Perth Cemetery Information Online

The Society received this information from the Federation of Australian Historical Societies in their e-Bulletin No. 131 - 1 November 2014

New East Perth Cemeteries website launched

In a partnership between the Friends of Battye Library (the Western Australian collections in the WA State Library) and the National Trust, a new website has been made available giving details of 9,056 of the estimated 10,000 individuals buried in the East Perth Cemeteries between foundation in 1829 and closure of the cemeteries in 1899. Using a multitude of sources and building on the work of others before them researchers Lorraine Clark and Cherie Strickland have uncovered many previously unknown facts - such as the number of stillbirths buried among the 2929 babies under 18 months.

With a grant from Lotterywest to cover their costs, the two have photographed all memorials, and complied biographical information about the majority of those interred in the cemeteries from the newspapers (with thanks to Trove), data held within the Registrar Generals files, correspondence within Police Registers, and State Gardens Board review documents, which contained many letters from families wishing to be buried alongside their loved ones. Perth Gaol Occurrence Books, Convict General Registers, and Department of Lands records all provided information. Chipper Funeral Directors records, filmed by the Latter Day Saints, contained valuable information pertaining to previous internments and addresses of next of kin. One of the last sources consulted - which proved invaluable - was the Colonial Hospital Admission Registers owned by the Royal Perth Hospital Museum. All the information collected is now available on line, thanks to the National Trust, at www.eastperthcemeteries.com.au. An article summarizing the findings of the two researchers is also available on the Friends of Battye Library website