BRIEF HISTORY
St Patrick’s Cemetery encapsulates and reflects the character of the growing town of Parramatta, giving us a real picture of what was going on in the area at a given time. It shows us the people, their nationalities, local work trends, prosperity or poverty, how the people were living. Yet most of us seldom think of pioneer members of the parish who were lovingly laid to rest in our own “God’s Acre”
Cemeteries are places of cultural significance for their aesthetic, scientific, social and historic values for the past, present and future.
Aesthetic Value– meaning the colour and texture of materials and fabric. The stone that has been quarried locally then shaped and inscribed. The way these fit in with the landscape as they age and become covered in a variety of coloured lichens. The metal of the grave surrounds, hand wrought by local blacksmiths, sometimes stamped with the blacksmith’s name. Words deeply incised in English, Latin and Italian. Trees planted in the 1950s by Scouts and the Rotary Club during volunteer landscaping, add to the pleasantness of our surroundings
Scientific Value – the research, rarity and quality of the data. Hand written burial registers with columns listing not just names but where these people lived, their profession or calling, the ship they arrived on, whether convict or free. Pathetically young ages or surprisingly old, at least two living to over a hundred years. Sometimes a brief subjective note about the person that illuminates a little more of their life. Lunatic. Abode, Female Factory. Married to a Jew. The pathos of one entry which records, “in this year there died in the factory, 44 male and 36 female children.” Just a bulk entry without recording any individual names. Migration patterns can be discerned, many names showing Irish origin but also evident are French, German and Italian names. The beginning of different cultures inter marrying are shown in delightful names such as Bridget Ah Chin.
Social Value – meaning the focus of spiritual and cultural sentiment. Strolling among the memorials reading biblical and cautionary verse was a socially acceptable pastime on Sundays. Verse such as, “Watch, for ye know not the hour” and “As I am so you must be, prepare yourselves to follow me”. Traditional cemetery symbolism includes the avenue of funeral cypress which adds to the solemnity of the surrounds and leads to the final resting place. Gothic door and windows in the chapel whose very shape points towards God. Much of the carved symbolism relates to biblical themes. The Lamb of God, carved anchors from St Pauls writing of the anchor of hope, torches are also attributed to St Paul and his metaphor of running the race. Doves symbolise the Holy Spirit and the cross of faith often stands on the three steps of faith, hope and charity. Culture is also evident in the almost puckish, Irish humour even if it is unintentional – George O’Neil who died of a slight injury and a lady buried beneath her husband (two deep in the usual way) whose epitaph reads, “here I lie beneath the mouldering sod.” Migration patterns are revealed by the memorials to German, Italian, French, Irish and Chinese.
Historical Value – embraces the stories of all those buried here ranging from heroic to pathetic to ridiculous. Senior Sergeant Kelly who helped solve the Parramatta River Murders, Patrick Hayes, Inspector of Nuisances for Parramatta Council who was caught illegally distilling spirits, John Lacey, who leased his land to the town as a race track for 25 years, Mr Allen who put his wife up as a stake in a game of cards and lost her, Monsignor Rigney, pioneer priest of the Illawarra, Daniel Flinn the peg legged tailor of Parramatta, Vincenzo Chiodetti who arrived as the bandmaster for the 73rd Regiment, several politicians, Mayor Hugh Taylor, and lastly John Hodges who ran an inn in town (now Brislington) complete with ladies of ill repute.
The earliest headstones date from 1824 but the burial ground was operating earlier than that. Surveyor General Mitchell noted John Oxley was desirous of taking the land from the Catholics as it was much too valuable a site for them, but before the next survey the priest had fenced the land and claimed squatter’s rites as he had possession of the ground for 12 years. There are roughly 1,200 known burials, many in unmarked graves. The Mortuary Chapel is the oldest such chapel in Australia dating from 1844 and erected in honour of Thomas Francis McCarthy, the second Capuchin priest to come to Australia. Five Ministers who died in office in Parramatta are buried within. By 1968 Parramatta Council wanted to resume all of the cemeteries originally on the outskirts of town, but now surrounded by houses. This was for hygiene reasons as it was feared seepage from the cemeteries would cause illness and disease. In May 1975 the deed of gift giving the cemetery land to the Council was finalised but not without some angst within the church congregation. Friends of St Patricks Cemetery raised money over the years to repair memorials and reroof the chapel, work now carried on by Parramatta City Council with a selection criteria for memorial repairs. Ground maintenance of the area is continual and evidence of new major work can be seen today with fencing and lighting. After protracted talks with the RTA (now RMS) about road widening, a small strip of land has been taken from the Church Street boundary which has not encroached into the burial area. In return the cost of a new fence was shared between City of Parramatta Council and the RMS.
There can be no doubt that St Patricks Cemetery fulfils the requirements for conservation implicit in the Burra Charter. It helps us understand the past by providing evidence of history, it contributes to the pleasantness of our environment and is a focus of our spiritual and cultural sentiment. The significance of the area is embodied in its fabric, setting and contents, in the associated documents and its relationship with the community.
For the many Catholics buried in this place, who in the early days suffered for their faith, for those who faced flogging rather than attend services other than their own, for the fiercely independent Irish, convicts and free alike, who yearned for the comfort of their own religion when alive and the peace of their own God’s Acre when dead, the preservation and protection of this historic cemetery through Heritage Listing is no more than they deserve.
Judith Dunn OAM FPDHS
