INTERESTING FACTS

• There are 1,277 different surnames, many of which you don’t hear any more like, MacCheet, notable historic names like La Perouse, Martin, Blake (Photo 1) and others such as Klaen, Anschau, Longobardi, Tie and Lum.

• Today, there are less than 500 remaining headstones in the Cemetery. Some stones were laid in a courtyard adjacent to the Chapel, some will have been covered by earth and grasses and succumbed to decay. Although there is no visible headstone to commemorate Alexander Green, Judith Dunn has captured this lively and somewhat reprehensible convict’s story. Born in Holland, convicted in Shropshire and described as a “tumbler”, Green arrived by convict ship in Sydney in 1824. He variously worked as a flagellator, scourger, later becoming Parramatta’s “Finisher of the Law”. Perhaps fittingly he died at the ripe old age of 86 in the local Lunatic Asylum !

  Read more about Alexander GreenHERE

• Surnames with the highest recorded number of burials are Ryan (47); Kelly (44) [Grave of Senior Sergeant John Kelly top right], Murphy (37), Kennedy (37) and Power (30).

• The earliest identified extant headstone is of Thomas Nugent buried in April 1824.

• The curious and frustrating case of Bridget Egan’s missing headstone, a little 3 year old who died in 1800, is a lesson in keeping a good paper trail. Read Judith Dunn’s story “Where is Bridget Egan” HERE. Perhaps you have some clues as to its whereabouts??