Our history and heritage - Cemetary

Parish Cemetery

Included in the grounds of the original Glebe, located behind the existing church building is the Parish Cemetery.

Today, not a lot is known of the establishment of the cemetery, but it appears that the first burial took place in September 1886.

The cemetery continued to be used until, in May, 1887, the Bowral "Church News" notified that no further burials would be permitted there after June 30, 1887, except where land had been "taken up and paid for previous to that date."

The next development took place at a meeting of Bowral Municipal Council on July 3, 1890, when, to strengthen the churchwardens' hands, it was decided that the cemetery representatives receive notice that unless they prohibited burials in the present cemetery on and after August 1, 1890, only excepting those then owning land there, the council would pass a by-law prohibiting all burials under power conferred by the Municipalities Act, 1867.

The general idea of this appears to have been that such action would force the Government of the day to act regarding settlement of establishment of another cemetery elsewhere.

An appropriate notice signed by Rev. J. W. Debenham as incumbent, and John Bowen, Copeland Bennett and A. B. Morgan as churchwardens was duly published, and a letter written pointing out that the position would be serious after August 1 unless a cemetery had been vested in trustees by then.

The letter added: "Unless the authorities of the Wesleyan Church allow Church of England people to be buried in their cemetery, the bodies will have to be conveyed to Mittagong, Bong Bong or Berrima. This will cause great inconvenience and great expense . . ."

Land known as "Carter's site" (the present-day General Cemetery) was resumed in February, 1891, the first burial was that of a New Zealander, George Parkinson, in the undenominational portion on June 14, 1892, and the Church of England section of the new cemetery was consecrated by the Primate, Dr. Saumarez Smith, on May 11, 1893.

Today, there is recorded, the names of some 118 people that have been buried in the cemetery. Visitors to the cemetery are often seen wandering among the gravestones to glean some of the sense of history.

For those interested in genealogy, information can be obtained from the following web site link, or by email to office@bowralanglican.org.au

Columbarium:

Defined as: "a sepulchral vault or other structure with recesses in the walls to receive the ashes of the dead".

The Parish has two such Columbarium walls incorporated into the cemetery.   These are still in use, with recesses or niches available for reservation.

If you would like more information, please complete the More Info form or contact the office@bowralanglican.org.au.