Karori Cemetery is New Zealand's second largest cemetery, located in the

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

suburb of

Karori Karori is a suburb located at the western edge of the urban area of Wellington, New Zealand, 4 km from the city centre and is one of New Zealand's most populous suburbs, with a population of in History Origins The name ''Karori'' used ...

History

Karori Cemetery opened in 1891 to address overcrowding at

Bolton Street Cemetery Bolton Street Memorial Park, formerly known as Bolton Street Cemetery, is the oldest cemetery in Wellington, New Zealand. Dating back to 1840, many notable people are buried here. Situated in the suburb of Thorndon, New Zealand, Thorndon, the Well ...

. In 1909, it received New Zealand's first crematorium, which is still in use and is

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

's oldest. Karori Cemetery reached capacity during the 1950s, and Makara Cemetery became Wellington's main burial ground. Burials at Karori happen only in pre-purchased family plots, in children's plots, and in pre-purchased ash plots. The Karori Crematorium and Chapel are listed (Class I) with the

New Zealand Historic Places Trust 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 ...

Description

The cemetery covers almost and has seen more than 83,000 burials.

War graves

The cemetery contains separate

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 ...

services sections. Buried here are 268 Commonwealth service personnel of World War I – including most deaths from the first New Zealand Expeditionary Force Reinforcement Camp and others at Trentham, and the

Upper Hutt Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city cent ...

Remount Depot – and 123 of the World War II, besides a Norwegian and a French war casualty. The

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 ...

(CWGC) also erected a plaque commemorating 15 New Zealand service personnel of World War II who were cremated at Karori Crematorium and their ashes scattered. It is set into the Services Columbarium Wall in the Services section. In addition, the CWGC erected the Wellington Provincial Memorial, in the form of a marble arch connecting the two Services sections, inscribed with the names of service personnel from Wellington Province who died serving in the World Wars but have no known grave.

Burials

* Lily May Kirk Atkinson (1866–1921), popular orator, suffragist and temperance worker – president of New Zealand Women's Christian Union 1901–1906; president of New Zealand Society for the Protection of Women and Children 1903–1911 *

Suzanne Aubert Suzanne Aubert (19 June 1835 – 1 October 1926), better known to many by her cleric name Sister Mary Joseph or Mother Aubert, was a Catholic sister who started a home for orphans and the under-privileged in Jerusalem, New Zealand on the Whangan ...

the saint founder of the Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion (later translated to the motherhouse of the

religious institute A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow members. Religious institutes are one of the two types of institutes of consecrate ...

Albert Henry Baskerville Albert (Bert) Henry Baskerville (born as "Baskiville") (15 January 1883 – 20 May 1908) was a Wellington postal clerk, a rugby union forward, author of the book "''Modern Rugby Football: New Zealand Methods; Points for the Beginner, the Pla ...

(1883–1908), Organiser of the famous All Golds tour to Great Britain and Australia *

William Thomas Beck William Thomas Beck (7 May 1865 – 15 January 1947) was a New Zealand Army Officer and one of the first New Zealand soldiers to land on Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. Early life and family Born in Castlemaine, Australia on 7 May 1865, Beck was th ...

(1865–1947), New Zealand Army officer and one of the first New Zealanders to land on Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 *

Euphemia Cunningham Euphemia Culbert Cunningham OBE BEM (later Baxter; 1892 – 2 August 1989) was a World War One munitions worker at HM Factory, Gretna, who was the first person from Edinburgh to be awarded a Medal of the Order of the British Empire for her br ...

(1882–1989), World War I munitions worker and recipient of the Medal of the Order of the British Empire in 1918 * William Cunningham (1883–1959), senior officer in the New Zealand Military Forces and lawyer * John Duthie (1841–1915), businessman and politician, including Mayor of Wellington (1889–1890) *

Peter Fraser Peter Fraser (; 28 August 1884 – 12 December 1950) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 24th prime minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. Considered a major figure in the history of the New Zealand La ...

(1884–1950), Prime Minister (with memorial) * John Hosking (1854–1928), judge of the Supreme Court * Joseph Kinsey (1852–1936), businessman, collector, and philanthropist from Christchurch * Cybele Ethel Kirk (1870–1957), educator, suffragist and temperance worker *

Harry McNish Henry McNish (11 September 187424 September 1930), often referred to as Harry McNish or by the nickname Chippy, was the carpenter on Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917. He was responsible for much of the ...

(1874-1930), member of Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 antarctic expedition. He modified the small boat, James Caird, allowing to fetch help for the rest of the crew *

Charles Morison Charles Bruce Morison (1861 – 6 January 1920), known by his first name and referred to as C. B. Morison in contemporary sources, was a New Zealand barrister. He stood in two elections around the turn of the century in the Otaki electorate an ...

(1861–1920), New Zealand barrister *

Thomas Orde-Lees Major (United Kingdom), Major Thomas Hans Orde-Lees, Order of the British Empire, OBE, Air Force Cross (United Kingdom), AFC (23 May 1877 – 1 December 1958) was a member of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914&n ...

(1877-1958), member of the 1914 Trans-Antarctic Expedition * Elizabeth Pinfold (1859–1927), recipient of the Belgian Queen Elisabeth Medal * Mary Player ( 1857 – 1924), servant, midwife, welfare worker, feminist and social reformer *

Randolph Ridling Randolph Gordon Ridling, (17 March 1888 – 13 January 1975) was a New Zealand soldier who served during the First World War on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. He was awarded the Albert ...

(1888 – 1975), recipient of the

Albert Medal for Lifesaving The Albert Medal for Lifesaving was a British medal awarded to recognize the saving of life. It has since been replaced by the George Cross. The Albert Medal was first instituted by a royal warrant on 7 March 1866. It was named in memory of P ...

References

External links

Wellington cemeteries search
{{coord, -41.275, 174.750, type:landmark_region:NZ, display=title Tourist attractions in Wellington City Cemeteries in Wellington City 1891 establishments in New Zealand