Kaukapakapa Methodist Churchyard Free Space

Location: Kaukapakapa, Auckland
Surnames/tags: Cemeteries New_Zealand

Contents 1 Kaukapakapa Methodist Churchyard 1.1 Links 1.2 Notable Memorials and Interments 1.3 New Zealand Cemeteries Team

Kaukapakapa Methodist Churchyard

Not to be confused with the public cemetery that is administered by Auckland Council in Shanks Road or Kaukapakapa All Saints.

Kaukapakapa Methodist Church was built in 1864, and a replacement building erected in 1882. The term “Methodist” is used to cover the names of the branches of what is now the Methodist Church: Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist, Bible Christian, and United Methodist Free Churches. Therefore you may find some references to the Kaukapakapa Wesleyan Cemetery in external links.

The first recorded burial in the cemetery is 1864, that of Mrs Rix, the wife of the local mail carrier. Local information has it that she was buried in the churchyard as the cemetery reserve established on the corner of Peak Road & Holroyd Road was too far away. This set a precedent for later burials, and the cemetery reserve was left undeveloped.

Other denominations are also buried in this cemetery. The cemetery became the de facto public cemetery for the area. The original burial register was destroyed in a fire. Helensville Pioneer Museum holds a copy of the burial register, as does the Methodist Church New Zealand Archives.

There is an excellent publication by Bruce Shanks that outlines the history, and this lists all of the known interments in this cemetery. See https://issuu.com/bruce.shanks/docs/kaukapakapa_methodist_churchyard_in

The churchyard is on the corner of SH 16 and Peak Road. An earlier cemetery had been located on the corner of Peak Road and Holroyd Road, and was intended to be used by the settlement but it remained unused. It is believed the few burials that did take place there were Maori, and are unmarked.

In 1882 the churchyard cemetery became more organised, with burial plots marked out and a set fee established for plot purchases and burials.

Links

• Bruce Shanks history of Kaukapakapa Methodist Churchyard with interments index
• Find-a-Grave

Notable Memorials and Interments

In 2014 a commemoration of a pioneer tragedy took place and a plaque was erected in the cemetery. A terrible misjudgment of the local political situation by one man caused the deaths of Mathilda Thompson and 14-year-old daughter Olivia on December 21, 1863. See Stuff: Unveiling of headstone recalls pioneer tragedy. They were buried in their own front garden in late 1863 at Violet Hill Farm on Peak Road.

In 1924, William Stevens established a public school and became the founding chairman. Along with the support of the community, both the school and the district became known as Waitoki. Waitoki's public building became a regular preaching place of the Kaukapakapa Methodist Home Mission Station. Will died aged 84 and was buried at the Methodist cemetery at Kaukapakapa. See Stuff: Pioneering Family celebrates Century

New Zealand Cemeteries Team

This page is maintained by the New Zealand Cemeteries Team, who are part of the Global Cemeteries Project (and the Oceania Cemeteries Team). The aim is is to document the final resting place of those buried in New Zealand, to ensure that each cemetery has its own free-space page, which is linked to the category structure for Global Cemeteries, and that those buried in them are also gathered in the correct category.

• Currently there is 1 profile listed on Wikitree for this cemetery, which is well short of the number of interments. Findagrave has 464 entries, and Billion Graves has xxx. Irwin-2099 19:08, 1 February 2019 (UTC)
• Currently there are 4 profiles listed on Wikitree for this cemetery, which is well short of the number of interments. Findagrave has 464 entries, and Billion Graves has xxx. Irwin-2099 20:24, 21 May 2019 (UTC)

The overall progress of this endeavour will be found on the NZ Cemeteries Team Progress page.