Gladstone Memorial Park Cemetery

Date: 28 Sep 2001
Location: Corner of Main South Road and Kellars Road, Gladstone Greymouth, Grey District, West Coast 7805 New Zealand .

Location

Entrance Gladstone Memorial Park Cemetery

GLADSTONE MEMORIAL PARK CEMETERY is located on the east side of the Main South Road (State Highway 6) with a turn off onto Kellars Road, Gladstone, Greymouth, Grey District, West Coast, 7805. New Zealand. It is 8.7 km from the Karoro Cemetery in Greymouth. Coordinates: -42.53812, 171.15225.

Area in Gladstone Memorial Park

Garden Burial Areas
The cemetery has been developed with a park-like appearance with several hedged areas of varying sizes and shapes, each different from the other. The names given to these spaces are: Garden of Meditation, Garden of Love, Terrace of Faith, Garden of Reflection, Garden of Peace, Garden of Memories, Garden of Devotion and Terrace of Hope. The sign on the main road announces the Gladstone Memorial Park, with no mention of cemetery.

Gladstone Memorial Park Sign

History
The estimated terrain elevation of Gladstone above seal level is -9999 metres. In 1865 black sand gold was mined along the beach from Blaketown Lagoon to the Taramakau River. In 1866, mining moved to the terraces above the beach. By October 1866 the population on South Beach, New River, Saltwater Creek was estimated to be three thousand, with Lagoon Town being located closer to the sea than Gladstone is now. .

Gold prospecting licenses were still being granted in December 1901 and up to the 1940s. Pastoral land was being leased from 1900. In 1924 the area along Saltwater Lagoon, (freshwater from the New River) which is about four miles long, was considered to be ideal for a bird sanctuary and public recreation.

A sawmill operating at Gladstone by the early 1900s was taken over in the 1950s by Ogilvie's timber mill. In 1965 the Fletcher Timber Co Ltd: Gladstone Plywood Mill was opened by Prime Minister Keith Holyoake and continues to operate as the International Panel and Lumber Ltd. The mill employs approximately 100 staff.

Although the Karoro Cemetery in Greymouth is still open for burials for families with exisiting plots and in the Returned Services area, it became necessary for the Greymouth District Council to find a location for the development of a new cemetery.

Gladstone Memorial Park was dedicated and commissioned 28 December 2001 by the Mayor of Greymouth, Kevin Brown, QSM, JP and Mrs Pauline Brown. "May Your Rest Here Be Peaceful".

Plaque at Cemetery Entrance

Headstones
Headstones in this cemetery vary from those similar to what can be seen in the most recent lawn section of the Korori Cemetery to those that are more distinct and differ signficantly from the older, larger and more elaborate memorials in the Korori Cemetery. Some reflect specific personal characteristics of the person buried there, some are artistic modern sculptures and others recognise the beauty of the West Coast.

Interments

Alan William Hill.

Drowning

Among those who died from drowning was

Alan William Hill who was born 8 April 1963 and was sadly drowned at age 45 in Lake Poerua on 23 May 2008. His headstone resembles the sails of a yacht.

Mine Disaster

Although the remains of miners who died in the Pike River Coal Mine Disaster have not been recovered, there is a memorial at Gladstone Memorial Park, to

Peter O'Neill who died at age 55 years in the gas explosions at Pike River Coal Mine in 201O. A miner's lamp stands on the headstand. It is also a reminder of the many miners killed in coal mine disasters on the West Coast.

O'Neill Memorial Headstone

Vehicle Accident

A number of people buried at Gladstone Memorial Park died in vehicle accidents. One of the first interred there was young

Troy Quayle Lindbom who was tragically, fatally injured in a road accident in September 2010. He was 16 years old.

Troy Quayle Lindbom Headstone.

Pandemic

The number of persons who died with or from Covid-19 and are buried in Gladstone Memorial Park is not known. About 16 people on the West Coast are known to have died from the illness, one of whom, a woman in her 70s, was the first in New Zealand to die from the conovirus.

Links=

• Billion Graves BillionGraves
• Find A Grave FindAGrave
• Greymouth District Council [1]