The Wesleyan Cemetery in Newcastle West was originally a one acre square of land dedicated in June 1846. The size of the cemetery was halved in 1854 when the Newcastle to Maitland railway was planned. Burials in the cemetery took place up until 1881 when Sandgate Cemetery was opened. The dedication of the Wesleyan cemetery was revoked in 1910. The land was sold to the Roman Catholic Church in 1955, and then subsequently sold for commercial and business purposes.
The one acre area of the original 1846 Wesleyan Cemetery shown in yellow. A map for the sale of land (bordered in red) in 1908, shows the adjacent Wesleyan Cemetery. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
The colonial government dedicated one acre of land for a Wesleyan cemetery on 30 June 1846.
Suburban allotment No. 18 was a 22 acre portion of land in the Newcastle West/Wickham area, which was reduced to 21 acres after the dedication of the one acre cemetery. The Title Deed for the cemetery was issued on 22 September 1846.
Title Deed for the Wesleyan Burial Ground in Newcastle, dated 22 September 1846. HLRV Serial-PageNo 345-2.
In July 1854 the Hunter River Railway Company was formed, for the purpose of constructing a rail line from Newcastle to East Maitland. The route of the railway cut through the north-eastern section of the Wesleyan cemetery, and consequently the cemetery was reduced to a triangular portion of 2 roods 2 perches (approx 0.5 acre).
An 1854 map showing the location of the cemetery within suburban allotment No. 18, at the time the size of the cemetery was reduced by the Newcastle to Maitland railway. Map reproduced from the Newcastle Family History Society publication, Newcastle West Burial Grounds.
Because records for the civil registration of births, deaths and marriages in NSW are only available from 1 March 1856, it is not possible to identify when the first interment in the cemetery occurred, or how many interments occurred in the ten year period from July 1846 to 1 March 1856. The first positively identified burial in the cemetery was of 15 year old Thomas John Fernyhough in September 1858.
A report in 1872 referred to the four city burial grounds, including the Wesleyan cemetery.
The cemeteries that are now used are of a sectarian character – one of them belonging to the Church of England, one to the Roman Catholic, and another to the Presbyterian persuasion. The Wesleyan Methodists have also a very small one, which is situated in a marshy piece of ground a little way out of the city.
The location of the cemetery was alluded to in an advertisement for the sale in June 1872 of “SIX BEAUTIFUL BUILDING ALLOTMENTS situated in front of the Wesleyan Burial Ground, near the White Gates, Maitland-road.” The White Gates was the location where Maitland Road crossed the railway line in Newcastle West.
By 1879, when plans for a new general cemetery at Sandgate were progressing, it appears that the Wesleyan cemetery was little used due to the swampy nature of the ground there.
Rev. Mr. WATERHOUSE, on behalf of the Wesleyan body, stated they had a cemetery of their own, but it was in a swamp; and since he had been in Newcastle he had only buried two in it.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 31 July 1879.
The last burial in the cemetery reported by the newspaper was that of Henry Gilpin on 5 January 1881. The last burial recorded in the government register of deaths was of 17 month old James Elliott in February 1881. When the general cemetery at Sandgate opened in September 1881, interments at all the city burial grounds (Christ Church Cathedral, Honeysuckle Point, Wesleyan) were prohibited by a Borough of Newcastle by-law.
With no new interments, the cemetery was neglected and fell into disrepair. A newspaper article in 1902 reported …
The Wesleyan Cemetery is a considerable distance away, the plot lying between the railway line and the road which crosses the high-level bridge. What its appearance was like years ago it is hard to imagine, but old residents tell gruesome stories of interments there at which, the coffin floated in water and had to be forced down with poles while the graves were filled in. A part of the land was contiguous to a swamp, but it is hard to define the boundaries now. A very small piece remains enclosed with a ricketty fence, and in the enclosure there are all that remains of five graves. On one of these is an inscription dating back to 1860, but the others are nameless. It is a debatable point whether some portion has not already been built upon, and, as a matter of fact, its existence as one of Newcastle’s earliest cemeteries is almost forgotten.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 4 March 1902.
The author of the article suggests that given “the desolate and neglected appearance” of the cemeteries in Newcastle West, that “the time has come for their removal.”
On 27 January 1910 the NSW Government Gazette published a “Revocation of Dedication” of the Wesleyan Burial Ground. There appear to be no records of removal of headstones or remains from the site to other cemeteries. A report leading up to a Land Board inquiry in 1947 on the future use of the land, noted that “nearly all traces of burials had been obliterated”, and that the site had been used for various purposes including tennis courts.
An old burial ground at Wickham will be the subject of a Land Board inquiry at Newcastle Courthouse on November 12. The board will recommend whether the land should be disposed of or converted to other use. The District Surveyor of the Land Board, East Maitland (Mr. R. Massie) stated that the land, known as portion 2519, of about one acre, was originally dedicated as a Wesleyan Methodist burial ground on September 22, 1846. Dedication was revoked in 1910 at the instance of the Methodist Church authorities. Mr. Massie said a 1910 report showed that the old cemetery had then been closed about 30 years, and nearly all traces of burials had been obliterated. Since then the land had been used for various purposes, such as a site for tennis courts. The location and satisfactory disposal of human remains would be impracticable, he added. Together with an adjoining lane, the land, which was now Crown land, was the subject of a special purchase application by the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church of the Diocese of Maitland, said Mr. Massie. Other business firms and individuals were also interested in acquiring the land, he said.
The Land Board decided in favour of the Roman Catholic Church acquiring the site.
The Land Board at Newcastle Courthouse yesterday, recommended that the Roman Catholic Church be given the opportunity to acquire the site of a former Wesleyan Methodist cemetery at Wickham, for a hostel for the Young Christian Workers’ Extension Association. The board made its recommendation subject to … undertaking be given to reinter in any Wesleyan Methodist cemetery, without expense to the Crown, the remains of any person found during building operations.
There is no record of any re-interments taking place during any subsequent developments on the site.
Part of a 1959 county map showing Portion 2519, formerly the Wesleyan Cemetery, owned by the Roman Catholic Church. HLRV
Vol-Fol 7010-6 records the “Grant of Land upon special purchase” by the Catholic Church in July 1955. In September 1968 the church sold the land to “NSW Motors (Newcastle) Pty Ltd” and the site has been used for commercial and business purposes since that time.
The location of the former Wesleyan Cemetery shown in Google Earth.
For more information about the Wesleyan Cemetery in Newcastle West, see the Newcastle West Burial Grounds publication from the Newcastle Family History Society.
When not many people lived in Newcastle, the needs of the dead were met by a few small burial grounds – the Church of England cemetery below the cathedral, the Catholic and Presbyterian cemeteries adjacent to Cottage Creek, and the Wesleyan Methodist cemetery in Newcastle West. With a rising population came the need for a larger general cemetery outside the city, and in 1863 the government reserved 20 acres of land at Waratah.
However, the commencement of mining and a growing township at Waratah soon made that location unsuitable. After many delays, in 1878 the government purchased 50 acres of land at Sandgate for a cemetery. This site had the advantages of being in an unpopulated area, and close to both Maitland Road and the northern railway.
Opened in September 1881, the cemetery included a short branch rail line to provide transport for mourners, as well as the deceased in a special hearse carriage. In 1883 the rail authorities opened a mortuary station and platform in Honeysuckle as the starting point for funeral trains. In 1896 the Tramway Department acquired a hearse carriage that allowed funeral processions from the suburbs to proceed via tram to Honeysuckle, thence by train to Sandgate.
Sandgate became the principal burial ground in the district, and the cemetery train was much used. On a single day in 1932 there were fourteen funerals, ten of which travelled by train. In 1933 the Honeysuckle mortuary station closed, but the cemetery rail continued to carry passengers, with extra trains provided on special occasions. In 1938 the newspaper reported that 3000 mourners had travelled by train to Sandgate on Mother’s Day. With rising car ownership, the need for a cemetery train gradually declined, and the last passenger service ran on Sunday 13 October 1985. Forty years later a low brick platform, half-buried rails and a rusting points lever are the scant reminders of a railway that served both the living and the dead for over a century.
There were three denominational cemeteries in Newcastle West. The Honeysuckle Point cemeteries for the Presbyterians and the Roman Catholics, were adjacent to Cottage Creek and opened in 1845. A Wesleyan Methodist cemetery a little further west along the Maitland Road opened in 1846.
Interments in all these grounds ceased in 1881 when Sandgate Cemetery opened. The dedication of the Wesleyan cemetery was revoked in 1910. The Honeysuckle Point cemeteries were removed in 1916 to make way for a tram and road bridge over the railway, however due to lack of funds the bridge was never constructed. Refer to my Honeysuckle Point Cemetery and Wesleyan Cemetery pages for further details.
An 1896 tramways map showing the Honeysuckle Point Cemetery (Presbyterian and Roman Catholic). From Flickr user Peter Deane
In the published article above, I stated that the Sandgate cemetery site was selected in preference to a Waratah site “after many delays”. This polite phrase, required for brevity, masks the true omni-shambles of the Government’s and Newcastle Borough Council’s handling of cemetery matters. See my Waratah Cemetery page for further details.
Sandgate Cemetery
After a delay of several decades, the government finally secured a site for a general cemetery at Sandgate.
It is satisfactory to learn that the vote of £3000 for a cemetery for this city has been appropriated. The Government have just purchased 50 acres of land at Waratah from the A. A. Co. at the rate of £50 per acre, the remaining £500 has been placed in the hands of the Municipal Council to defray the expense of inclosing the same with a substantial fence.
(Note the mention of the land being “at Waratah” meant in the Waratah region, not Waratah township/suburb we know today. The locality name of “Sandgate” was not used until 1882.)
That the Town Clerk be instructed to write to the Government, urging the necessity of dedicating the land lately purchased for a general cemetery, and appointing the Municipal Council as trustees; also for taking immediate steps for closing the burial grounds within the municipality, and providing the necessary railway accommodation for the general use of the cemetery.
At the same meeting the council accepted the tender of Mr W W Johnston of Wallsend for fencing the cemetery. The following month Johnston reported to the council …
… that the unusual size of the rails for the cemetery fence had caused him considerable difficulty in procuring same, but he would be in a position to commence the fence within a fortnight.
In June 1879 a major controversy erupted over the proposed distribution of land within the cemetery to the various church denominations.
Our attention has been very forcibly drawn to the extraordinary manner in which the land set apart by the Government for burying purposes has been apportioned to the different denominations.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 3 June 1879.
Half the area of the cemetery had been allocated to two denominations (Church of England, Catholic), some denominations had “manifestly inequitable” allocations, and some no allocation at all.
As for the Baptists, they must all be presumed by the Government Distributors to be translated to heaven as Enoch and Elijah were, without dying, as no place appears to have been provided for their burial!
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 3 June 1879.
At a public meeting held on 26 July 1879, the various denominations discussed how the cemetery should be divided. The Church of England and Roman Catholics wanted it apportioned based on the general census of 1871 (which gave them a greater area), whereas others wanted it apportioned based on the ratio of the denominations in the local district. The meeting resolved to send a deputation to the Minister for Lands on the following Tuesday to argue their respective cases. In August 1879 the Minister issued a new subdivision of the cemetery that reduced the allocation to the Church of England and Roman Catholics, and increased the allocation to the other denominations, including some that had previously been overlooked.
A few months later, Newcastle Council were again asking the Government for a rail link to the cemetery, and reminding them of the need to pass legislation to close the existing cemeteries within the city boundary.
Alderman BROOKS moved – “That the Government be communicated with, urging the necessity of making railway accommodation to the new cemetery; and also passing a bill to restrict the burials in the city, and close all cemeteries within the city boundary.” He had been given to understand that before burials in the municipality could be stopped, a special Bill must be passed, and no steps had been taken by Government to do that. It was the Council’s duty to remind the Government that such a bill was urgently required. If they did not continually peg away at them it would be a couple of years before they had the new cemetery available. The MAYOR remarked that the fencing of the ground was completed. Doubtless each denomination would take steps to see that their section of the enclosure was properly cleared.
The following year, the Government finally got around to appointing trustees for the cemetery, the denominational trustees on 30 July 1880, and trustees for the General section on 1 October 1880. In January 1881 word was received that the Government had agreed to construct a branch rail line into the cemetery.
We are glad to notice that the City Council has at last been successful, aided by the exertions of the members for the city, in inducing the Minister for Works to connect the new general cemetery to the Great Northern Railway by a siding. Mr. Bewick, the Superintendent of Permanent Ways and Works, has been instructed to proceed with this necessary work at once, and in the course of four or five weeks at the furthest we may expect to see this work completed.
In April 1881 several of the trustees of the cemetery visited the site to inspect the railway works, rapidly nearing completion.
To form a connection [from the cemetery] to the main track, a siding has been run in, proceeding by a gentle incline and gradual curve towards the middle of the cemetery, at the exact centre of which a terminus is formed, a platform erected, and a hand- some mortuary receiving house or waiting room provided. The benefit of this arrangement will be readily appreciated; since by the plan thus adopted funeral parties can be conveyed to the nearest approach to either one of the various denominational sections into which the whole is subdivided. The structure itself measures internally 26ft x 16, with a verandah 20 x 17, the platform being 100 foot long, exclusive of two fifteen feet ramps at either end. The upper portion in galvanized iron with neat barge-board fringing the eaves, and ornamental verandah posts, &c., attached. The formal work of constructing it is being carried out by Mr. P. Morrison, who expects to have every- thing complete within a day or two.
Those present made a careful inspection of the ground, which is thus virtually ready for interments. With the infusion of a little energy there can be no reason whatever to prevent every detail being satisfactorily settled within the next fortnight at the utmost.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 14 April 1881.
The mortuary receiving house and rail platform can be seen in the background of this 1910 Ralph Snowball photo. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 003847
Despite the optimism of the trustees of an imminent opening, four months later the cemetery was still not ready. A meeting on 12 August 1881 outlined four main issues to be resolved.
The need for clearing the ground.
The need for a caretaker to be appointed and a caretaker’s house to be erected.
The need for “an official sketch plan of the ground, shewing the various denominational sub-divisions, together with a plan of the paths, sizes of graves, distinguishing sections.”
The need for “a committee of trustees to draw up a code of by-laws, to be submitted to Government for approval.”
On 8 September 1881 the trustees met again at the cemetery site, and …
reported that the Government had promised £200 towards clearing and fencing;
moved that tenders for the clearing work be invited;
moved that a a surveyor be employed to prepare a plan of the whole cemetery;
moved that the draft by-laws prepared by the sub-committee be submitted to the next general meeting for approval.
Twenty two years after it was first called for, the general cemetery was finally ready. The first interment took place two days later on 10 September 1881, when Mary Wilson, the wife of John Miller was buried in the Presbyterian section of the cemetery. The Government Railways advertised that funeral trains to the General Cemetery would run daily from Newcastle Station, if required.
Locomotive, passenger carriages, and hearse trailer at the Sandgate Cemetery station and platform. circa 1881 to 1890. University of Newcastle, Living Histories. This photo appeared in the Newcastle Sun in 1950 with the caption “One of the early funeral trains to Sandgate Cemetery. The picture was taken 60 years ago.”
At the next meeting of the cemetery trustees, plans for the improvement of the cemetery progressed.
[Funds] will be devoted to clearing the main avenue of the cemetery to a width of 66 feet, and trees of an appropriate character will be planted on each side. Application is also to be made to the Minister for Works for the erection of a residence for a caretaker, the site of which has been approved of by the trustees.
Efforts have also been made to secure telephonic communication between the cemetery and Newcastle, so that no time need be lost in any case of emergency . The Trustees are applying to the Government for a platform to be constructed so that the various kinds of material likely to be required for interments, such as timber, monumental masonry, iron railings, etc, may be easily unloaded, and also that parties wishing to visit the burial ground may disembark there from any ordinary train without being compelled to travel by the special mortuary one.
In April 1882 we see the first reference to the name “Sandgate” as the locality of the cemetery, and on 19 July 1882 the first reference to the name “Sandgate Cemetery” appears. There is no clear information on the origin of the name. (In 1928 there was a short-lived agitation to change the name of the suburb. One resident gives a confusing explanation for the naming of Sandgate, but coming nearly 50 years later it should be received with some skepticism.)
Locomotive engine and hearse trailer at Sandgate Cemetery, 10 May 1900. Photo by Ralph Snowball. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 001107Mothers Day in 1939, when about 5000 people visited Sandgate Cemetery. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 15 May 1939.Two-car diesel set NTC738/NPF638 sits at the platform at Sandgate Cemetery station 9, June 1985. Photo courtesy of Australian Rail Maps.
Mortuary Station, Newcastle West
When Sandgate Cemetery opened in September 1881, cemetery trains departed from Newcastle Station. In 1883 the Government erected a mortuary station and platform at Honeysuckle, and from 9 April 1883 funeral trains departed from this station.
Advertisement for opening of new mortuary station at Honeysuckle. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 5 April 1883.
Portion of an 1894 map showing the location of the old cemeteries, Honeysuckle Point railway station, and the Mortuary Station that opened in 1883. State Library of NSW.Mortuary Station, Honeysuckle Point, November 1896. Photo by Ralph Snowball. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.Mortuary Station and Bullock Island Bridge, NSW, 14 August 1900. Photo by Ralph Snowball. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
The mortuary station was used for 50 years, and closed at the end of March 1933, because of declining patronage and a deteriorating building.
The old mortuary platform at Honey suckle railway station is to be closed from April 1. After that date funerals at Honeysuckle will entrain from the main platform for Sandgate Cemetery. The question of closing down the mortuary, platform has been under consideration by the Railway Department for a long time. At present the platform buildings are in a state of disrepair, and need painting, and it has been decided that the change should be made at the end of this month. The department claims that no public inconvenience will be caused; its records show that of the 228 funerals that went by rail from the Newcastle district stations between August and December of last year, only 35 left from the Honey suckle mortuary platform.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 11 March 1933.
Although the mortuary station closed, the train service to the cemetery continued, particularly passenger traffic for mourners and visitors. Transport of the deceased to the cemetery via train appears to have waned quickly, with the last mention in the paper of this practice being the funeral of Mrs Eleanor J Varley on 24 June 1935.
It is often remarked that Newcastle gets a poor allocation of funds for projects compared with spending in Sydney, and the mortuary stations in the respective cities is a fine example. While Sydney got a magnificent architect designed Victorian Free Gothic style sandstone building in 1868, fifteen years later the Government could only manage a weatherboard shed for Newcastle.
In 1886 the rail authorities commenced mortuary train service from Wallsend to Sandgate Cemetery, that used the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company railway.
The funeral [of John Kilpatrick] took place on Monday, and was the first mortuary train from Wallsend to the District Cemetery. I understood that 83 tickets were issued, proving conclusively that in cases when the remains of any member of our friendly society is conveyed by rail to Sandgate the authorities will be called upon to provide plenty of carriage accommodation.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 1 September 1886.
After trams in Newcastle commenced operation in 1887 the opportunity arose for a funeral tram service. In May 1896 the Railway Commissioners announced that a hearse trailer for the tram network in Newcastle would soon be provided.
It is expected that a hearse will be available for use on the tramways about the 1st June. This will supply a want which has been long experienced by residents in the suburbs.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 23 May 1896.
A hearse car has just been added to the tramway rolling stock. It is intended to attach this car to funeral trams, which are henceforth to be run as required from the suburbs to the railway station in competition against the undertakers.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 8 June 1896.
With the introduction of a tram hearse, the Railway Commissioners decided to discontinue the funeral train service that had been running from Wallsend for the previous ten years.
The Commissioners promised to arrange for the arrival and departure of the tram from Newcastle so as to prevent any unnecessary delay and insure a return to Wallsend by 6pm, so that it will now be understood that in lieu of a funeral train, a hearse will be attached to the tram leaving Wallsend at 2pm and returning at 5pm, the return fare being 1s.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 7 AUgust 1896.
Funeral procession of Dr A W Nash in Morehead Street, Lambton, heading for Howe Street to board the funeral tram service. The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 29 March 1905.
The introduction of the funeral tram service allowed quite large funeral processions to travel to Sandgate Cemetery from the suburbs.
The funeral of the late Mr. John Avery took place yesterday, and was one of the largest attended that ever left Lambton, upwards of 700 persons joined in the procession from the house to the tram, and about 500 proceeded by tram and train to Sandgate Cemetery.
Ralph Snowball took a large number of photographs of headstones and monuments at Sandgate Cemetery, many of which are in Newcastle Libraries Online Collection. Some of these photographs show trains, or rail infrastructure in the background.
Gravestone of Margaret (Reta) Walker Swan at Sandgate Cemetery, with the cemetery train in the background. Photo by Ralph Snowball, 6 September 1898. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 003530The same location in 2025. Note that the original headstone for the infant Reta was later replaced with a more elaborate monument that also memorialised her parents Andrew and Mary Ann.Gravestone of William Lashmore and his wife at Sandgate Cemetery, with the wooden cemetery train platform in the background. Photo by Ralph Snowball, 24 May 1905. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 002110Gravestone of Grace Ann Kay at Sandgate Cemetery, with mortuary station building in the background, 16 November 1901. Photo by Ralph Snowball. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 002102Gravestone of Joseph Lloyd at Sandgate Cemetery, with rail tracks and platform in the background, 13 October 1912. Photo by Ralph Snowball. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 001 004132
Meeting of Newcastle Town Council: "Alderman Bolton then brought on his motion that application be made to the General Superintendent of the Australian Agricultural Company for a grant of land for the purpose of a general cemetery. In introducing it, he said that he had little to say, as all were aware of its necessity. The Church of England cemetery was in the centre of the town, and was nearly full and the others were small, and not suited for the purpose."
"The COLONIAL SECRETARY has informed the deputation that the Minister for Lands had directed that the manager of the A. A. Co. should be communicated with, and that the purchase of the site should be completed before the end of the present month. The fact is, that if the land is not purchased by that time, the offer of the company to sell the land for the purpose required will lapse, and the citizens will have to look round again, but perhaps in vain."
"Negotiations had been entered into with the Australian Agricultural Company for the purchase of fifty acres of land for a cemetery at £2500, and that, in fact, £3000 had been voted by Parliament for buying a piece of land for this purpose, and for fencing it in."
"It is satisfactory to learn that the vote of £3000 for a cemetery for this city has been appropriated. The Government have just purchased 50 acres of land at Waratah from the A. A. Co. at the rate of £50 per acre, the remaining £500 has been placed in the hands of the Municipal Council to defray the expense of inclosing the same with a substantial fence."
Meeting of the cemetery trustees, plans for an avenue of ornamental trees, and another railway platform for the easy unloading of timber, monumental masonry etc.
"Fourteen funerals, described by an undertaker as the highest number for one day since the influenza epidemic, took place in the Newcastle district yesterday. Three special trains, two from Newcastle and one from Kahibah, had to be run by the Railway Department to cope with the situation. Ten of the funerals entrained for the cemetery, the others went by road."
"Four special trains from Newcastle and suburbs, in addition to the ordinary Sunday trains, carried about 3000 people to Sandgate cemetery yesterday afternoon. Hundreds went in cars and on motor cycles and bicycles. "
Prior to the opening of Sandgate Cemetery in 1881, the two main burial grounds for Newcastle were the Church of England cemetery below the Cathedral, and cemetery located adjacent to Cottage Creek at Honeysuckle Point, used by the Presbyterians and Roman Catholics.
In March 1845 the Government granted one acre of land for a Presbyterian Burial Ground in Newcastle, on “the right bank of Swamp Creek” (Swamp Creek was the earlier name of Cottage Creek), to the north of “the Newcastle and Maitland Road”, and to the west of a road “dividing it from the Roman Catholic Burial Ground.” It is not clear whether the land for the Catholic cemetery was granted at this time, or at earlier date.
This cemetery is the one alluded to in a quote attributed to Mark Twain, the American writer and humourist. After his visit to the Hunter Valley in December 1895, Twain reputedly said that …
Newcastle consisted of one long street, with a hospital at one end, and a cemetery at the other.
(The earliest reference to this quote comes from a newspaper article in November 1913, eighteen years after Twain’s visit. The Hunter Living Histories has a long blog post on Mark Twain, and despite much research a primary source for this quote has yet to be located.)
Interments in the cemetery ceased in 1881, after the opening of Sandgate cemetery.
Portion of 1884 map showing the cemetery at Honeysuckle, adjacent to Cottage Creek, divided into Presbyterian and Roman Catholic sections. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
By 1895 the Catholic section of the cemetery was described as “sadly neglected”, that the Catholics …
… have allowed the graves of their people to go to ruin. A fence was some two years ago put up to divide the cemetery, as the Presbyterians wished to look after their lot, but since then the Catholic portion has been used as a grazing ground for stock, and even a depository for rubbish of all descriptions.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 17 August 1895.
In November 1901 the cemetery was described as “dilapidated, overgrown, disused” and a “menace the health of the surrounding dense population.” In 1913 the state of the two sections of the cemetery was describe as the reverse of conditions in 1895 …
The portion belonging to the Catholic community from an exterior view does not offend the eye, for it is surrounded by a high and well- kept fence, and a casual passer would scarcely know its use. The interior of the place could be improved, but it is by no means unsightly. The adjoining portion, however, is in a sorry condition, and presents a desolate and forsaken appearance. The fence which once ran parallel to the Cottage Creek has almost entirely disappeared, only a few palings, barely hanging upright. Inside the cemetery it is desolation complete.
… resumed by the Government for railway extension works, and for the purpose of providing room for the proposed overhead bridge from Hunter to Hannell streets to carry the tramway and vehicular traffic.
In March 1916 the government passed legislation to permit the removal of remains from Honeysuckle Cemetery, for re-interment at Sandgate Cemetery. The government initially advertised that the transfer of remains was to be organised by relatives or friends, with the cost covered by the government.
Advertisement for exhumation of remains from Honeysuckle Cemetery for re-interment at Sandgate Cemetery. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 25 May 1916.
However, by August 1916 the Department of Public Works had changed their mind and decided to organise the transference themselves. On 10 August 1916 the department called for tenders for the “Removal of human remains from Honeysuckle Cemeteries to the Sandgate Cemeteries.” The contract was awarded to Messrs Thomas Moore and Maisey and Tonks, and was completed in November 1916.
The cemetery was resumed by the government purportedly for the construction of a tram and road bridge over the railway line. At a meeting with Newcastle municipal officials in 1918, the Chief Railway Commissioner stated that the work would proceed …
… if the Commissioners could get the money and the Works Department’s assistance to provide the overhead bridge. Unfortunately the tramway service of Newcastle did not pay.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 31 July 1918.
The money never came and the bridge was never constructed.
Cottage Creek Cemetery and Elite Skating Rink. Photo by Ralph Snowball. Newcastle Libraries Online Collection 000 000910
The Cottage Creek cemetery appears in the background of Ralph Snowball’s 8 February 1892 photograph of the City Arcade and Western Markets building in Hunter Street. University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
“View from Tower of A.J.S. Bank Wickham.” by architect & painter Alfred Sharpe, showing Cottage Creek Cemetery in 1894. www.wikitree.com
An 1896 Water Board map showing the Honeysuckle Cemetery. The unsuitability of the site for a cemetery is highlighted by the annotation on the north side of the ground – “Shallow backwater filled at High Tide.” University of Newcastle, Living Histories.
"It is notorious to everyone that the burial grounds in Newcastle are in a most disgraceful, state, and that they should have ever been selected as places of interment at all. We refer, of course, to the burial grounds, or rather bogs, near Cottage Bridge. It is quite time all the present burial places attached to Newcastle were closed, and a general cemetery established for the population of the whole of this district."
"The Honeysuckle Point Cemetery was closed in 1881, and it would appear that one portion of it at least has been sadly neglected ever since. The ground was shared by the Presbyterians and Roman Catholics, and while the former church has looked after their portion and kept it in something like order, the latter sect have allowed the graves of their people to go to ruin."
HONEYSUCKLE POINT BURIAL GROUND. Some 25 years must now have elapsed since the last interment took place in this burial ground, and it would be interesting to know how much longer this dilapidated, overgrown, disused cemetery is to menace the health of the surrounding dense population, and remain an eyesore and hindrance to business to Hunter-street West.
Resumption by the Government of Presbyterian cemetery (approx one acre) in connection with "the construction of the Newcastle to Tighe's Hill Tramway."
"Many years ago, when Mark Twain visited Newcastle, he remarked to an inter- viewer on his return to America that it was a city of one long street, with a hospital at one end, and a cemetery at the other. Any visitor in future years will not be able to give such a description of Newcastle, for the cemetery, which the famous humorist referred to, will shortly be a thing of the past. This decision has been arrived at by the Department of Public Works, and tenders are being called for the removal to Sandgate of the human remains from the Honeysuckle Point cemeteries."
"At the end of next week the Honeysuckle Point Cemetery will be tenantless, as by that time the contractors Messrs. Thomas Moore and Maisey and Tonks, will have transferred all its occupants to the Sandgate Cemetery. After having been in existence for over half a century, during the latter part of which time, owing to the increase of population, it was unused, the land in question has been resumed for the purpose of harbour and railway extensions."
In this weekend’s article in the Newcastle Herald, Mike Scanlon writes about the restoration of the Birdwood Flag, made in 1917 for General Sir William Birdwood. In the article Mike mentions that
“The now truncated Birdwood Park in the West End is probably named after this popular WWI general.”
Searching Trove I found that the park was constructed by Newcastle Council in 1892, was originally called “West End Park” and covered three acres.
Newcastle Morning Herald, 14 Apr 1892, p4.
Newcastle Morning Herald, 17 Nov 1892, p8.
Corporal Barrett’s 1910 map of Newcastle shows the trapezoid shaped park adjacent to the brewery, with the modern King and Parry streets yet to be built.
Overlaying the 1910 map into Google Earth we can see that the park originally extended further to the south of present day King and Parry streets.
1910 map overlaid into Google Earth, showing location of West End Park.
Using Google Earth Pro’s area measurement tool, the area of the park in the 1910 map shows as 3.2 acres, which corresponds well with the three acres mentioned in the 1892 newspaper article.
Area of West End Park in 1910.
In August 1920, Newcastle Council renamed the park to “Birdwood Park”.
A real estate poster from 1924 shows that the construction of Parry St (and a narrow diagonal section of King St) has truncated the park, reducing its size to about 2.6 acres.
Real Estate Poster from 1924, showing Birdwood Park.
An aerial photograph from 1944 nicely shows the shape of the park at that time.
