Balmain Cemetery was a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

Leichhardt, New South Wales Leichhardt is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Leichhardt is located 5 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and is the administrative centre for the local government are ...

, Australia (the area is very close to the present day Sydney suburb of Balmain). The Pioneers Memorial Park now stands in its place.

History

When the estate of Balmain was laid out in 1852, concerns were raised about the failure to reserve land for a cemetery and for parkland. In August 1863, a meeting of local residents sought to establish a cemetery in Balmain. It was proposed to fund the development of the cemetery by residents subscribing £1 entitling them to one grave plot (or multiples thereof). The government would then match the funds raised by the community. The land would be apportioned into sections for different religions with some land reserved for general use. Although the majority were in favour of the idea, there was opposition to the plan, based on objections of hygiene, the poor use of land (given the expectation that the area would become densely populated), and that it might impede the development of a future highway. Permission to enable the creation of a cemetery was passed by Parliament in 1864. The Balmain Cemetery Company (a group of five people) was established in the 1860s and purchased a block of land bounded by Derbyshire Road, Allen Street, Norton Street, and William Street (approximately 11 acres). The Balmain Cemetery Company applied for rights over the property in 1880. The cemetery opened in 1868. In 1886 the cemetery was transferred to the Leichhardt Municipal Council. The cemetery was closed in 1912 with over ten thousand burials.

Pioneers Memorial Park

For the next two decades, a proposal to redevelop the cemetery as a public park was debated. In 1941, it was decided to replace the cemetery with parkland (called Pioneers Memorial Park). The plans were advertised and families were invited to arrange for re-interment of bodies or removal of memorials. As a consequence, the memorial to

Robert Towns Robert Towns (10 November 1794 – 11 April 1873) was a British master mariner who settled in Australia as a businessman, sandalwood merchant, colonist, shipowner, pastoralist, politician, whaler and civic leader. He was the founder of Townsvil ...

(the founder of

Townsville, Queensland Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

) was relocated to Castle Hill in Townsville. The memorial for

Edmund Blacket Edmund Thomas Blacket (25 August 1817 – 9 February 1883) was an Australian architect, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney and St. Saviour's Cathedral, Goulburn. Arriving in Sydney from Engl ...

and his wife Sarah were relocated to

Camperdown Cemetery Camperdown Cemetery is an historic cemetery located on Church Street in Newtown, an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The cemetery was founded in 1848 and was for twenty years the main general cemetery for Sydney, with the ...

Notable people buried in Balmain Cemetery

, architect * William Salmon Deloitte, merchant * Robert D. FitzGerald, botanist *

James Gorman (VC) James Gorman VC (21 August 1834 – 18 October 1882) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Gorman ...

* Robert McIntosh Isaacs, politician *

Ninian Melville Ninian Melville (29 December 1843 – 26 June 1897) was an Australian politician in the late nineteenth century. Early life The son of a Scottish cabinet maker (Ninian Melville Jnr) who had been transported to Australia for stealing clothes, M ...

, politician *

Henry Beaufoy Merlin Henry Beaufoy Merlin (1830–1873) was an Australian photographer, showman, illusionist and illustrator. In the 1850s he worked as a theatrical showman and performer in Sydney, Newcastle and Maitland. In 1863 he was the first person to introduc ...

, photographer, illusionist, artist *

Morris Birkbeck Pell Morris Birkbeck Pell (31 March 1827 – 7 May 1879) was an American-Australian mathematician, professor, lawyer and actuary. He became the inaugural Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at the University of Sydney in 1852, and conti ...

, mathematician * Ferdinand Hamilton Reuss, architect * Thomas Stephenson Rowntree, master mariner and shipbuilder *

, founder of

Mary Reibey Mary Reibey née ''Haydock'' (12 May 177730 May 1855) was an English-born merchant, shipowner and trader who was transported to Australia as a convict. After gaining her freedom, she was viewed by her contemporaries as a community role model an ...

, merchant, shipowner and trader *

Charles Frederick Young Charles Frederick Horace Frisby Young (5 April 1819 – 29 January 1874) was an Australian actor, comedian and theatrical manager. Young was born in Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, and died in Woolloomooloo, New South Wales. See also * Francis ...

, actor and comedian

References

{{Reflist Cemeteries in Sydney 1868 establishments in Australia 1912 disestablishments in Australia