The Geddes Monument (Camperdown Cemetery, Inner West Sydney)
Establishment of the cemetery (1848):
Before the construction of the Camperdown Cemetery, there were general cemeteries where Anglicans would have to share the space with both other Christian and pagan denominations. This was not satisfactory to the strong Anglican community in the colony, which sought to retain its sectarian social exclusivity beyond the grave. The Anglican Camperdown Cemetery was created on the 12th of July 1848. It opened in 1849.
Operation of the cemetery (1848 - 1866):
As a major cemetery for the dominant religion in Sydney, the range of interments was broad. In the period of its operation more than sixteen thousand burials were placed in the cemetery, making it a significant nineteenth century urban cemetery by any standards.
In 1850, Mogo, a Koori (Aboriginal New South Wales man) from Towel Creek on the Upper Macleay Valley was buried in what became known as 'Cooee Corner' of the cemetery (on the Lennox Street side). His grave was originally decorated with shells taken from an Aboriginal midden in Pittwater. Some time after the cemetery closed in 1942 this and adjacent areas were cleared, headstones moved within the perimeter of the newley-erected stone wall, where they remain today. It is not known what became of Mogo's remains but his sandstone headstone, the inscription blurred by weathering, lies on the ground next to an obelisk, erected in tribute to Aboriginal people buried in the cemetery in 1944 by the Rangers' League of New South Wales in memory of Mogo Perry (d.1849, aged 26) and two other Kooris buried in the cemetery - Wandelina Caborigirel (d. 1860, aged 18) and Tommy (d. aged 11). The inscription says the obelisk was erected 'Also as a tribute to the whole of the Aboriginal race'.
It is now a great deal more about the operation of this cemetery than other comparable establishments because of the Select Committee of the New South Wales Legislative Council which held hearings in 1865 - 1866 as a result of complaints about health and morality issues. The Select Committee evidence concentrates mainly on the pauper burials, suggesting that multiple interments were common.
Closure of the cemetery (1867 - 1948):
Health and hygienic problems were exacerbated as the population of Newtown and Camperdown increased dramatically from the late 1840s onwards, leading to the closure of the cemetery by the Newtown Municipal Council. On the 2nd of September 1867 the Camperdown and Randwick Cemetery Act was assented. From the 1st of January 1868 all burials in the cemetery would cease, apart from those who had a compelling reason.
In 1948 the Camperdown Cemetery Act divided the land into a 12 acre that was to become a public park, with the remaining 4 acres to form the historic core of the cemetery, along with the sexton's cottage and Saint Stephens Church. The wall surrounding the new cemetery core was completed in 1951, and headstones removed and installed inside the new compound.
The Current Camperdown Cemetery:
The Camperdown Cemetery was established in 1848 on about 13 acres of the 240 acres granted to Governor Bligh, known as the Camperdown Estate. This was the first privately-owned and operated Anglican cemetery in Sydney. It was the main cemetery for Sydney from 1849 to 1867. During this time it received over 15,000 interments and was the subjct of a state government select committee inquiry. This inquiry was convened to address the mismanagement of a number of cemeteries within Sydney and it found that the accusations directed at the Camperdown Cemetery were founded. Sale of plots was terminated in 1867 and it closed in 1868 but a trickle of burials continued until the 1940s (Brettell, 2015 says 1920s, these being within family and pre-purchased plots and crypts).
Following its closure the cemetery fell into disrepair. It was reduced in size in the 1950s when Camperdown Memorial Rest Park was established, comprising two distinct sections that now comprise the area - the Saint Stephens Church and graveyard (within a six foot high sandstone wall) and the Camperdown Memorial Rest Park (without the wall), treated as broadly grassed open space with pockets of tree planting, and, directly south of the graveyard wall, a children's play ground area. The Church and graveyard have been managed since the 1970s by the Camperdown Cemetery Trust and the Camperdown Memorial Rest Park is managed by Marrickville Council.
In 2021 $20,000 grant funding will support restoration of headstones in Camperdown Cemetery.
Source: New South Wales Heritage Register.
The Geddes Monument (Camperdown Cemetery, Inner West Sydney)
Establishment of the cemetery (1848):
Before the construction of the Camperdown Cemetery, there were general cemeteries where Anglicans would have to share the space with both other Christian and pagan denominations. This was not satisfactory to the strong Anglican community in the colony, which sought to retain its sectarian social exclusivity beyond the grave. The Anglican Camperdown Cemetery was created on the 12th of July 1848. It opened in 1849.
Operation of the cemetery (1848 - 1866):
As a major cemetery for the dominant religion in Sydney, the range of interments was broad. In the period of its operation more than sixteen thousand burials were placed in the cemetery, making it a significant nineteenth century urban cemetery by any standards.
In 1850, Mogo, a Koori (Aboriginal New South Wales man) from Towel Creek on the Upper Macleay Valley was buried in what became known as 'Cooee Corner' of the cemetery (on the Lennox Street side). His grave was originally decorated with shells taken from an Aboriginal midden in Pittwater. Some time after the cemetery closed in 1942 this and adjacent areas were cleared, headstones moved within the perimeter of the newley-erected stone wall, where they remain today. It is not known what became of Mogo's remains but his sandstone headstone, the inscription blurred by weathering, lies on the ground next to an obelisk, erected in tribute to Aboriginal people buried in the cemetery in 1944 by the Rangers' League of New South Wales in memory of Mogo Perry (d.1849, aged 26) and two other Kooris buried in the cemetery - Wandelina Caborigirel (d. 1860, aged 18) and Tommy (d. aged 11). The inscription says the obelisk was erected 'Also as a tribute to the whole of the Aboriginal race'.
It is now a great deal more about the operation of this cemetery than other comparable establishments because of the Select Committee of the New South Wales Legislative Council which held hearings in 1865 - 1866 as a result of complaints about health and morality issues. The Select Committee evidence concentrates mainly on the pauper burials, suggesting that multiple interments were common.
Closure of the cemetery (1867 - 1948):
Health and hygienic problems were exacerbated as the population of Newtown and Camperdown increased dramatically from the late 1840s onwards, leading to the closure of the cemetery by the Newtown Municipal Council. On the 2nd of September 1867 the Camperdown and Randwick Cemetery Act was assented. From the 1st of January 1868 all burials in the cemetery would cease, apart from those who had a compelling reason.
In 1948 the Camperdown Cemetery Act divided the land into a 12 acre that was to become a public park, with the remaining 4 acres to form the historic core of the cemetery, along with the sexton's cottage and Saint Stephens Church. The wall surrounding the new cemetery core was completed in 1951, and headstones removed and installed inside the new compound.
The Current Camperdown Cemetery:
The Camperdown Cemetery was established in 1848 on about 13 acres of the 240 acres granted to Governor Bligh, known as the Camperdown Estate. This was the first privately-owned and operated Anglican cemetery in Sydney. It was the main cemetery for Sydney from 1849 to 1867. During this time it received over 15,000 interments and was the subjct of a state government select committee inquiry. This inquiry was convened to address the mismanagement of a number of cemeteries within Sydney and it found that the accusations directed at the Camperdown Cemetery were founded. Sale of plots was terminated in 1867 and it closed in 1868 but a trickle of burials continued until the 1940s (Brettell, 2015 says 1920s, these being within family and pre-purchased plots and crypts).
Following its closure the cemetery fell into disrepair. It was reduced in size in the 1950s when Camperdown Memorial Rest Park was established, comprising two distinct sections that now comprise the area - the Saint Stephens Church and graveyard (within a six foot high sandstone wall) and the Camperdown Memorial Rest Park (without the wall), treated as broadly grassed open space with pockets of tree planting, and, directly south of the graveyard wall, a children's play ground area. The Church and graveyard have been managed since the 1970s by the Camperdown Cemetery Trust and the Camperdown Memorial Rest Park is managed by Marrickville Council.
In 2021 $20,000 grant funding will support restoration of headstones in Camperdown Cemetery.
Source: New South Wales Heritage Register.