Search New South Wales, Newcastle, lost cemeteries 1842-1902

These records are transcripts of burials recorded in five New South Wales cemeteries, which are no longer operational. The level of detail for each entry varies but can include

• First name(s)
• Last name
• Age at death
• Birth year
• Death year
• Death date
• Cemetery
• Father’s name
• Mother’s name

‘Cash Book’ entries and ‘Cemetery Orders’ noted in the database were taken from Parish Financial Records of the North Waratah (Mayfield) Cemetery, which detailed income for sundry services (1863 to 1891), usually provided by the Sexton. They contain minimal data but are sometimes the only record available of a burial which took place.

Newcastle, NSW has a long history of burial grounds from the nineteenth century, that have since been converted into open parks or building sites. The first burials for all denominations took place adjacent to Christ Church, a Church of England cemetery which existed from 1804 to 1884. For the benefit of Congregationalists, Roman Catholics and Wesleyan Methodists, three new burial grounds were opened in Newcastle West (Cottage Creek) between 1842 and 1858. All four sites were abandoned in 1881 when Sandgate Cemetery (www.sandgatecemetery.org.au) was established.

As the mining townships developed and grew in size, the mine owners in those localities provided cemeteries at Minmi (from the 1860s), Old Wallsend 1863 to 1896), and Wallsend (1896 to date). Other burial places include St Andrew’s Churchyard, Mayfield which operated from 1862 until 1902 and Stockton Cemetery (1890 to date).

The current database contains the burial records of five of the ‘lost’ cemeteries in the Newcastle, NSW region spanning the period from 1841 to 1902. Only a few graves were exhumed and relocated to Sandgate Cemetery (1881 to date). Further details of all five cemeteries are recorded in publications by Newcastle Family History Society.

The ‘lost’ burial grounds included in this database set include:

• Newcastle West Catholic Burial Ground (1842-1881)
• Newcastle West Presbyterian Burial Ground (1844-1881)
• Newcastle West Wesleyan Methodist Burial Ground (1858-1881)
• St Andrew’s Church of England Burial Ground, North Waratah (Mayfield) (1862-1902)
• ‘Old’ Wallsend Cemetery at Wallsend (1863-1896)