St John's Cemetery

 

St John’s Cemetery, the oldest existing European burial ground in Australia, was established on the southern outskirts of the Rose Hill settlement in 1790.

 

There were ten burials in the cemetery by the end of 1790 and a further 67 in 1791. The death of Henry Edward Dodd, 28.1.1791, approximately one year after the first burial in the cemetery, has given Parramatta two important firsts. Dodd was Superintendent of convicts employed in cultivation at Rose Hill and his was the first public funeral in the colony. His headstone is the earliest in situ in Australia. It was an indication of the esteem in which Henry Dodd was held that when the colony was facing famine, a headstone was provided. It simply inscribed, H. E. Dodd 1791.

 

The site is outstanding as a place of cultural heritage and a true pioneer cemetery. Many early landholders, whose names reflect local suburbs, are buried here. D’Arcy Wentworth of Wentworthville, John Harris of Harris Park, several members of the Blaxland family, Mary Kelly of Kellyville, Mary Pymble of Pymble and John Thorn of Thornleigh are a small selection.

 

St John’s Cemetery is a resting place for Reverend Samuel Marsden, Chief Cleric of the colony, Minister at St Johns Cathedral for almost 50 years, Robert Campbell of Campbell’s Wharf and Duntroon, noted as the father of Australian commerce, two Governor’s wives, Mrs Elizabeth Bourke and Lady Mary Fitzroy, two Assistant Commissaries John Palmer and Thomas Freeman, many pioneer missionaries and marked graves of those who arrived on the first fleet.

 

The cemetery is entered through a lych-gate in O'Connell Street Parramatta (opposite Aird Street). The cemetery is the oldest existing European burial ground in Australia. It is enclosed by a brick wall that dates to 1820.

 

The remarkable cemetery wall with many of its bricks stamped with government arrows was built by public subscription in the 1820s. It replaced the 1811 bank and ditch enclosure while the lychgate is a modern copy of James Houison’s entry gate. In colonial times, bodies from the convict hospital were carried to their graves by the chain gang, contrasting sharply with elaborate funerals of the hierarchy of the colony.

 

In the 1930's the cemetery records were destroyed by fire.