Burial Ground

This image is a detail from the Trigonometrical Survey of Sydney. It shows the Old Burial Ground and the Cathedral next to it in 1865. The Council was granted the land for a Town Hall shortly afterwards.

(image: Detail from Sheet E1, Trigonometrical Survey of Sydney 1865. City of Sydney Archives / State Records)

The remains from the Old Sydney Burial Ground were removed by the Council to the new Necropolis at Haslem’s Creek in 1869, as required by the Cathedral Close Act. But the headstones didn’t make it. It was too difficult and time consuming to match headstones to remains in the overgrown cemetery and the Council was keen to get the town hall building works underway. Instead they erected a new imposing Classical styled sandstone monument at Rookwood. The inscription records the name of the Mayor but does not list any names of those buried in the old cemetery.

Erected
by the
Municipal Council
of the
City of Sydney
over the remains removed
from
St Andrew's
Cathedral Close
George & Druitt Streets
Sydney
Used as a cemetery
prior to the year
1822.
Walter Renny
Mayor.

(image: Private Collection, Lisa Murray.)

In 1991, Sydney Town Hall underwent major restoration works. During excavations to lay new stormwater pipes under the Lower Town Hall, workmen discovered evidence of burials. Archaeologists were employed to excavate the site and record their findings.

Of the four graves discovered, only one was relatively intact. This grave is shown in the photograph. Excavation revealed a brick vault enclosing the remains of a wooden coffin set in clay. The coffin was made of Australian red cedar, and fastened with iron nails and brass tacks. Forensic examination of the skeletal remains revealed that the bone fragments belonged to a woman. Following the excavation, the remains were re-interred during a simple ceremony conducted by the Anglican Dean of Sydney. The grave was filled in with sand and the bricks rebuilt across the top of the vault.

(image: City of Sydney Archives, CRS 904/1126/18)

Overlying the lid of one of the graves discovered in 1991 was the upper portion of a Georgian headstone, made of Sydney sandstone. Remnants of an inscription were visible:

In Memory of
Eliz Steel died
1795 Aged …

Historical research revealed that the headstone belonged to Elizabeth Steel who arrived in Sydney Cove as a convict on board the ‘Lady Juliana’ on 3 June 1790, aged 23 or 24. At the time of her sentencing authorities described her as being ‘mute by visitation of God’. After two months in Sydney, Elizabeth Steel was transferred to Norfolk Island. In November 1791, Steel married a fellow convict, Irish born James Mackey. Together they successfully farmed a ten acre leasehold until the expiry of their sentences. Steel returned to Sydney in 1794, but died the following year aged 29.

Although this headstone was found above the remains of the vault containing the skeletal remains of a female, forensic tests confirmed that there was no relationship between them. It is thought that the headstone may have fallen from another grave, possibly during the construction of the Town Hall in the late 1860s.

(image: City of Sydney Archives, CRS 904/1126/4 )

In 2003 more graves were discovered to the north of the Town Hall. Excavations were required in conjunction with alterations to the building. When the paving was removed between the Town Hall and Druitt Street, evidence of the old ground surface was found immediately below. Several graves were uncovered, including some brick vaults. The graves are aligned in an east-west direction (as are all other graves discovered previously on the site). The discovery of these graves relatively undisturbed so close to the Town Hall suggests that in 1868-69 the Council simply cleared the site of headstones and only removed graves when they got in the way of construction. The plans for a new forecourt are being redesigned to avoid disturbing the remains.

(image: Private Collection, Lisa Murray)