The following information is a copy of JK Stokes data on Mount Barker as contained in her Rootsweb (Ancestory.com) Genealogy Website  and has been included here with permission.  No alterations or additions may be made to her information without further permission, although relevant comments and/or additions are welcome to be added at the bottom of each page.  (copied July 2014)

Cemeteries and Final Resting Places

There are several cemeteries in the Mt Barker District.

Mt Barker

The first cemetery in Mt Barker was at the bottom end of Hack Street, beneath what became known as "Resurrection Row".  No records of the burials in this location exist. It is not known whether those interred there were moved to the Triangle when it became a cemetery.

The wife of Walter Paterson is buried on what was family property at the corner of Hurling Drive and Wellington Road.  A stone and brass sundial marks her grave.  The base of the memorial is a large cog which was part of the prototype Ridley Stripper.

The next burial ground contained between 30 and 50 plots and was located in what used to be known as "The Triangle" - the small triangular garden at the top of Gawler Street and Adelaide Road.  This being too close to the centre of the town, the memorials were removed to the new cemetery.  No records exist of the burials that took place here.

In 1850, the present cemetery on the road to Nairne, beyond St Scholastica's Convent, and remains in use today.  The most prominent memorial in the cemetery is that of John Dunn and his family, which stands in the bottom far right corner of the block.  The oldest memorials in the cemetery lie adjacent to the back fence.  This cemetery is known as the Mt Barker Glebe Cemetery, and is inter-denominational.

The Catholic Cemetery lies just across the paddock from the Glebe Cemetery.  This cemetery is restricted to the burial of persons of the Catholic Faith.  Recently, there have been a lot beautification works undertaken in this cemetery, but at the expense of local history.  For some months, the monumental works of old families of the town were stacked like cards against a very flimsy fence, and many of them were damaged and broken, due to the lack of care taken by those undertaking the work.

St James' Blakiston

This is the oldest burial ground in the district, with burials dating back to 1846, when burials did take place at Blakiston, although they were not recorded as such, until the churchyard was officially consecrated in 1849.

Zion Hill, Wistow

An acre plot adjacent to the old Wistow School on Native Avenue at Wistow, is the resting place of many of the old residents of Wistow, and some from Mt Barker as well.  This quaint little cemetery is the final resting place of a good number of my ancestors.  This cemetery underwent some "beautification" at the hands of members of the LDS church some time ago.  Many of the un-marked grave mounds were flattened and many more subjected to covering with white stones.

Other  Cemeteries

There are many other cemeteries in what is loosely termed the Mt Barker District.  These include Echunga (2), Meadows, Macclesfield, Hahndorf (2), and Nairne.  A number of members of my family have been, and still are, responsible for the burial of people in these cemeteries.

Persons who died in Mt Barker pre-1900

I have spent some considerable time extracting death records of people whose deaths were recorded as having occurred in Mt Barker. 

 

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