Bunbury cemetery turns 100

Catherine Stanley Smith, from Glen Iris, was buried at Bunbury Cemetery 100 years ago, on July 1, 1914.

The 60-year-old was the first person to be interred at the site that now covers 26 hectares.

Her plot was recognised with the installation of a headstone about five years ago after cemetery manager Pieter Den Boer investigated the first burial.

“It was a little recognition of history, ” Mr Den Boer said.

“We were getting a lot of questions, so I looked it up but there was nothing to mark the spot.

“The sad truth was, headstones were for the affluent, and not everyone could afford them.”

Mr Den Boer said the main cemetery began in 1914 and operated alongside older ones in town until they shut down about 1936.

He said the cemetery was an important link to Bunbury’s history, with many of the historic headstones marked with significant local names.

“A lot of the old suburbs and streets were named after these people, ” he said.

“We’re probably one of the oldest operational cemeteries in the South West and we’re keeping an important asset for the community.”

Mr Den Boer still refers back to the original burial register and purchased graves register which list Catherine Smith as their first entries.

The books were used during the cemetery’s first 60 years of operations and were then replaced by bigger ones.

“Unfortunately they didn’t require burial applications, so the books are all the information we have, ” he said.

The second and third entries in the burial registry were stillborn babies buried on July 8, 1914 who Mr Den Boer said were likely to have been buried in a shared plot. He said he was always interested in discovering more about the history of the cemetery and he had files from the old cemeteries in town under his care.

“The cemetery is going to be around for a long time and we’re always open to gathering new information, ” he said.

The cemetery’s 100-year anniversary will be recognised formally once construction of the new site office is complete.

“We’re probably one of the oldest operational cemeteries in the South West and we’re keeping an important asset for the community”