Hokitika Cemetery, also known as Seaview Cemetery, is the cemetery for

Hokitika Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is as of . ...

in New Zealand. The cemetery is located on Hospital Hill Road in the suburb of Seaview on an elevated site north-east of the town, giving a good outlook over the settlement and the Tasman Sea. State Highway 6 is located at the bottom of the hill.

Hokitika Airport Hokitika Aerodrome is a small, uncontrolled aerodrome located 1.9 km north east of Hokitika in the suburb of Seaview on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is also the closest domestic airport with scheduled flights to t ...

is located just east of the cemetery. Previously, the jail, mental institution (

Seaview Asylum The Seaview Asylum (also known as Seaview Hospital) was a psychiatric hospital located to the north of Hokitika, in the West Coast Region of New Zealand's South Island, adjacent to the former Westland Hospital. Open from 1872 to 2009, Seaview tra ...

) and hospital were located between the cemetery and the airport, and there is a memorial in the cemetery to the inmates of the asylum and gaol who were buried in unmarked graves.

Explorers' Monument

The Westland Explorers' Monument was erected in 1868 in the centre of the intersection of Weld and Sewell Streets. It was moved to the entrance of Hokitika Cemetery in 1880; the

Hokitika Clock Tower The Hokitika Clock Tower, initially called the Westland War Memorial and then the Coronation and War Memorial, is a prominent landmark in Hokitika, New Zealand. The memorial was initiated, fundraised for, and carried out by a committee, to com ...

was later erected in the same place in 1902. The monument memorialises four explorers, surveyors Henry Whitcombe (1830–1863), Charlton Howitt (1838–1863), and George Dobson (1840–1866), and government agent Charles Townsend (1826–1863). Whitcombe, Howitt and Townsend all drowned in separate accidents in 1863, while Dobson was mistaken for a gold buyer, E.B. Fox, and murdered by the Burgess Gang.

The SS ''Lady Darling''

Drowning, either while crossing the Hokitika bar or attempting to cross a river, was such a common death that it became known as the West Coast Disease, and between 1865 and 1870 more than 40 deaths by drowning were recorded. Amongst the earliest burials in the cemetery are those who drowned after a boat ferrying passengers from the steamer SS ''Lady Darling'' to shore, on 29 July 1865, was overwhelmed in the surf: Allen Thomas, Robert Turner, Edward Samson, unknown Thompson, John McIntosh, George Hawkins and Henry Heron or Hearn.

Jewish section

There are a small number of Jewish graves in the cemetery, although the Jewish community was of considerable importance in the early settlement of Hokitika. The synagogue on Tancred Street was dedicated on 23 September, 1867 by the Reverend Isaac Zachariah. The first Jewish burial in the cemetery was in 1872.

John Lazar John Lazar (1 December 1801 − 8 June 1879) was an actor and theatre manager in Australia. He was Mayor of Adelaide from 1855 to 1858. History Lazar was born in Edinburgh, a son of Abraham Lazar, stockbroker, and his wife Rachel née Lazarus ...

, who had been Mayor of Adelaide, Provincial Treasurer and a prominent

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, was buried in Hokitika in 1879.

Chinese interments

In 1898 the local paper records complaints about Chinese residents' celebrations of the Feast of the Dead, causing "litter and ugly confusion" in the cemetery, the effects of which could be minimised by "setting apart a portion of the cemetery for Chinese interments". In 1902, the remains of fifteen Chinese people were disinterred from Hokitika Cemetery for return to China. Unfortunately these remains were on board the SS ''Ventnor'', which sank after hitting a reef.

Returned Services

According to the New Zealand War Graves Project, Hokitika Cemetery holds four war graves. Three of the soldiers served in

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 one served in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Hungerford Mausoleum

The Hungerford Mausoleum is the largest monument in Hokitika Cemetery and is listed by

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

as a Category II structure. It is the only mausoleum on the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

. The mausoleum was built to house the infant sons of Thomas Walter Hungerford and Eliza (née Delany). Both the sons were also named Thomas Walter, and died in Feb 1873 (aged 18 months) and Feb 1874 (aged 10 months). A local court bailiff Thomas Christian (d. 2 April 1878 aged 52) is also buried in the mausoleum.

Gallery

File:Hungerford Mausoleum MRD 06.jpg, Hungerford Mausoleum File:Westland Explorers' Monument MRD 02.jpg, Westland Explorers' Monument File:Stanley Graham 107.jpg, Grave of Stanley Graham File:John Lazar 091.jpg, Grave of

File:Mary & Ebenezer Teichelmann gravesite, Hokitika Cemetery NZ (LCM20210321).jpg, Grave of Mary &

Ebenezer Teichelmann Ebenezer Teichelmann (23 March 1859 – 20 December 1938), known as 'the little Doctor' to his friends, was an Australian-born surgeon, mountaineer, explorer, conservationist and photographer in New Zealand. He was a survivor of the sinking of ...

Notable people buried in Hokitika Cemetery

:''see also '' * Agnes Addison (née Broomfield; –1903), draper * John Bevan (1837–1911), politician * Maida Bryant (née Ferguson; 1926–2016), nurse, local politician, and community leader * Frederick Buglass (1926–2006), telephone technician *

Henry Butland Henry Butland (11 February 1872 – 2 December 1956) was a rugby union player who represented New Zealand in the national side (the All Blacks), playing in the halfback position. Born in Westport in 1872, he represented West Coast at a pr ...

(1872–1956), rugby union player * Fitzherbert Dermott (1833–1879), physician *

Charlie Douglas Charles Edward Douglas (1 July 1840 – 23 May 1916) was a New Zealand surveyor and explorer, who came to be known as Mr. Explorer Douglas, owing to his extensive explorations of the West Coast of New Zealand and his work for the New Zealand S ...

(1840–1916), surveyor and explorer * Stanley Graham (1900–1941), mass murderer, and three of his seven victims * James Holmes (1831–1910), politician *

Bess Hudson Elizabeth Mary Hudson (28 April 1875 – 7 May 1961) was an early nurse in Hokitika on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Early life and family Hudson was born in Hokitika on 28 April 1875, the second daughter of Mary Hudson (n� ...

(1875–1961), nurse *

(1801–1879), actor and theatre manager in Australia, and mayor of Adelaide from 1855 to 1858 * Herbert Macandrew (1859–1917), physician * Charles McLean (1892–1965), rugby union player *

Bert Mercer James Cuthbert Mercer (16 September 1886 – 30 June 1944) was a pioneer New Zealand aviator, establishing the country's first commercial airline, Air Travel (NZ) Ltd, in 1934 based around services operating between Hokitika and settlements in Sou ...

(1886–1944), pioneer aviator *

Henry Michel Henry Leslie Michel (1855 – 4 March 1930) was Mayor of Hokitika for several years, and served on the New Zealand Legislative Council from 1918 until his death. He had stood for the New Zealand Parliament on four occasions, in later years for ...

(1855–1930), politician * Samuel James Preston (1866–1964), businessman *

Edward St John Daniel Edward St. John Daniel VC (17 January 1837 – 20 May 1868) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Victoria Cross He was ...

(1837–1868), recipient of the Victoria Cross *

Butler Te Koeti Pahikore Te Koeti Tūranga (18 November 1883 – 13 March 1964), also known as John Butler Te Koeti, was a notable New Zealand mountaineer, guide, bushman, axeman. Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Māmoe iwi. ...

(1883–1964), mountaineer, guide, bushman, axeman *

(1859–1938), surgeon, mountaineer, explorer, conservationist and photographer * Mary Teichelmann (née Bettney; –1909)

References

{{Reflist Cemeteries in New Zealand

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 ...

Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in New Zealand