Properties By Region

East Perth Cemeteries Heritage Information

In 1830, the Colonial Secretary issued a notice regarding burial grounds and the registration of deaths:
'…to prevent indiscriminate Burials and unpleasant consequences arising therefrom, in a warm climate, a Burial Ground will be set apart in Every Township or Parish; and that interment must take place in them only, and a Register of the Names, Age, Professions and place of Birth be transmitted to the Colonial Secretary's Office.'

The first recorded burial on Cemetery Hill was that of Private John Mitchell aged 22 of the 63rd Regiment who died on 6th January 1830.

At first the burial ground on Cemetery Hill was a general cemetery and in 1842 the Trustees of the Church of England were granted this land for their own cemetery. The other religious denominations quickly made known their needs and a series of cemeteries developed on the site. With the exception of the Chinese, each denomination independently managed its own cemetery on the hill.

The Church of England built St Bartholomew's Chapel on their land in the cemetery. Originally it was intended as a mortuary chapel, but later in the nineteenth century it became the parish church for East Perth. The Colonial Architect, Richard Roach Jewell, designed the chapel in a simplified Gothic style. The 1900's saw some extensions made to the church including a vestry at the northern end.

There were many causes of death in the colony including traditional childhood diseases such as measles, as well as tuberculosis and typhoid. Drowning was also a fairly common cause of death, reflecting the extent to which water travel dominated the colonists' lives, whether it be along the Swan or Canning rivers or the ocean.

Some of the earliest graves were marked by jarrah planks, followed by sandstone blocks, which quickly wore away. Later, many of the monumental works were imported from Britain, Europe or South Australia.

As the town of Perth grew, the cemetery, which had once been on the outskirts of town, now lay close to the residential area. The 'West Australian' newspaper of 6th February 1892 claimed that 'there is a very natural and well founded dislike to live close beside the remains of decaying mortality or in view of the daily mournful processions.' And 'it is worse to consider that as the city grows the noxious matter will gradually drain down from the summit of the hill.'

The cemeteries were closed in 1899 but due to public demand, burials in existing vaults or family graves were extended.

It has been estimated that up to 10,000 people were buried on Cemetery Hill but today the East Perth Cemeteries have less than 800 marked graves. The identity of thousands of graves has been lost due to general neglect and the encroachment of urban development and the site today is considerably smaller than the original.

The chapel was vested in the National Trust in 1975 and the cemeteries in 1994. Today the cemeteries provide a wonderful link with Western Australia's colonial past.