Brighton General Cemetery

For the cemeteries in Brighton, South Australia, see St Jude's Church, Brighton and North Brighton Cemetery.

Brighton General Cemetery
Brighton General Cemetery
Map
Details
Established1854
Location
Caulfield South, Victoria
CountryAustralia
Coordinates37°54′0″S 145°1′15″E / 37.90000°S 145.02083°E / -37.90000; 145.02083
Size11.70 ha (28 acres 3 roods 27 perches)[1][2][3]
WebsiteBrighton General Cemetery (Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust)
Find a GraveBrighton General Cemetery

Brighton General Cemetery is located in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield South, Victoria, but takes its name from Brighton, Victoria.

History

The Cemetery pre-dates the Caulfield Roads Board – the first official recognition of the suburb of Caulfield. Established in 1854 it became, together with St Kilda Cemetery, an alternative resting place for those who had lived south of the Yarra River. There are up 70,000 people interred, including famous Australian artists, politicians and military heroes.

The first representative of the Jewish community of the Board of Trustees was Phillip Blashki. He organised the building of the Tahara house, where the deceased were watched until buried. He instigated the idea of half-graves for children, as they were expensive and child mortality was high in the 19th century. Blashki also founded the Jewish burial society, Chevra Kadisha, still in existence today.

War graves

As of November 2021 the cemetery contains the identified war graves of 156 Commonwealth service personnel, 135 from World War I and 21 from World War II. Most are members of the Australian Armed Forces, but three served for New Zealand Army (1) and British Army (2).[4]

Notable interments

Some of the notable people buried there include:[5]

Name Born Died Notes
Thomas Bent 1838 1909 22nd Premier of Victoria
Walter Bingle 1861 1928 Senior and career (federal) public servant
Annie Bright 1840 1913 British-born journalist and spiritualist
Thomas Alexander Browne 1826 1915 British-born police magistrate and justice of the peace; later as novelist (Rolf Boldrewood)
Maurice Vincent Buckley 1891 1921 Soldier of the First Australian Imperial Force in Europe during World War I and recipient Victoria Cross (VC)
Ada Cambridge 1844 1936 English-born fiction author, poet and autobiographer
John Chanter 1845 1931 Politician (Australian MP, NSW MP and state cabinet minister)
George Henry Crowther 1854 1918 Founded Brighton Grammar School in 1882
Jack De Garis 1884 1926 Market gardener, newspaper publisher, businessman and aviator
Henry Deane 1847 1924 English-born civil engineer and railway pioneer
Elizabeth Eggleston 1934 1976 Australian activist, author, and lawyer
Sheila Florance 1916 1991 Theatre, film and television actress
Adam Lindsay Gordon 1833 1870 Azores-born poet, jockey, police officer and politician (South Australian parliamentarian)
Bernard Heinze 1894 1982 Music academic, conductor, Director of Sydney Conservatorium of Music
George Higinbotham 1826 1892 Politician, Chief Justice
George Johnston 1868 1949 World War I General with First Australian Imperial Force
Paul Jones 1878 1972 Goldminer, teacher, federal and state politician (Australian MP and Victorian Legislative Councillor)
William Donovan Joynt 1889 1986 World War I Victoria Cross recipient (First Australian Imperial Force) and Australian Army officer during World War II; later as publisher and author
Hugh Menzies 1857 1925 Victorian politician and brother of James Menzies and uncle of Sir Robert Menzies, former Prime Minister of Australia
John Monash 1865 1931 Civil engineer and World War I General with First Australian Imperial Force
Charles Moore ca.1858 1916 Derry-born businessman and founder of Australian retail stores
James Newland 1881 1949 Soldier with First Australian Imperial Force and officer with the Australian Army, recipient of VC
Walter Peeler 1887 1968 Soldier in the First Australian Imperial Force (WWI) and Second Australian Imperial Force (WW II), recipient of VC and later as custodian of the Shrine of Remembrance
Henry Sutton 1855 1912 Inventor
Eveline Winifred Syme 1888 1961 English-born landscape painter, print maker
Squizzy Taylor 1888 1927 Career criminal and gangster
Albert Thurgood 1874 1927 Australian rules footballer; later as bookmaker, cricketer and golfer
Harry Trott 1866 1917 Postman and test cricketer
Howard Vernon 1848 1921 Operetta singer/actor
Merric Boyd 1888 1959 Australian artist, ceramacist and potter

References

  1. ^ "Facts". Brighton General Cemetery.
  2. ^ Gazette 5.5.1868 p. 884
  3. ^ "Victorian Government Gazette, No 54, 5 May 1868, 879". AustLII.
  4. ^ "Brighton General Cemetery, Victoria | Cemetery Details". CWGC. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Who's Who of Notable Interments". Brighton General Cemetery.
  • The Jews in Victoria in the Nineteenth Century, L.M. Goldman 1954
  • The enduring remnant:the first 150 years of the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, 1841–1991, Joseph Aron, Judy Arndt, Melbourne University Press, 1992 – History – 438 pages
  • Phillip Blashki, A Victorian Patriarch, Gael R. Hammer, 1986 ISBN 0958945101