Dunedin Southern Cemetery facts for kids
William Cargill's gravestone in Dunedin Southern Cemetery.
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| Details | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1858 |
| Location |
Princes Street, Dunedin
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| Country | New Zealand |
| Owned by | City of Dunedin |
| No. of graves | >23,000 |
| Official name: Southern Cemetery | |
| Designated: | 30 June 2006 |
| Reference #: | 7657 |
The Southern Cemetery in Dunedin, New Zealand, was the city's first big cemetery. It opened in 1858, ten years after Dunedin was founded. The cemetery is located in an area once called Little Paisley. This spot is at the southern end of Princes Street, a main road in the city. It's also near the suburbs of Kensington, Maryhill, and The Glen.
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Exploring Dunedin's Southern Cemetery
This cemetery covers about 5.7 hectares (14 acres). It is one of the most important cemeteries from the 1800s in New Zealand. It sits on a steep hill overlooking "The Flat." This is a flat coastal area where suburbs like South Dunedin are located.
The cemetery has different sections for various religious groups. These include areas for Presbyterians, Anglicans, Roman Catholics, and Jewish people. The first person buried here was John MacGibbon in March 1858.
About 23,000 people have been buried at the Southern Cemetery. Many parts of the cemetery need fixing, but there are plans to repair them. There are also 21 graves of soldiers from World War I and World War II. These graves are cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. This group looks after the graves of military personnel.
The cemetery is listed as a Category I Historic Place. This means it's a very important historical site in New Zealand. Near the city end, there's an old mortuary building. A mortuary is a place where bodies are kept before burial. This building was used from 1903 to 1949.
Dunedin has another old cemetery called the Northern Cemetery. It opened in 1872. Neither the Southern nor the Northern Cemetery are used for new burials anymore. The last burial at the Southern Cemetery was in 1985. Today, Dunedin's main cemetery is at Andersons Bay.
The Jewish Section
The Jewish part of the cemetery is near South Road. It has about 180 burials, with the oldest from 1863. Many of New Zealand's first Jewish immigrants are buried here. You can find members of famous Jewish families, like the Hallensteins and Theomins.
The Chinese Section
In the 1860s, many people came to Dunedin because of the Central Otago Gold Rush. A large number of these were Chinese immigrants from Guangdong. A special Chinese section was added to the cemetery for them. This section was for people of a different religious background, just like the other sections. It even has features built using feng shui practices. Feng shui is an ancient Chinese practice about arranging things to create good energy.
Around 200 Chinese burials happened here between 1877 and 1921. Most of these people came from the Pearl River Delta area in China. Some bodies were later dug up and sent back to China. This was done by the Poon Fah Association. They wanted to return the dead to their home soil.
Famous People Buried Here
Many important people from Dunedin's history are buried at the Southern Cemetery. Here are a few:
- Thomas Burns - A well-known minister.
- Captain William Cargill - An important early leader in Otago.
- Henry Clapcott (1830–1897) - He was the treasurer for the Otago Provincial Council.
- Willi Fels - A successful businessman and art collector.
- Hugh Gourley (1825–1906) - A former mayor of Dunedin.
- Bendix Hallenstein - A famous merchant and founder of a clothing company.
- Maurice Joel - A businessman.
- Johnny Jones - An early settler and whaler.
- Leopold Kirschner - A notable person in the community.
- William Downie Stewart - A politician.
- Dorothy Theomin - A philanthropist and art collector.
- Prince Konstanty Alojzy Drucki-Lubecki - A Polish prince who settled in New Zealand.
