. Heritage Council of Western Australia. 8 February 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ^ a b c "History of the Memorial Park Cemetery". Albany Cemetery Board. 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
- ^ "Albany Cemetery Index". Western Australian Genealogical Society Inc. 20 July 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ^ "Albany Cemetery". Cemetery Curiosities. 8 January 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2015.