Fact sheets Background notes for the Southern Cemetery It is suggested that one or two the following fact sheets are printed out and used as wall or poster displays or laminate and make available for students. The fact sheets in this set include 1. Dunedinʼs First Cemetery. 2. The Southern Cemetery Historical photographs. 3. The Southern Cemetery. 4. The First Burial in the Southern Cemetery. 5. The Sextonʼs Job. 6. The Morgue.
Dunedinʼs First Cemetery The cemetery fell into some disrepair after closure for burials. In 1880 the monument pictured below was erected by the Dunedin City Corporation and records the names of the first settlers that were interred in this cemetery. The monument stands to this day on the ground next to Arthur Street School. Above: Arthur Street Cemetery, Dunedin by George Moore Sinclair, (b 1852) Nov. 1880. The watercolour shows the cemetery in the foreground, with houses beyond. Arthur Street, Rattray Street and York Place can be seen. Alexander Turnbull Library Reference number: B-062-020. Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand, must be obtained before any re-use of this image. Dunedinʼs first cemetery was a reserve of approximately six hectares in Arthur Street. The first burial occurred in 1846. The cemetery was in use until its replacement, the Southern Cemetery was opened in 1858. Plaque and memorial in Arthur Street
The Southern Cemetery, Dunedin - Historical Photographs The Southern Cemetery opened on 1 April 1858. The earliest recorded burial was for John MacGibbon in March 1858. (See Following fact sheet. Edward Immyns Abbot, [d 1849] Dunedin from Little Paisley. London. Published by Fredk J Wilson, 21 Gt Russell St, Bloomsbury [ca 1853] Alexander Turnbull Library Reference No. B-051-014-a. Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Dunedinʼs Southern Cemetery is located on a rise at the southern end of the town belt and was constructed on a site known as Little Paisley. (Several weavers had set up business there in the early days). Above; An historic photograph of the Southern Cemetery (taken about 1880) looking south towards St Clair. The Anglican section, in front, is fenced with a hedge. The general section is clearly visible behind the Anglican Section. (Source Hocken SO4-116e)
The Southern Cemetery - Dunedin Sextonʼs were employed in the Southern Cemetery to act as live-in, onsite caretakers, keeping burial records, grave digging, and filling graves and general upkeep. John Barr was the first to hold the position in the Southern Cemetery. Sextonʼs cottages at the Southern cemetery have been pulled down. The cemetery was closed for burials in 1980, with over 23,000 burials recorded. The layout of the Southern Cemetery was influenced by developments in cemetery design which occurred in early nineteenth century Britain and this can be seen in the picturesque views, the planting of trees, and shrubs and in the winding pathways and roads. It can also be seen in the wide range and variety of memorials based on ancient architectural forms and Victorian sentimentalism. Distinct religious denominational areas were set aside at the Southern cemetery as can be seen in the historic photograph taken about 1880. There are separate areas for Christian burials based on Anglican, General, and Catholic. Church divisions. There were also areas set aside for non-christian burials and these included separate Jewish (photo below left) and Chinese areas (photo below right). Above Dunedin from Southern Cemetery 2008. This view is taken from the gate on Eglinton Road and overlooks the General Area of the cemetery.
The Southern Cemetery Dunedinʼs earliest recorded burial The earliest recorded burial is that on the tombstone of David Fourth son of John McGibbon Died 20 March 1858 aged 6 years and 4 months. John (40) and Jane (30) MacGibbon were among the first settlers to the colony arriving on the Mooltan in 1849 with four children. The family eventually went to live in the Mataura and Gore districts in Southland but several family members are buried here. The MacGibbon gravestones can be found in Block 2 Plot 17
The Sextonʼs Job D A McLeod of Caversham who was employed as a sexton with the Dunedin City Council for over 45 years and worked at both Dunedinʼs Northern and Southern Cemeteries explained what his job as sexton or principle caretaker of the cemetery involved: A sextonʼs job is a varied one and one of the duties of the sexton in a cemetery like the Northern, (which is closed to other than family plots) is checking to see if persons seeking burial in family plots are in fact entitled to do so. When the undertaker rings, the sexton has to check back through the records and find the name of the last one of that family who was buried there. I like to check the last two just to be sure. Then he would check the grave lot from the cemetery plan, find the section, check on the site, and then take a test with a rod to see just where the other coffin is The sexton s cottage Northern Cemetery, Dunedin. sited. If it is more than five feet down you can put another on top, but if it is too shallow you test the sides. Then you dig a hole and when the funeral is over you fill it in again. A sexton has to cut the hedges, keep the tracks and roads clear and tend to the graves. Many of which have been willed for perpetual care; that is money has been left for their upkeep in perpetuity or for a set number of years. Then there are the records to keep. People come looking for family graves, especially at holiday time, and it can take anything from five minutes to two hours to check through the records and locate the particular grave. (The Dunedin Star, 19 January 1972. In Betteridge, 2005). Both Dunedinʼs Northern and Southern cemeteries provided cottages for the sextons and their families to live in. Two cottages at the Southern Cemetery have been demolished. But the cottage at the Dunedinʼs Northern cemetery survives. It was originally built in 1872 with additions in 1876 and 1910. Today the cottage is used as an interpretation centre for the cemetery.
The Southern Cemetery Dunedin: The Morgue Unusually for a cemetery in New Zealand, Dunedinʼs Southern Cemetery has a Morgue on the cemetery grounds. A Morgue is a place provided for the reception of dead bodies. Pressure for a public morgue had been fuelled by outbreaks of infectious diseases (including diphtheria, typhoid and scarlet fever) in Dunedin and the inadequacy of Quarantine Island in Otago harbour to cope with a serious epidemic. The building was in use by August 1903 and remained in use for 46 years, until 2 February 1949. The Edwardian style morgue has changed little in appearance since it was completed in 1903. The Morgue Southern Cemetery, Dunedin.