Woronora Memorial Park (often referred to as Woronora Cemetery) is a cemetery in

Woronora Woronora is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woronora is located 27 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the Sutherland S ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia.

History

Woronora Cemetery was established in 1895 with the first burial on 2 April 1895. In 1902 the

Devonshire Street Cemetery The Devonshire Street Cemetery (also known as the Brickfield Cemetery or Sandhills Cemetery) was located between Eddy Avenue and Elizabeth Street, Sydney, Elizabeth Street, and between Chalmers Street, Chalmers and Devonshire streets, at Brickfi ...

was closed to make way for Central railway station and some graves were relocated to Woronora. The first cremation occurred in April 1934. The cemetery is managed by ''Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries NSW'' (officially "Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Land Manager"), consisting of Woronora Memorial Park and

Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park, Eastern Suburbs Crematorium and Botany General Cemetery (a.k.a. Botany Cemetery), is a cemetery and crematorium on Bunnerong Road in Matraville, New South Wales, in the eastern suburbs district of Sydney, Australi ...

, which replaced the Woronora Memorial Park Trust upon gazettal on 3 August 2012.

Crematorium

The original crematorium building, incorporating two chapels and a dual-furnace crematory, was completed in 1934 in the Inter-war Art Deco style by architect Louis Leighton Robertson of Louis S. Robertson & Son, architects, and built by Norman R. Smith, builder of

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Ch ...

. Robertson also designed crematoriums in a similar style at

Matraville Matraville is located in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately by road south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick. History M ...

(1938), Kembla Grange (1955), and

Beresfield Beresfield is a north-western List of suburbs in Greater Newcastle, New South Wales, suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia from Newcastle's central business district. It is part of the City of Newcastle Lo ...

(1936). The crematorium was officially opened on 21 April 1934 by the Colonial Secretary,

Frank Chaffey Captain Frank Augustus Chaffey (31 March 1888 – 9 July 1940) was an Australian politician. He was born at Moonbi to farmer William Adolphus Chaffey and Amelia, ''née'' Chad. He was educated at Nemingha and Tamworth before attending Ha ...

. In 2018, the 1934 crematorium was decommissioned and a new crematorium able to accommodate the increasing demand for cremations was completed to a design by architects Gardner Wetherill Associates.

Transport

A 750-metre railway line opened on 28 July 1900 branching off the

Illawarra railway line The South Coast Railway (also known as the Illawarra railway or the South Coast line) is a Commuter rail, passenger and Rail freight transport, freight railway line from Sydney to Wollongong and Bomaderry, New South Wales, Bomaderry in New So ...

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

terminating at Woronora Cemetery railway station. It closed on 23 May 1947.Woronora Cemetery Line
NSWrail.net

Notable people

Notable people interred at Woronora Cemetery include: * Carl Akhurst, politician * Henry Bachtold, soldier and railway engineer *

Harry Bath Harry Bath (28 November 1924 – 4 October 2008), born Alfred Henry Bath, also known by the nickname of "The Old Fox", was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach who was prominent and influential in the mid-20th century. A state and i ...

, rugby league *

Tiger Black Ernest Harold 'Tiger' Black (1918 – 30 August 1983) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He later became a rugby league broadcaster and commentator. Playing career Born and raised at Arncliffe, New So ...

, rugby league *

Brian Clay Brian Joseph 'Poppa' Clay (1935–1987) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a with the St. George Dragons during their 11-year consecutive premiership winning run from 1956 to 1966. He was a ...

, rugby league * William Matthew Currey, Victoria Cross *

Thomas Dunlea Fr Thomas Vincent Dunlea, OBE (19 April 1894 – 22 August 1970) was an Irish-Australian Catholic priest known for his involvement in charitable works. Early life Thomas Dunlea was born in Ballina, Ireland, to Michael and Bridget Dunlea. He at ...

, Catholic priest * John Patrick Hamilton, Victoria Cross recipient * Stanley Haviland, public servant * Frank Jenner, evangelist * Tom Killiby, rugby league * Elias C. Laycock, rower * John Harold Mostyn, rugby league *

Norman Oakes Norman "Norm" Oakes AO (24 February 1926 – 5 September 2015) was a former New South Wales public servant. Early life Norman "Norm" Oakes was born on 24 February 1926 in Wallsend, New South Wales, Australia, the son of John Oakes and Florence B ...

, public servant * John Radecki, master stained glass artist *

Blair Wark Blair Anderson Wark, (27 July 1894 – 13 June 1941) was an Australian soldier, quantity surveyor, and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the Bri ...

, Victoria Cross recipient * Victoria Shaw, film and television actress

References

External links

* * {{authority control Crematoria in Australia Cemeteries in Sydney Sutherland Shire 1895 establishments in Australia Burials at Woronora Memorial Park