Rookwood Necropolis
Rookwood has been operating since 1867, & is one of the largest cemeteries in Australia. It is managed by five separate demoninational Trusts & an independant Crematorium. The Anglican Trust, General Trust, Catholic Trust Board, Independent Trust, Jewish Trust & the Muslem Trust. Each Trust looks after a portion of the cemetery under its control. The Cemetery has 8 Chapels for indoor funeral services, 5 denominational Open Air Chapels for special ceremonies & three Florist Shops.
The earliest references to the district around what is now Rookwood Necropolis, occur in 1793 when the first land grants to free settlers in the New South Wales colony were made nearby. As a result of its association with the first free settlers, the district was given the name of Liberty Plains. In 1855 the railway between Sydney & Parramatta opened &, four years later, a station was opened at Haslem’s Creek (misspelt from Haslam). Once the site was chosen by the government for a cemetery, the settlement around Haslem’s Creek grew as people who worked in jobs connected with the cemetery moved nearby. These residents, however, didn’t like the name of their village being associated with the cemetery at Haslem’s Creek, & so lobbied politicians to change the name of the settlement to Rookwood. In 1879 they were successful but, unfortunately for them, the cemetery then became known as Rookwood Necropolis. Another new name was sought for the settlement & in 1913 it was named Lidcombe (adapted from the names of two mayors, Lidbury & Larcombe.
Before Rookwood Cemetery the Europeans who died in the first few years of the settlement at Sydney Cove were buried at Dawes Point (at what is now the southern end of the Harbour Bridge) & at land near what is now Erskine & Margaret Streets (near Wynyard Station). In 1792 the main burial ground for the colony was established on a site which is now occupied by the Sydney Town Hall & St Andrew’s Cathedral. By 1818 the cemetery on the Sydney Town Hall site was full, so governor Lachlan Macquarie established a new one near the brick-fields, known as the Sandhills or Devonshire Street cemetery. Rookwood covers 315 hectares of pleasant land 16 kilometres from Sydney, with over three quarters of a million graves
Rookwood was served by a rail spur from the main line from 1867 until 1948. Mortuary stations served each of the three sections of the necropolis, with a fourth at the main junction & a fifth on Regent Street adjacent to Sydney Central Station. This rail line was used to convey funeral parties to Rookwood until 1948 when the expanded use of processions by road made it obsolete. The stations were offered to the Joint Committee of Necropolis Trustees for the price of £1 but due to maintenance costs the offer was rejected & the platforms within the cemetery were demolished. Cemetery Station No. 1 at the head of the rail spur was sold to Reverend Buckle for £100 in 1951 & was moved to Canberra in 1957 to become the All Saints Church, Canberra.
Rookwood Necropolis
Rookwood has been operating since 1867, & is one of the largest cemeteries in Australia. It is managed by five separate demoninational Trusts & an independant Crematorium. The Anglican Trust, General Trust, Catholic Trust Board, Independent Trust, Jewish Trust & the Muslem Trust. Each Trust looks after a portion of the cemetery under its control. The Cemetery has 8 Chapels for indoor funeral services, 5 denominational Open Air Chapels for special ceremonies & three Florist Shops.
The earliest references to the district around what is now Rookwood Necropolis, occur in 1793 when the first land grants to free settlers in the New South Wales colony were made nearby. As a result of its association with the first free settlers, the district was given the name of Liberty Plains. In 1855 the railway between Sydney & Parramatta opened &, four years later, a station was opened at Haslem’s Creek (misspelt from Haslam). Once the site was chosen by the government for a cemetery, the settlement around Haslem’s Creek grew as people who worked in jobs connected with the cemetery moved nearby. These residents, however, didn’t like the name of their village being associated with the cemetery at Haslem’s Creek, & so lobbied politicians to change the name of the settlement to Rookwood. In 1879 they were successful but, unfortunately for them, the cemetery then became known as Rookwood Necropolis. Another new name was sought for the settlement & in 1913 it was named Lidcombe (adapted from the names of two mayors, Lidbury & Larcombe.
Before Rookwood Cemetery the Europeans who died in the first few years of the settlement at Sydney Cove were buried at Dawes Point (at what is now the southern end of the Harbour Bridge) & at land near what is now Erskine & Margaret Streets (near Wynyard Station). In 1792 the main burial ground for the colony was established on a site which is now occupied by the Sydney Town Hall & St Andrew’s Cathedral. By 1818 the cemetery on the Sydney Town Hall site was full, so governor Lachlan Macquarie established a new one near the brick-fields, known as the Sandhills or Devonshire Street cemetery. Rookwood covers 315 hectares of pleasant land 16 kilometres from Sydney, with over three quarters of a million graves
Rookwood was served by a rail spur from the main line from 1867 until 1948. Mortuary stations served each of the three sections of the necropolis, with a fourth at the main junction & a fifth on Regent Street adjacent to Sydney Central Station. This rail line was used to convey funeral parties to Rookwood until 1948 when the expanded use of processions by road made it obsolete. The stations were offered to the Joint Committee of Necropolis Trustees for the price of £1 but due to maintenance costs the offer was rejected & the platforms within the cemetery were demolished. Cemetery Station No. 1 at the head of the rail spur was sold to Reverend Buckle for £100 in 1951 & was moved to Canberra in 1957 to become the All Saints Church, Canberra.