Devonshire Street Cemetery

Devonshire Street Cemetery

Details
Year established	1820
Country	Australia
Location	Sydney
Type	No longer extant
Size	?
Number of graves	?

The Devonshire Street Cemetery (also known incorrectly as the Sandhills Cemetery) was located between Eddy Avenue and Elizabeth Street, and between Chalmers and Devonshire Streets, in Sydney, Australia. It was consecrated in 1820. ^[1] The Jewish section was used from 1832. ^[2] By 1860 the cemetery was full, and it was closed in 1867.

In 1901 the cemetery was resumed to allow for the development of Central railway station, Sydney and representatives of deceased persons buried in the Devonshire Street cemetery were given two months to arrange for exhumation and removal of remains from the cemetery. All reasonable costs were borne by the Government. The remains that were unclaimed were relocated to a purpose built cemetery named Bunnerong Cemetery. This new cemetery south of the city had a tram line constructed to make the removal of recasketed remains as simple as possible. Bunnerong Cemetery was next to the Botany Cemetery and in the early 1970s was absorbed by that cemetery to create the Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park.

Metropolitan cemeteries

Cemetery locations in the metropolitan region that took re-interments from Devonshire Street Cemetery include Gore Hill Cemetery, St Thomas Cemetery in Crows Nest, Rookwood Cemetery, Waverley Cemetery, Balmain General Cemetery, Camperdown General Cemetery, Randwick General Cemetery, and South Head General Cemetery. Remains were also relocated outside the metropolitan area, including Sandgate Cemetery in Newcastle, New South Wales.

An index created from a number of previous collections of information including some remaining original cemetery registers called the Devonshire Street Cemetery re-interment register and index ("microform" format) was produced by the Library of Australian History, North Sydney, 1999. A copy is held by the State Library of New South Wales. A hardback book version was also produced.

References

1. ^ Johnson, K.A. and Sainty, M.R., Sydney Burial Ground 1819-1901 and History of Sydney's Early Cemeteries from 1788. Library of Australian History, Sydney 2001.
2. ^ The Australian Jewish Genealogical Society has produced a Compact Disk covering burials in the Old Jewish Section at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney, which includes details of transfers from Devonshire Street Cemetery.By 1860 the cemetery was full, and it was closed in 1867.

External links

• Old Burial Grounds of Sydney