Symonds Street Cemetery is a historic cemetery and park in central

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It is in 5.8 hectares of

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

forest on the western slope of

Grafton Gully Grafton Gully is a deep (about 50 m) and very wide (about 100 m) gully running northwards towards the sea through the volcanic hills of the Auckland volcanic field in New Zealand. It divides the CBD from the suburbs of Grafton and Parnell in ...

, by the corner of

Symonds Street Symonds Street is a street in Auckland, New Zealand's most populous city. The road runs southwest and uphill from the top of Anzac Avenue (originally Jermyn Street), through the City Campus of University of Auckland, over the Northwestern Moto ...

and

Karangahape Road Karangahape Road (commonly known as K' Road) is one of the main streets in the Auckland CBD, central business district (CBD) of Auckland, New Zealand. The massive expansion of motorways through the nearby inner city area – and subsequent flig ...

, and is crossed by the

Grafton Bridge Grafton Bridge is a road bridge spanning Grafton Gully in Auckland, New Zealand. Built of reinforced concrete in 1910, it connects the Auckland CBD and Karangahape Road with Grafton, New Zealand, Grafton. It spans about , rises above the abut ...

. The street (and by extension, the cemetery) is named for

William Cornwallis Symonds Captain William Cornwallis Symonds (1 August 1810 – 23 November 1841) was a British Army officer who was prominent in the early colonisation of New Zealand. Biography Symonds was born at Lymington, Hampshire in 1810, the eldest son of W ...

, a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer prominent in the early colonisation of

. It has a Historic Place – Category I listing with the

New Zealand Historic Places Trust Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of ancestral sites and heritage bui ...

. Maintenance and administration of the cemetery is provided by the

Auckland Council Auckland Council () is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that also has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is a unitary authority, according to t ...

History

Symonds Street Cemetery was the first official cemetery in Auckland and has been in use since 1842.. Initially, it was divided into four sections for Anglicans, Catholics, and Jews, and a shared Presbyterian, Wesleyan, and general sections. By 1852, the shared section became Presbyterian, and an additional Wesleyan and general section was added. After establishing a new municipal cemetery in West Auckland at Waikumete, the Symonds Street Cemetery was closed for burials in 1886, other than to existing family plots. No new plots were sold. In 1909, the

Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1989 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elec ...

took over management of the cemetery. Due to the development of the

Auckland Southern Motorway The Auckland Southern Motorway (also known as the Southern Motorway, and historically as the Auckland–Hamilton Motorway) is the major route south out of the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is part of New Zealand State Highway 1, State High ...

during the mid-1960s, more than 4,100 bodies were moved and re-interred into two memorial sites at the cemetery. The land area was reduced by about a quarter. During the relocation, 2000 graves were found under 1200 headstones in the Anglican section, and 2100 graves under 400 headstones were found in the Catholic section. Many of Auckland's early colonists are buried here, including

William Hobson Captain William Hobson (26 September 1792 – 10 September 1842) was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Royal Navy, who served as the first Governor of New Zealand. He was a co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi. Hobson was dispatched f ...

, the first

Governor of New Zealand A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

and co-author of the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (), sometimes referred to as ''Te Tiriti'', is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, Constitution of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the tr ...

. ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...

'' columnist

Brian Rudman Brian C. Rudman is a columnist and regular editorial contributor to ''The New Zealand Herald'', New Zealand's largest daily newspaper. He has his own column, 'Rudman's City', where he mainly focuses on issues relating to Auckland (New Zealand's l ...

has repeatedly criticised the state of disrepair, vandalism, and the presence of vagrants at the cemetery and called for the city council to improve the maintenance. Although the Auckland City Council commissioned the '' Symonds St Cemetery Conservation Plan in 1996'', only some of its recommendations have been implemented. The Council does employ a specialist stonemason to undertake gravestone restoration, but as many of the restored gravestones have been subsequently vandalised, the Waitamata Local Board admits the situation is much like "treading water". Security guards do patrol the cemetery at irregular intervals but have proved largely ineffective in stopping further damage. In October 2012, more than 20 of the headstones were sprayed with

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

graffiti and

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

s. The vandalism occurred the night before a white nationalist celebration called "Flag Day". Three people were arrested, but in November, the charges against one were dropped due to a lack of evidence.

Notable burials

* Archibald Clark (1805–1875), 1st Mayor of Auckland Borough Council in 1851 *

Edward Costley Edward Costley (1794 – 18 April 1883) was a New Zealand philanthropist. Costley was born in Ireland to John and Anne Costley. Costley was known among the "old identities" of Auckland as a man of rather penurious and retiring habits, who had a ...

(1794–1883), land owner and philanthropist * Thomas Henderson (1810–1886), significant entrepreneur who gave his name to the suburb of Henderson *

(1792–1842), first Governor of New Zealand and co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi *

William Hulme William Hulme (c.1631 – 1691) was an English lawyer and landowner from Lancashire responsible for the creation of the Hulme Trust (also known as Hulme's Charity). Early life The Hulme family's pedigree was recorded by the Heralds in a Vis ...

(1788–1855), officer in the British Army *

Henry Keesing Henry Keesing (31 December 1791 – 10 May 1879) was a New Zealand shopkeeper, financier and community leader. He was born as Hartog ben Tobias in Amsterdam, Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country ...

(1791–1879), early pioneer, entrepreneur, financier and community leader * Frederick Edward Maning (1812–1883), writer and judge of the Native Land Court * Frederick Merriman (1818–1865), MP in the first two Parliaments * David Nathan (1816–1886), merchant and Jewish community leader * Thomas Peacock (1837–1922), optician, Mayor of Auckland, MP * Philip Philips (1831–1913), 1st Mayor of Auckland City (1871–1874) *

George Dean Pitt Major General George Dean Pitt (1781 or 1772 – 8 January 1851) was Lieutenant-Governor of the former New Zealand Province of New Ulster from 14 February 1848 to his death on 8 January 1851. Early life He was born George Dean, the illegiti ...

(1772–1851), Lieutenant-Governor of New Ulster Province *

Annie Jane Schnackenberg Annie Jane Schnackenberg ( Allen; 22 November 1835 – 2 May 1905) was a New Zealand Wesleyanism, Wesleyan missionary, temperance and welfare worker, and suffragist. She served as president of the Auckland branch of the Women's Christian Tempera ...

(1835–1905), missionary, temperance and suffrage activist. * John Sheehan (1844–1885), MP from 1872 to 1885 *

Charles Southwell Charles Southwell (1814 – 7 August 1860) was a radical English journalist, freethinker and colonial advocate. Early life Charles Southwell was born in London, the youngest of 33 children in a poor family. His father, William, was a piano m ...

(1814–1860), radical English journalist and freethinker *

William Turnbull Swan William Turnbull Swan (27 August 1827 – 15 March 1875) was a 19th-century politician in Auckland, New Zealand. Life Swan was born in Serampore, West Bengal, India in 1827. At the time, the area was part of Danish India. His elder brother Tho ...

(1827–1875), MP from 1868 to 1870 *

Charles de Thierry Charles Philippe Hippolyte de Thierry (April 1793 – 8 July 1864) was a nineteenth-century adventurer who attempted to establish his own sovereign state in New Zealand in the years before the Treaty of Waitangi between the British Crown and the M ...

(1793–1864), adventurer who attempted to establish his own sovereign state in New Zealand before British annexation * Henry Tucker (1793–1850), Royal Navy officer and first colonial storekeeper * William White (1794–1875), an early Methodist missionary *

Samuel Yates Samuel Yates (May 10, 1919 in Savannah, Georgia – April 22, 1991 in New Brunswick, New Jersey) was a computer engineer and mathematician who first described unique primes in 1980. In 1984 he began the list of "Largest Known Primes" (today The ...

(1829–1900), a prominent trader from Northland

Gravestones

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References

External links

History of the Symonds Street Cemetery in Auckland
by David Verran, Local History Librarian,

Auckland City Libraries Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

Symonds Street Cemetery records

held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections. {{Grafton, New Zealand Learning Quarter Karangahape Cemeteries in Auckland Grafton, New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in the Auckland Region Tourist attractions in Auckland Urban forests in New Zealand