East Perth Cemeteries - Heritage Tree

Date: 1829 to 1919
Location: East Perth, Western Australia
Surnames/tags: Cemeteries Colony_of Church_Tree

• The cemetery site was surveyed by John Septimus Roe on 24 December 1829 soon after the central portions of the Perth townsite had been surveyed.

This page is part of the Western Australia Cemeteries Team.

• News Item East Perth historical cemetery to be excavated (Nov 2019)

See Category:East Perth Cemetery, East Perth, Western Australia for list of interrments. | East Perth Cemetery : a list of Names

• Search Burials (new)

Cemetery name: East Perth Cemeteries © 2019 National Trust
Address: Bronte Street, East Perth WA 6004
GPS Coordinates: -31.956696, 115.878392

Information:

History and map: In the 1950s the Royal Western Australian Historical Society was one of several groups that agitated for action to preserve the site. Growing recognition of its cultural heritage significance resulted in St Bartholomew’s Church being vested in the National Trust in 1975 and the rest of the site in 1994.

Since 1954 the Royal Western Australian Historical Society has held the Pioneer Memorial Service at East Perth Cemeteries on the Sunday of the Western Australia Day (formerly Foundation Day) long weekend.
Each services provided rich and detailed information on the lives of Western Australia's pioneers. . . more . . biographies

Preserving & Protecting Pioneer Cemeteries | Western Australia Pioneers Index
During the nineteenth century the area was generally known as Cemetery Hill although there were in fact seven cemeteries there in the end, each being independently owned and controlled by their respective denominations.
The seven groups and their date of introduction to the site were:

Church of England (1842) | Roman Catholic (1848) | Wesleyan (1854) | Congregational (Independants) (1854) | Hebrew (1867) | Presbyterian (1881) | Chinese (1888) |

1829 Hint: A slide show depicting the growth of the East Perth site can be seen when this Link is selected, and the navigation arrows on the maps are clicked.

• East Perth Cemeteries Author Heritage Council (inHerit) |
  East Perth Cemeteries : Buried Heritage |
  East Perth Cemeteries were Perth’s first official burial grounds, and operated between 1830 and 1899. more . . Heritage . .
  East Perth Cemeteries :Burial Register
• East Perth Cemeteries From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

People – LifeTree

The Parmelia Pioneers Landed 125 Years Ago (1954, June 4). The West Australian
(Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), p. 3. Retrieved April 12, 2021
By H. W. BAKER - It is a happy thought that on the 125th anniversary of Foundation Day a memorial service should be held at the East Perth Cemetery in sight of tombstones that carry the names of some of the first settlers who arrived in the Parmelia.

Graveyard Scandal (1931, May 24). Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved April 25, 2019

notes

Today's East Perth Cemeteries complex was originally made up of a group of seven cemeteries which were operated independently by various religious and ethnic organisations. Each burial ground had its own boundary fence and roads were laid out between them to give access.

Land was allocated progressively between 1842 and 1888 as various community groups grew in number and the following table documents the growth of the site. A plan of each denomination's burial ground will pop up if the relevant date is selected.

1829 Perth's first burial ground was surveyed and gazetted.

1842 The Church of England was given control of section R1.

1848 The Roman Catholic Church was allocated sections T41 & T42.

1854 The Weslyan and Independent (Congregational) Churches were allocated sections T40 and T39 respectively.

1867 The Hebrews were allocated section E72 and cemetery road works were carried out.

1871 The Church of England erected St Bartholomew's burial chapel in section R1.

1876 The Roman Catholic Church was allocated sections T43 & T44 for a school and church.

1881 The Presbyterian Church was allocated sections E71 & E70.

1882 The Independent (Congregational), Weslyan and Anglican Churches were allocated extra room in the form of sections T28, T28½ and T27 respectively.

1888 The Chinese community was allocated the north section of E69 but used the south section as well. It was later refered to as E113.

1899 The cemeteries were closed and the map shows the area which had been used for burials.

1952 The entire site was redeveloped and reduced in size. Relocated headstones from the Hebrew and Presbyterian burial grounds were placed in the closed off roads.

Reserve 1157 comprising Lots E67, E68, E73 and E74 had been set aside for additional space. It was never used and was transferred to the Workers' Homes Board in 1924.