Camperdown Cemetery, Sydney, NSW

Camperdown Cemetery near Newton, NSW, first opened in 1849 but was shown on a city in a plan, dated 1822, as "the new burying- ground". 

Camperdown succeeded the Elizabeth Street cemetery and an older cemetery in George Street that occupied the site of the present Town Hall.

Near the cemetery entrance, lays the remains of Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell, surveyor and explorer, who died at Carthona, Darling Point, 4th October, 1855.

Also buried at the cemetery are Aboriginal men: Mogo who died on the 5th of October 1850, and. William Perry, who died 25th September 1849. In 1931, their graves were decorated with shells, and
the headstones were officially unveiled at the Dunbar ceremony on August 22. (1.)

The "Dunbar" grave in Camperdown cemetery remembers the victims of a tragic maritime disaster, the wreck of the Dunbar in 1857.

On the night of 20 August 1857, or early in the morning of 21 August 1857, the Dunbar was wrecked near the South Head Signal Sation. There was only one survivor, James Johnson, and about 121 people perished.

The Dunbar funeral had seven hearses, the last containing the body of Captain Steane, a retired naval officer, guarded by mounted police.

Other notable people buried here are Sir Maurice O'Connell, (d. 1848) Colonel of H.M. 80th Regiment, Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales and interestingly, Nicholas Charles Boscha, one-time harpist to Napoleon.

An 1875 Charles Bayliss photo of St. Stephen's Church in Camperdown, NSW. The cemetery was founded in 
1848.

Another musician, Lewis Henry Lavenu, A.R.A.M., is buried alongside his tutor Bochsa, and his fellow English composer Isaac Nathan. Lavenu died during the grand festival to inaugurate the new Great Hall of the University of Sydney in 1859.

Captain Sir James Everard Home, 2nd Baronet, RN CB FRS (25 October 1798 – 1 November 1853), commanding H.M.S. Calliope, was buried at the Camperdown cemetery. He was a British surgeon.and brother-in-law, of John Hunter.

Eliza Emily Donnithorne, a reclusive eccentric, who lived at 36 King Street, Newtown, is believed to be the inspiration for the character of Miss Havisham in Charles Dickens' 1861 novel Great Expectations. Read here

Bathsheba Ghost, who was matron of Sydney Hospital from 1852 to 1866, died at the hospital on August 12, 1866, and was buried in Camperdown Cemetery.

Paupers were often buried in the north west corner fronting Federation Road. Read more

There are so many other well-known names in this cemetery, such as Simon Rood Pittard, the first curator of the Australian Museum, who died in August 1861. And so many more.

AN ABORIGINAL'S GRAVE IN THE CAMPERDOWN CEMETERY. In conjunction with theDunbar commemorationSydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 26 August 1931

WHILE WORKMEN were digging air-raid trenches at the old Camperdown Cemetery , they uncovered a coffin. The men were subsequently taken off the job and the council has ordered the trenches to be filled in. Pill-boxes will be built instead. Camper-down Cemetery has not been used for more than 20 years .Daily Mirror (Sydney, NSW : 1941 - 1955), Wednesday 22 July 1942

Tribune (Sydney, NSW : 1939 - 1991), Tuesday 25 June 1946,

Camperdown Cemetery, Newtown, Sydney, NSW - 1951

 Around Camperdown Cemetery

The Cemetery Lodge/The Sextons Lodge, NSW ~ Camperdown A small cottage in the Colonial Neo-Gothic style built in 1848 and located on the grounds of Camperdown Cemetery.

Charles Windeyer Frist Mayor Of Sydney, buried at .Camperdown Cemetery, NSW.

John Leys Foreman Engineer Morts Dock Sydney, buried at Camperdown Cemetery, NSW

Camperdown Cemetery, NSW.

Camperdown Cemetery, Sydney, NSW. The grave of Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (Major Mitchell), Surveyor General.

Things To Do

Location: 189 Church St, Newtown NSW 2042.

Burials at Camperdown Cemetery

Susannah Place Museum: The Rocks

Governor Arthur Phillip in 1792 defined the boundaries of settlement: east of the Tank Stream were the residences of the Governor and civil authorities; west of the Tank Stream were the military barracks, parade ground and hospital. The convicts, however, began to occupy the sandstone ridges (The Rocks) above Sydney Cove's western foreshores.

Susannah Place Museum is a historic house museum, situated in The Rocks, Sydney. It is a block of four terrace houses built for four working-class Irish immigrants in 1844.

Edward and Mary Riley arrived from Ireland with their niece Susannah in 1838. Their house is typical to the area, of brick and sandstone houses and features a basement kitchen and backyard outhouse. 

The Rocks from Government House, NSW, circa 1858, courtesy of the City of Sydney Archives

"I have never seen such a miserable class of houses as that on The Rocks. I know two or three houses which are not larger than this room, two or three families living in one house."
– 1859 Select Committee on the Condition of the Working Classes

These four houses, now Susannah Place Museum, were home to more than 100 families over nearly 150 years.

The buildings have survived numerous demolition threats. In 1900, a Bubonic plague led to hundreds of neighbouring properties being demolished. Then, in the 1920s, a three-street-wide-section of The Rocks was cleared to make way for the Harbour Bridge approaches. 

WIPING OUT THE SLUMS. Amount The Rocks at Miller's Point, NSW,Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), Friday 30 October 1908

In the 1970s, we can be thankful for the "Green bans" imposed by the Builders Labourer's Federation, which stopped may demolitions and redevelopment projects. These irreplaceable buildings would have been lost forever.

Sydney Cove is part of the lands of the Cadigal people of the Eora nation. However, the absence of an archaeological record for the Cadigal (even allowing for large-scale city development) has led Emeritus Professor Grace Karskens to believe that Sydney Cove was likely to be border country for the Eora nation, and therefore, may not have been inhabited prior to European settlement.

Around Susannah Place Museum

Susannah Place Museum, The Rocks, NSW

Susannah Place Museum, The Rocks, NSW

Susannah Place Museum, The Rocks, NSW

Susannah Place Museum, The Rocks, NSW

Things To Do

Susannah Place Museum

Address: 58/64 Gloucester St, The Rocks NSW 2000

Telephone: 0292411893

More Information here

Justice & Police Museum of Sydney

Justice & Police Museum of Sydney

The Justice & Police Museum, Sydney, was designed by the Colonial Architect Edmund Blacket and built in 1855 as the Water Police Court.

There are many historic, seedy and serious stories to learn about Sydney's police and gangsters at this museum.

The prisoner's pen at the Water Police Court. Illustrated Sydney News (NSW : 1881 - 1894), Thursday 4 April 1889,

There are those who feature at the museum, who made fortunes selling "sly grog" during the Roaring Twenties.

The Twenties were a golden era for Sydney’s female criminals, such as the notorious criminal Kate Leigh.

This Notorious Woman and Her Chauffer (the notorious criminal Kate Leigh). Truth (Sydney, NSW : 1894 - 1954), Sunday 10 February 1929,

Another 1920s story surrounds hotel cleaner "Harry Leon Crawford", who was arrested and charged with his wife’s murder in 1920. 

It was soon revealed that Harry was, in fact, Eugenia Falleni, a woman and mother who had been passing as a man since 1899.

Harry was, in fact, Eugenia Falleni, a woman and mother who had been passing as a man since 1899.

Learn about Sydney's "Aboriginal Trackers", including the legendary officer. Alexander "Alec" Riley. During his 40-year career he became the first Aboriginal man to attain the rank of Tracker Sergeant.

Sydney's "Aboriginal Trackers", including the legendary officer. Alexander "Alec" Riley. During his 40-year career he became the first Aboriginal man to attain the rank of Tracker Sergeant.Sunday Herald (Sydney, NSW : 1949 - 1953), Sunday 9 July 1950

At The Justice & Police Museum of Sydney

Justice & Police Museum of Sydney

Justice & Police Museum of Sydney

Look through hatch in metal door to police holding cell at the Justice & Police MuseumJustice & Police Museum of Sydney

Places To Go

Located: Corner of Phillip Street, Albert Street, Circular Quay NSW 2000

Cost: Free entry

Accessibility: Welcomes people with access needs

More information

Sail on A Tall Ship in Sydney

Replica of HMB Endeavour, Sydney, NSW

HMB Endeavour

The Endeavour voyage commanded by James Cook between 1768 and 1771, on a 30m coal carrier, was a long and often perilous combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition to the south Pacific Ocean.

The two main purposes of the expedition were to measure the distance from the Earth to the Sun and find the unknown "Great South Land" and claim it for Britain..

The first task required the Endeavour to sail to Tahiti to measure the "transit" of the planet Venus as it moved across the face of the Sun.

However, the expedition did not find the hypothetical "Great South Land", believed to be a huge continent the size of Europe, which was thought to balance the globe.

Instead, Captain Cook reached the southern coast of New South Wales in 1770 and sailed north, charting Australia's eastern coastline and claiming the eastern portion of the Australian continent for the British Crown.

Cook's epic journeys proved that he was one of the greatest navigators in history. And without a chronometer, his maps had incredible accuracy.

James Cook's HMB Endeavour, built in Australia, is one of the world's most accurate maritime replica vessels.

This beautifully crafted ship has 30 kilometres of rigging and 750 wooden blocks or pulleys. The masts and spars carry 28 sails that spread approximately 10,000 sq feet (930 m2) of canvas.

Below decks, in the galley, there is a huge stove called a firehearth and a relica of the Great Cabin where Cook worked and dined, along with famous botanist Joseph Banks.

The Endeavour replica began construction in 1988, and was launched 5 years later.

When it is out at sea, you can track the Endeavour over at marinetraffic.com (search for "HMB Endeavour").

To find out about voyages in the Endeavour and when open to the public. see here.

Replica of the Duyfken, Sydney, NSW

Duyfken 

In 1606, the Duyfken ("little dove"), constructed in the Netherlands under the command of Willem Janszoon, was the first European ship to reach the Australian coastline. 

The charting of some of Australia's coast allowed all of the world's inhabited continents to appear on a single map for the first time.

Janszoon encountered and then charted the shores of Australia's Cape York Peninsula and made landfall at the Pennefather River in the Gulf of Carpentaria. This is the first authenticated sighting of Australia by Europeans.

There was violent conflict between the Duyfken crew and Aboriginal people, and a number of crew members died.

The Duyfken replica was built in Fremantle in the late 1990s.

In 1999, the replica Duyfken undertook an expedition to Banda in Indonesia and sailed on a reenactment voyage to the Pennefather River in Queensland.

Today, you can cruise Sydney Harbour on the Duyfken replica.

The Duyfken sailing experience is for adults and not children. Children 12 years of age or over are welcome, if accompanied by an adult.

More information on Duyfken cruises here

Things To Do

Sydney Maritine Museum