St Thomas Rest Park, located in West Street,

Crows Nest, New South Wales Crows Nest is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is also part of the North Sydney region, 5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council ...

is the site of the first

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 ...

on Sydney's North Shore. It is the largest

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

in the densely populated Crows Nest area.

Cemetery

The land that now contains the St Thomas' cemetery site was granted, in 1821, to

Edward Wollstonecraft Edward Wollstonecraft (, ; 1783 7 December 1832) was a successful businessman in early colonial Australia, settling in what is now Sydney. He was the nephew of the early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and cousin to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the ...

. The land for the cemetery was donated to the Anglican Parish of St Leonards in 1845 by the prominent landowner and merchant,

Alexander Berry Alexander Berry (30 November 1781 – 17 September 1873) was a Scottish-born surgeon, merchant and explorer who was given in 1822 a land grant of 10,000 acres (40 km2) and 100 convicts to establish the first European settlement on the sout ...

, whose wife Elizabeth had inherited it on the death of her brother Edward Wollstonecraft. Wollstonecraft had died in 1832 and was buried in the

Devonshire Street Cemetery The Devonshire Street Cemetery (also known as the Brickfield Cemetery or Sandhills Cemetery) was located between Eddy Avenue and Elizabeth Street, and between Chalmers and Devonshire Streets, at Brickfield Hill, in Sydney, Australia. It was con ...

. His remains were later moved to a

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a :wikt:repository, repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be ...

constructed in the St Thomas' Cemetery by Alexander Berry for his wife. Berry was also later entombed there. The tomb is still standing in the grounds of the Rest Park. In 1967 the Cemetery was handed over to North Sydney Council by an Act of Parliament granting the area as 'community land' and allowing its conversion from a cemetery into a Rest Park. The new park opened in 1974. The sexton's cottage, dating from around 1850, was restored and opened as a museum in 1985. Many monuments and headstones are located within the sandstone-edged historic precincts while others are scattered around the Rest Park. An interpretive history trail provides 24-hour access to historical information. The cemetery contains one Commonwealth war grave, of an

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

officer, Capt. Richard Gordon Dibbs The Park contains the headstones of thirteen members of four generations of the Dibbs family, the oldest being Sophia Elizabeth Dibbs, born in Sydney in 1809, and mother of George Dibbs. (grandson of George Dibbs, below) of

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 ...

Notable people buried in St Thomas' cemetery

Robert Palmer Abbott Robert Palmer Abbott (1830 – 31 October 1901) was a politician and solicitor in colonial New South Wales, a member of both the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. Abbott was born in Broadford, County Clare in Ireland, and emi ...

, colonial politician and 5th Mayor of East St Leonards. *

Charles Badham Reverend Charles Badham (18 July 1813 – 27 February 1884) was an English classical philologist, textual critic, headmaster, and university professor, active in England and even more so in Australia. Early life Badham was born at Ludlow, Shro ...

, classical philologist *

George Barney Lieutenant Colonel George Barney (19 May 1792 – 16 April 1862) was a military engineer of the Corps of Royal Engineers and became Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of North Australia. Early life George Barney was born in Wolverhampton, Staf ...

, Royal Engineers officer, Lieutenant Governor of the

Colony of North Australia North Australia can refer to a short-lived former British colony, a former federal territory of the Commonwealth of Australia, or a proposed state which would replace the current Northern Territory. Colony (1846–1847) A colony of North Austr ...

Surveyor-General of New South Wales The Surveyor-General of New South Wales is the primary government authority responsible for land and mining surveying in New South Wales. The original duties for the Surveyor General was to measure and determine land grants for settlers in New Sou ...

* Ellis Bent, colonial judge-advocate *

and wife Elizabeth * George Meares Countess Bowen, military officer and early colonial settler, and others in his family. *Matthew Charlton, 1st Mayor of the

Borough of Victoria The Borough of Victoria was a local government area in the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. First proclaimed as the Victoria Ward of the Borough of St Leonards in 1867, in 1871 a petition to secede was accepted and ...

. * Rev. W.B. Clarke, rector of St Thomas church and "Father of Australian Geology" *Thomas John Cook, 2nd Mayor of the Borough of Victoria. *

George Dibbs Sir George Richard Dibbs KCMG (12 October 1834 – 5 August 1904) was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales on three occasions. Early years Dibbs was born in Sydney, son of Captain John Dibbs, who 'disappeared' in the sa ...

, premier of New South Wales in the late 1800s, prior to Federation * William Dind, hotelier, theatrical manager and 3rd Mayor of East St Leonards. *

James Graham Goodenough Commodore James Graham Goodenough (3 December 1830 – 20 August 1875) was an officer in the Royal Navy who went on to become Commander-in-Chief, Australia Station. Early life and family He was born at Stoke Hill near Guildford in Surrey, ...

, naval commander *

Hovenden Hely Hovenden Hely (1823 – 8 October 1872) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for one term between 1856 and 1857. Early life Hely was the son of Frederick Augustus Hely, an Irish ...

, explorer and politician *

Bernhardt Holtermann Bernhardt Otto Holtermann (29 April 1838 – 29 April 1885) was a successful gold miner, businessman, politician and photographer in Australia. Perhaps his greatest claim to fame is his association with the Holtermann Nugget, the largest gold sp ...

, gold miner, businessman, and politician. *

Isaac Ellis Ives Isaac Ellis Ives (20 March 1840 – 7 December 1906) was an English-born Australian politician. Ives was born at Great Waltham in Essex to retired overseer Isaac Ives and Susanna Field. He went to London at a young age and in 1857 migrated ...

, 39th

Mayor of Sydney The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Sydney is the head of the Council of the City of Sydney, which is the local government area covering the central business district of Sydney in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The Lord Mayor has be ...

, 3rd Mayor of the Borough of Victoria, MP for St Leonards. * Benjamin Jenkins, sea captain, owner of '' Don Bank'', and 4th Mayor of St Leonards. * Edward Lord, son of

Simeon Lord Simeon Lord ( – 29 January 1840) was a pioneer merchant and a magistrate in Australia. He became a prominent trader in Sydney, buying and selling ship cargoes. Despite being an emancipist Lord was made a magistrate by Governor Lachlan Macq ...

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

Treasurer, 2nd Mayor of East St Leonards. * John Frederick Mann, explorer, member of Leichhardt's first expedition *

James Milson James Milson (25 November 1783 – 25 October 1872) was an early settler on the North Shore of Sydney, Australia. He was born on 25 November 1783 at Grantham, Lincolnshire, England and died at the age of 88 on 25 October 1872 at Milsons Poi ...

, pioneer, landowner and namesake of

Milsons Point Milsons Point is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is located 3 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of North Sydney Council. Mil ...

. * Alfred George Milson, grandson of

, 10th

Mayor of North Sydney The Mayor of North Sydney is the head of North Sydney Council, which is the local government area in the lower north shore region of Sydney including North Sydney, Neutral Bay, Cremorne and Crows Nest in the State of New South Wales, Austral ...

. *

Conrad Martens Conrad Martens (21 March 1801 – 21 August 1878) was an English-born landscape painter active on HMS ''Beagle'' from 1833 to 1834. He arrived in Australia in 1835 and painted there until his death in 1878. Life and work Conrad Martens' f ...

, artist * Robert Moodie, 5th Mayor of the Borough of Victoria. * Joseph Musgrave, bowler and 2nd Mayor of St Leonards. *

John Ovens John Ovens (1788 – 7 December 1825) was an Irish-born soldier, civil engineer and explorer of Australia. He was aide-de-camp to Sir Thomas Brisbane, governor of New South Wales and explored the Murrumbidgee River and Monaro (New South Wal ...

, explorer * William Tucker, 1st Mayor of East St Leonards. * William Waterhouse, 7th Mayor of the Borough of Victoria.
*

John Whitton John Whitton (1820, near Wakefield, Yorkshire, England – 20 February 1898), an Anglo–Australian railway engineer, was the Engineer-in-Charge for the New South Wales Government Railways, serving between 1856 and 1890, considered the Father of ...

, railway pioneer *

, pioneer * Montague Younger, musician

References

External links

*
St Thomas' Rest Park
- Brochure. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
St Thomas' Cemetery headstone search
Retrieved 6 March 2014.
St Thomas' Cemetery
- Walking Tour Brochure. Retrieved 6 March 2014. {{Parks in Sydney, state=autocollapse Cemeteries in Sydney Parks in Sydney 1845 establishments in Australia Crows Nest, New South Wales 1974 establishments in Australia Parks established in 1974

Cemetery

Notable people buried in St Thomas' cemetery

See also

References

External links