Walkerville Wesleyan Cemetery
Smith Street, Walkerville
Walkerville Wesleyan Cemetery is a place of solitude. Across the 3,785 burials, it provides a picture of early local settler society and a social record of the activities of the local community. There are several prominent settlers interred, plus many local pioneer tradesmen and women, including shepherds, preachers, academics, saddle-makers, wheelwrights and boot makers.
The land for this cemetery was purchased on 8 May 1849 by the Trustees of the Walkerville Wesleyan Church for the sum of 12 pounds.
The first recorded burial was on 10 April 1850. Although the majority of burials were from the Wesleyan Church, there was a policy of allowing access to members of other denominations, so the cemetery presents a reflection of the earlier settler society of the district.
Quite a number of headstones are German, reflecting the many workers from Hanover area who came to South Australia to work.
In 1972, the control of the cemetery passed to the Town of Walkerville, which has overseen the preservation of the cemetery and the remaining records with the assistance of the Wesleyan Cemetery Advisory Committee.
Of the recorded burials at the cemetery, about two thirds are children – reflecting the unhygienic conditions in the years 1850-1870.
More information about the cemetery can be found by clicking here.