Wesleyan Cemetery

The land for this cemetery was purchased on May 8^th 1849 by the Trustees of the Wesleyan and Methodist Society for the sum of 12 pounds.

The first recorded burial was on April 10^th 1850. Although the majority of burials were Wesleyan, there was a policy of allowing access to members of other denominations, so the Cemetery is a reflection of the earlier settler society of the district. A number of burials also took place from the Klemzig settlement, with headstone inscriptions in German.

Over the following year, many of the citizens who made significant contributions to the growth of our State were laid to rest in this Cemetery including suffragette Mary Lee and Philip Le Cornu (who established a well known furniture business). Family graves also show the growing strength of the community and a reading of headstones brings at times a reminder of the harsh and traumatic lives that faced the pioneers eg the Lawton headstone is the final resting place of four babies 13 months old and younger that were buried by the parents.

In 1972 the control of the Cemetery passed to the Walkerville Council which has overseen the preservation of the Cemetery and the remaining records with the assistance of the Wesleyan Cemetery Committee. Local resident, Mr Barrie Redman OAM has entered all the records onto a CDRom which may be accessed at the Walkerville Public Library.

The last recorded burial took place in May, 1973. Subsequently the Cemetery was closed with 3,785 recorded burials having taken place.

Following demand and community consultation, the Council re-opened the Cemetery for the interment of cremated remains in late 2004. Doug Dick and Company Pty Ltd has been appointed by Council as the Cemetery Managers. Please contact Doug Dick and Co. on 8274 5420 for further information about the Cemetery.