Friends of Boroondara
Kew Cemetery Inc

Welcome

There is an old adage that death is a great leveller, and this is illustrated none better than in Boroondara General Cemetery where the rich and poor, the old and sick, the new immigrant and the Australian born are together in a field no bigger than 20 hectares.

The Friends of Boroondara (Kew) Cemetery (FOBKC) was formed in 2006 to raise awareness and share with all those interested in history the rich heritage contained in this beautiful cemetery.

On our tours we give our visitors on a brief snapshot of the lives of only some of the 80,000 people who have memorials in the Cemetery and we recall how each of the deceased has ‘left their mark’ on our lives today.

Friends of Boroondara (Kew) Cemetery

A Garden Cemetery

Boroondara (Kew) Cemetery is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register as being “of aesthetic, architectural, scientific (botanical) and historical significance to the State of Victoria.”

Frederick Acheson, a civil engineer in the Public Lands Office, drew up the first site plan, but Albert Purchas, an architect and surveyor who joined the Cemetery Trust in 1864, was a major influence on the cemetery. He is believed to have been the designer of the landscape layout influenced by the Victorian Garden Cemetery movement as well as many other features of the cemetery including the cast iron gates, rotunda, the surrounding brick wall and additions to the cottage including the clock tower.

Of the 437 trees recorded in the 2012 tree inspection, 150 were assessed as being significant. A high proportion of these are the Bhutan (Cupressus torulosa) and Italian (Cupressus sempervirens) cypresses which line the Parkhill Road and High Street boundaries and are spread throughout the grounds. Other significant trees include three Funeral Cypresses (Cupressus funebris) and a rare golden Funeral Cypress (Cupressus funebris ‘Aurea) which is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and believed to be the only specimen in Victoria. The Canary Island Pines (Pinus canariensis), the Algerian Oaks (Quercus canariensis), the majestic Bunya Bunya Pines (Araucaria bidwillii) and the stately Queensland Kauri (Agathis robusta) are just some of the significant trees which along with many other beautiful mature trees contribute so much to the landscape.

Boroondara (Kew) Cemetery is considered to be an outstanding example of the Victorian Garden Cemetery movement.

History

In 1859 a triangular area of land of about 31 acres was set aside to be a cemetery for the Parish of Boroondara. At that time the area was covered in natural bushland populated mainly with red river gums. Mr J.F. Higgins of the Lands Department constructed an initial layout of sweeping curves surrounded by a simple wooden fence. In the early years funds were short and the trustees had to borrow to build a modest office and entrance. The cypresses and many other trees were planted, probably by Thomas Judd, one of the trustees. Money accumulated as allotments were sold and in 1895 the trustees were able to replace the original fence with the present and iron palisades and erect an impressive iron entrance gate at a cost of nearly 6,000 pounds. The offices were enlarged and the clock tower and a striking clock were added, at a total cost of 2,500 pounds. The man responsible for this work was Alfred Purchas, a renowned architect who joined the Boroondara Cemetery Trust in 1864.

The First Burial

On the evening of 12th March 1859 a young mother, Ellen Quick, became the first person to be buried at Boroondara Cemetery. Ellen and her new husband, John Quick, arrived in Port Phillip on the 14th January 1849 on board the ‘Duchess of Northumberland’ and settled in Highbury Grove, Kew. Ellen’s family, the Derricks, was one of the first to find gold at Warrandyte. John was a stonemason and Ellen was described as a “housewife” who could “read, but not write”. She died of tuberculosis when she was 36 years old, leaving four children under 10 years. When, some years after her death, the trustees redesigned the roadway in the cemetery they had to exhume her body as the grave was located in the path of the intended roadway. The current plaque was placed there by the Kew Historical Society.

Graves

The graves at Boroondara Cemetery reflect changing architectural fashions, social changes and changing attitudes to death. Many of the Victorian graves are very elaborate and richly symbolic, with what might now be considered a tendency towards ostentation.
During late Victorian and Edwardian times Boroondara appears to have been Melbourne’s most fashionable cemetery and several very handsome memorials were erected, generally near the entrance and along the main drives. The cemetery became a major tourist attraction. Horse trams terminated at the entrance, bringing tourists from all over Melbourne. Postcards of the clock tower and entrance gates were sold and tea rooms were established nearby. By about 1912 all the grave sites had been sold, although burials continued in previously purchased lots and family plots. Since the 1950s additional grave sites have been created by reducing the width of some of the driveways and the extensive gardens which originally surrounded the Springthorpe Memorial have been subdivided.