Fawkner Memorial Park is located in the north-western

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

suburb of

Fawkner Fawkner is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Hume and Merri-bek local government areas. Fawkner recorded a population of 14,274 at the 2021 census. The ma ...

, Victoria, Australia. It is the largest cemetery by land size in the state, and managed by Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust.

Merlynston Creek Merlynston Creek is a tributary of Merri Creek in Melbourne's northern suburbs, in Victoria, Australia. The source of the creek is the National Boulevard Reserve located in an industrial area in the north of Campbellfield in City of Hume. The cr ...

, a tributary of

Merri Creek The Merri Creek is a waterway in southern parts of Victoria, Australia, which flows through the northern suburbs of Northcote. It begins near Wallan north of Melbourne and flows south for 70 km until it joins the Yarra River at Dights Fa ...

, is a major geographical feature running through both Fawkner Cemetery and the Northern Memorial Park.

History

In 1906, the Municipal Cemetery, Fawkner (as it was then called) opened to meet the needs of the north west. The cemetery was designed and run by Charles Heath, a surveyor and architect. The first burial took place on 10 December 1906. This was considered to be the unofficial opening of the cemetery. The funeral was conducted by John Allison from Sydney Road. The cemetery was adjacent to

Fawkner railway station Fawkner railway station is located on the Upfield line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the northern Melbourne suburb of Hadfield, and it opened on 8 October 1889 as Fawkner. It closed on 13 July 1903, and reopened on 12 December 1906 as Faw ...

on the Upfield line, with special trains carrying the deceased to the cemetery from 1906 to 1939. On 1 November 1997, Mersina Halvagis was murdered in the cemetery by

Peter Dupas Peter Norris Dupas (born 6 July 1953) is an Australian convicted serial killer, currently serving three life sentences without parole for murder and primarily for being a serious habitual offender. He has a very significant criminal history inv ...

Management

Fawkner Memorial Park is operated by Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (GMCT), who manage 18 other sites across Victoria, Australia.

Interments

* Lilian Alexander (1861–1934), pioneering surgeon * John Barrett (1858–1928), Senator *

John Batman John Batman (21 January 18016 May 1839) was an Australian grazier, entrepreneur and explorer. He is best known for his role in the founding of Melbourne. Born and raised in the then-British colony of New South Wales, Batman settled in Van Die ...

(1801–1839), pioneer, one of the founders of Melbourne * Kathleen Best (1910–1957), founder of the

Women's Royal Australian Army Corps The Women's Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC) was formed as an all women's corps of the Australian Army in April 1951. Its Colonel-in-Chief was Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. The purpose of the corps was to counter a personnel shorta ...

Thomas Blamey Field marshal (Australia), Field Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey, (24 January 1884 – 27 May 1951) was an Australian general of the First World War, First and Second World Wars, and the only Australian to attain the rank of field marshal. Bl ...

(1884–1951), Field Marshal (cremated) *

Deirdre Cash Deirdre Cash (1924 – 11 March 1963) was an Australian novelist and torch singer, who wrote under the pseudonym Criena Rohan. Her first novel, ''The Delinquents'', set in Brisbane, was described as a "back-street ''Tristan and Isolde''". Backg ...

(1924–1963), novelist, wrote under the ''nom-de-plume'' "Criena Rohan" *

George Ward Cole George Ward Cole F.R.G.S., Commander R.N. (15 November 1793 – 26 April 1879) was a Royal Navy officer and politician in Australia, member of the Victorian Legislative Council. Cole was the fourth son of John Cole, of Durham, and was born at Lu ...

(1793–1879), pioneer *

Revel Cooper Revel Ronald Cooper (c. 1934 – 1983) was an Indigenous Australian artist. He was a prominent member of a Noongar art movement that emerged among children living at Carrolup Native Settlement during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Early life ...

(c.1934–1983), Nyoongar artist * Charles Dight (1813–1852), pioneer *

Alphonse Gangitano Alphonse John Gangitano (22 April 1957 – 16 January 1998) was an Australian criminal from Melbourne, Victoria. Nicknamed the "Black Prince of Lygon Street", Gangitano was the face of an underground organisation known as the Carlton Crew. He ...

(1957–1998), underworld identity *

James Henry Gardiner James Henry Gardiner (1848 – 9 December 1921) was an early Australian rules football administrator, footballer and public servant. He is primarily known for the pivotal role he played in establishing the North Melbourne Football Club, which no ...

(1848–1921),

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Kangaroos also ...

founder and administrator *

Pinchas Goldhar Pinchas Goldhar (14 June 1901 – 25 January 1947) was a Polish and then Australian writer and translator, who wrote mainly in the Yiddish language. Early life and career Pinchas Goldhar was born in Lodz, Poland, then part of Russia, on 14 Ju ...

(1901–1947), writer * Henry Gregory (1860–1940), WA politician * Edward Harrington (1895–1966), writer * Sybil Irving (1897–1973), army officer, founder of the

Australian Women's Army Service The Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) was a non-medical women's service established in Australia during the Second World War. Raised on 13 August 1941 to "release men from certain military duties for employment in fighting units" the servi ...

Donald Alaster Macdonald Donald Alaster Macdonald (6 June 1859 – 23 November 1932) was an Australian journalist and nature writer, writing under the pen names including 'Observer' and 'Gnuyang' (gossip).Hugh Anderson,Macdonald, Donald Alaster (1859–1932), ''Austral ...

(1859–1932), nature writer, conservationist * Kylie Maybury (1978–1984), murder victim *

Charlie Mutton Charles Mutton (14 September 1890 – 13 May 1989) was an Australian politician. He was born in North Melbourne to tobacco worker Charles Mutton and Mary Ann Moloney. He attended Catholic schools and from 1903 to 1910 worked for Excelsior Ba ...

(1890–1989), Labor politician *

Laurie Nash Laurence John Nash (2 May 1910 – 24 July 1986) was a Test cricketer and Australian rules footballer. An inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame, Nash was a member of South Melbourne's 1933 premiership team, captained South Melbo ...

(1910–1986), footballer and Test cricketer *

Jack Patten John Thomas Patten (27 March 1905 – 12 October 1957) was an Aboriginal Australian civil rights activist and journalist. Biography John Patten was born in 1905 to John James Patten and Christina Mary Patten, née Middleton, at Cummeragunja Res ...

(1905–1957), Koori activist, leader, writer * Marie Pitt (1869–1948), journalist * James Quinn (1853–1934), finder of Ireland's famous Ardagh Chalice also known as the

Ardagh Hoard The Ardagh Hoard, best known for the Ardagh Chalice, is a hoard of metalwork from the 8th and 9th centuries. Found in 1868 by two young local boys, Jim Quin and Paddy Flanagan, it is now on display in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. ...

Mark "Chopper" Read Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read (17 November 1954 – 9 October 2013) was an Australian convicted criminal, gang member and author. Read wrote a series of semi-autobiographical fictional crime novels and children's books. The 2000 film '' Chop ...

(1954–2013), underworld identity and writer *

Alice Ross-King Alys Ross King (5 August 1887 – 17 August 1968), known as Alice Ross-King (later Alice Appleford), was an Australian civilian and military nurse who took part in both World Wars. She has been described as Australia's most decorated woman. Durin ...

(1891–1968), nurse in both world wars, "Australia's most decorated female" *

Bernard Rubin Bernard Rubin (6 December 1896 – 27 June 1936) was an Australian born racing driver and pilot who was a member of the "Bentley Boys" team at the Bentley Motor Company and winner of the 1928 24 Hours of Le Mans. Personal life The son of A ...

(1896–1936), first Australian winner of

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

and member of the

Bentley Boys The Bentley Boys were a group of wealthy British motorists who drove Bentley sports cars to victory in the 1920s and kept the marque's reputation for high performance alive. In 1925, as the marque foundered, Bentley Boy Woolf Barnato bought the c ...

* William Ruthven VC (1893–1970), soldier, politician *

Isaac Selby Isaac Selby (3 November 1859 – 26 March 1956) was an Australian lecturer, historian and anti-Catholic campaigner. He was born at Greenwich in England to joiner Isaac Selby and Isabella Gilhome. The family migrated to New Zealand in 1868 and ...

(1859–1956), historian * Ernie Shepherd (1901–1958), Labor politician * Issy Smith VC (1890–1940), soldier, born Ishroulch Shmeilowitz *

Ethel Spowers Ethel Louise Spowers (11 July 1890 – 5 May 1947) was an Australian artist associated with the Grosvenor School of Modern Art in London. She was especially known for her linocuts, which are included in the collections of major Australian and ...

(1890–1947), artist *

Lyra Taylor Lyra Veronica Esmeralda Taylor (11 July 1894 – 1979) was a New Zealand lawyer and social worker. She spent much of her career in Australia. Taylor was born on 11 July 1894 in Stratford, New Zealand. She was one of four children of Robert Ta ...

(1894–1979), pioneering social worker *

Alfred Tipper Alfred Henry Tipper (12 July 18672 April 1944), also known by the pseudonyms Professor Tipper and H.D. (reported to be an initialism for Henry Dearing or Harold Deering), was an Australian Showman#Australia, showman, competitive and endurance cyc ...

(1867–1944), outsider artist, showman, cyclist *

Frank Traynor Frank Traynor (8 August 192722 February 1985) was an Australian jazz musician, trombonist and entrepreneur based in Melbourne. He led Australia’s longest continuously running jazz band, the Jazz Preachers, from 1956 until his death in 1985. H ...

(1927–1985), jazz musician

War Graves

Fawkner Memorial Park contains the war graves of 173 Commonwealth service personnel from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In addition Fawkner Crematorium has a

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

memorial to 28 Australian service personnel of World War II – 23 soldiers, 4 airmen and one naval officer – who were cremated there. They included

Elwyn Roy King Elwyn Roy King, DSO, DFC (13 May 1894 – 28 November 1941) was a fighter ace in the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) during World War I. He achieved twenty-six victories in aerial combat, making him the fourth highest-scoring Australia ...

(1894–1941) who had been a

fighter ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

in World War I.

References

External links

Fawkner Memorial Park Pioneers Section Online Map - Chronicle

Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust

Fawkner Memorial Park
– Billion Graves * {{Authority control Cemeteries in Melbourne Crematoria in Australia Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Australia Buildings and structures in the City of Merri-bek