Cornelian Bay Cemetery is a cemetery in Cornelian Bay,

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is the oldest cemetery in Tasmania that remains in use.

History

The cemetery location, a section of the former Government Farm site, was selected in the late 1860s, amidst concern about risks to health posed by several cemeteries close to the centre of the city of

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

. These issues led to legislation in 1870 to close those cemeteries three months after a new cemetery could be opened, and funding for the cemetery's establishment was allocated the same year. The cemetery layout was designed by surveyor E. J. Burgess, who won a design competition for the task. It was formally opened by Governor Charles Du Cane on 22 July 1872. As some of the older cemeteries were cleared, the remains of those interred there were reburied at Cornelian Bay. A crematorium (the Derwent Chapel) opened in 1935. It was replaced with a new facility (the Wellington Chapel) in 1993. The cemetery was closed for new burials in 1983 when the Kingston Cemetery opened, but was reopened in 1996, with re-surveying in the 1990s identifying more potential burial plots.

Layout and buildings

The cemetery features sections for various Christian denominations, a Jewish section, as well as sections for war graves, a veterans' garden of remembrance, crematorium gardens, and a garden crypts section. The ceremony had a paupers' section with unmarked graves until its closure in 1935; a memorial plaque for those buried there was placed in 1998. The cemetery features a number of historic buildings, including the former Jewish Receiving House, cemetery superintendent's house, a shelter dating from 1873 and a blacksmith's shop dating from the former Government Farm.

Management

It was variously managed by the Hobart Cemetery Trust (until 1961), Hobart City Council (1961–1982) and the Southern Regional Cemetery Trust (1982–2008). The cemetery was privatised by the Lennon Labor government in 2008, which leased it to funeral company Millingtons for fifty years. This reportedly followed the former trust running at a deficit in 2006-07. In March 2021, '' The Mercury'' reported concerns regarding poor maintenance of graves at the cemetery.

Notable interments

* Sir

Ernest Clark Ernest Clark MC (12 February 1912 – 11 November 1994) was a British actor of stage, television and film. Early life Clark was the son of a master builder in Maida Vale, and was educated nearby at St Marylebone Grammar School. After leaving ...

, 15th Governor of Tasmania * Sir Robert Cosgrove, Premier of Tasmania * John James Dwyer VC * Sir John William Evans, Premier of Tasmania * John Vincent Holland VC * William Nevin Tatlow Hurst, Secretary for Lands (1925–1938) * Sir John Cameron McPhee, 27th Premier of Tasmania * Lily Poulett-Harris, sportswoman * Percy Clyde Statton VC

War graves

The cemetery contains 124 Commonwealth war graves of service personnel, 49 from

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and 75 from

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

; 42 of the graves are in a plot known as the Hobart War Cemetery, the remainder scattered throughout the cemetery.Hobart (Cornelian Bay) Cemetery
CWGC Cemetery record. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission also erected a memorial to 18 Australian service personnel – 16 soldiers, one

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

and one

airman An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred to as a soldier in other definitions. As a military rank designat ...

– who were cremated at the Crematorium in the latter war,Hobart (Cornelian Bay) Crematorium
CWGC Cemetery report. as well as the Tasmania Cremation Memorial, to four service personnel whose ashes were scattered elsewhere in Tasmania.

References

External links

* * {{Find a Grave cemetery, 2591020, Hobart War Cemetery 1872 establishments in Australia Cemeteries in Tasmania Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Australia Cemeteries established in the 1870s