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From Heritage New Zealand, Summer 2004

Buried Treasure

by Geraldine Johns

Our historic cemeteries yield a trove of information about the past

St Michael's, Kaikohe Photo: Focus New Zealand Photo Library

For too long, cemeteries were a dead-end venture. More mobile communities meant that relatives no longer regularly visited their dead or tended their graves.Older cemeteries, reaching full capacity, did little to generate an income stream to support their maintenance.

Only vandals seemed to take much pride in their work at some of our cities' burial sites.The ravages of weather, plus the untrammelled path neglected trees were taking, had them fast turning into jungles. But now the Historic Cemeteries Conservation Trust wants to rejuvenate cemeteries and restore their status as vital components of our heritage.

"These are outdoors museums and they ought to be conserved," says Stewart Harvey, trust chairman and genealogist. His Dunedin-based organisation, formed in 2002, seeks to encourage New Zealanders to recognise the cultural and historical importance of their cemeteries, and to adopt community responsibility for their care and upkeep.

"Every grave has a story to tell; every cemetery has a story to tell," says Harvey, who is also a member of the Otago branch committee of the Historic Places Trust. Just go and stand in front of a Victorian headstone - with its great tall obelisk and ornate angels - to see what he means: "you can just about feel the history."

Photo: Elizabeth Clarkson

His views are echoed by many - among them, heritage adviser Chris Betteridge who gave the Lawson Lecture in Dunedin in July this year. (The lecture honours the memory of Scottish-born architect Robert Arthur Lawson, who made major contributions to the architectural heritage of Dunedin and Oamaru.). Our historic cemeteries have not always been treated with the respect they deserve, Betteridge told a meeting of the Historic Places Trust Otago Branch Committee that drew 150 people. "Old graveyards have often been neglected, vandalised, mismanaged and overlooked as valuable heritage places."They were too often the butt of jokes about the "dead centre" of town and TV sketches about drunks falling into open graves, he continued.

However, there was now a revival of interest in old burial grounds and all the information they contained, Betteridge noted. This was thanks in part to increasing community awareness of our past, boosted by a rapidly growing interest in family history research.

The trust headed by Harvey has started in its own backyard by having conservation plans drawn up for two of Dunedin's most neglected cemeteries: the Northern and the Southern. The plans research the history of each cemetery, establish their significance and priorities, and set out what needs to be done to conserve them. Funded by local community grants and charitable trusts (to the tune of $35,000), the programme has already started turning the two Dunedin cemeteries into sites that people want to visit.

The hope is that, eventually, such a conservation plan - drawn up after consultation with New Zealand and Australian experts (including Betteridge's Sydney-based consultancy service) - will form a blueprint that could be embraced nationwide. If it is, the trust would help oversee implementation around the country by providing ongoing advice to local authorities, friends of cemeteries and cemetery trustees.

Already, some of our major cities are waking up to the idea, Harvey says.He recently spoke to Christchurch City Council heritage and planning staff about the possibilities for establishing a conservation plan in their cemeteries.Wellington already has a conservation plan for Karori Cemetery - "but, again, we will be meeting them to make sure we're singing from the same song book".

Auckland had such a plan prepared for its Symonds Street Cemetery - home of the grave of Governor Hobson - in 1996. "My liaison with the council there is continuing,"Harvey says.

The heritage conservation world and the people of New Zealand are gradually recognising that cemeteries should be protected like historic buildings, says Harvey. "Until now, they've been totally neglected."

Not so in Australia, the United States and some countries in Europe, where cemetery conservation has long been held a community responsibility, he adds.

The path towards restoration will be slow: it's taken 150 years for some of our cemeteries to deteriorate to the degree that they have; remedying the destruction neglect brings with it won't be an overnight job. The trust hopes that introduction of a standard conservation plan may encourage people to take a greater interest in their cemeteries. What's needed is to look at it from a new point of view. "It's people's awareness of their own history that's lacking," says Harvey.

ANYONE remotely interested in their past will soon realise that many answers lie in a visit to the graveyard, says Paul Gittins, presenter of the Epitaph television documentary series. Even people who don't have an interest in genealogy may still be surprised by what they may learn from a wander round the tombstones.

Some notable sites to visit include:
Salaman's tomb (New Plymouth Cemetery). The tomb of Abraham Mohammed Salaman is modeled on the Taj Mahal. It's the last resting place of the noted New Plymouth herbalist/healer and businessman - who was eventually disgraced and jailed. Despite this, he had a huge following. Half the city turned out to farewell him when he died in 1941.

Minnie Dean's grave (Winton, Southland). Falling into the "personality grave" category, it marks the spot where child killer Minnie Dean - the only woman to be hanged in New Zealand - is interred. Mythology had it that no grass grew around her grave; this has been proved to be untrue.

The Lonely Graves at Miller's Flat (alongside the Clutha River). These and others like it are so called because they were originally in the middle of nowhere. Two gravestones: "Somebody's Darling" and "The Man Who Buried Somebody's Darling" stand at Miller's Flat. William Rigney was the man who buried "somebody's darling" - thereby giving recognition to somebody who died a sad and lonely death during the goldmining era. The site is more accessible now.

Ivanhoe Augarde's grave (Travellers' Valley, Nelson high country). Another lonely grave; this one a testament to a tragic love story. Augarde is said to have killed a person who wrongly got hold of a love letter destined for someone else and then bandied it about. Having killed the wrongful recipient, Augarde then killed himself. (You need a four-wheel drive to get to this magnificent spot.)

Joshua Morgan's grave (just off State Highway 43, Stratford). This lonely grave, near the Tangarakau Bridge, marks the resting place of surveyor Joshua Morgan. He died in the middle of the bush, miles from nowhere, after becoming stricken with appendicitis. This expedition was meant to be his last surveying job before retiring.

Governor William Hobson's grave (Symonds Street Cemetery, Grafton, Auckland). A largely forgotten memorial to Captain William Hobson - New Zealand's first Governor. Within days of his arrival from Britain in January 1840, Hobson had arranged the drafting and signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. He also tried to establish Auckland as the nation's capital. Hobson died in 1842.

The Avondale Princess (St Ninian's Church, Avondale, Auckland). "If you believe the headstone, she was a Danish Princess," says Gittins. Facts, however, indicate otherwise. Ingeborg Stuckenberg's
grave (Waikaraka Cemetery, Onehunga, Auckland). Described by Gittins as "the Danish equivalent of
Katherine Mansfield," the famous Danish poet wrote many perceptive observations of New Zealand.

Hannah King's grave (Christ Church Cemetery, Russell, Bay of Islands). King is said to be the first white woman born in New Zealand. The church is said to be the oldest in New Zealand.

Larnach's Tomb (Northern Cemetery, Dunedin). This tomb, designed by architect R.A. Lawson, is based on his design for Dunedin's first church. (Lawson's own grave is also in the same cemetery - but it has no marker. The Historic Cemeteries Conservation Trust is currently commissioning one for him.)

The Bottle of Beer Memorial (Waihao Forks Hotel, Canterbury). Erected in the memory of soldier Ted d'Auvergne, who had ordered a last bottle of beer before leaving by train for World War II. The train arrived before the beer ; d'Auvergne told the barman to keep the bottle for his return. He never made it back - but the bottle is still there and has been turned into a memorial by the RSA.