Fremantle Cemetery

Dating to 1898, the cemetery covers {{convert|46|ha}},{{cite web |title=Fremantle Cemetery |website=Metropolitan Cemeteries Board |url=http://www.mcb.wa.gov.au/OurCemeteries/Fremantle-Cemetery.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906142816/http://www.mcb.wa.gov.au/OurCemeteries/Fremantle-Cemetery.aspx |archive-date=6 September 2013 |access-date=28 August 2013 }} and is the third public cemetery for the Fremantle area. The first was in Alma Street, which closed in 1855 and is now a primary school.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article212418764 |title=Alma-Street Cemetery. |newspaper=The Fremantle Herald |volume=1 |issue=13 |location=Western Australia |date=11 July 1913 |accessdate=7 July 2023 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}} The second, at Skinner Street, started in 1852 and was operating until 1899, when Fremantle Cemetery cemetery was already open. Burials were transferred by families from earlier cemeteries to Fremantle Cemetery, including Mary Anne Morrell who died in 1832. Hers is one of the oldest gravestones and was moved from Alma Street by her family in 1915. In 1930, 90 other gravestones were moved from Skinner Street to Fremantle Cemetery. The Skinner Street cemetery is now the location of the John Curtin College of the Arts oval, where it is estimated some 800 bodies still remain.{{cite web | url = http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Content/PdfLoader.aspx?id=aa1038ca-2aec-4868-bd08-7f8aeef63737&type=assessment | title = Assessment Documentation – John Curtin College of the Arts | accessdate = 26 August 2013 | date = 23 November 2001| work = Register of Historic Places | publisher = Heritage Council of Western Australia | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20131203020420/http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Content/PdfLoader.aspx?id=aa1038ca-2aec-4868-bd08-7f8aeef63737&type=assessment | archivedate = 3 December 2013}}

Over 40,000 burials have taken place at Fremantle Cemetery. For its first sixty years, the cemetery was dedicated to burials but in 1959 a crematorium was opened which allows an alternative to those who preferred cremations. Since that time, over 66,000 cremations have taken place here.[http://www.mcb.wa.gov.au/OurCemeteries/Fremantle-Cemetery/HeritageWalkTrail.aspx Fremantle Cemetery Heritage Walk Trail One] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203031849/http://www.mcb.wa.gov.au/OurCemeteries/Fremantle-Cemetery/HeritageWalkTrail.aspx |date=3 December 2013 }}, accessed 26 August 2013

Situated on the corner of Carrington Street and Leach Highway, many of the cemetery buildings use limestone which reflects the area's convict-built architecture.

The cemetery has a trail that visitors may use to explore its heritage. The first grave on the trail is that of Saverio Pensabene, a local fisherman who had his boat sequestered during World War II because he was Italian. The second grave on the trail is that of AC/DC singer Bon Scott, reportedly the most visited grave in Australia. Many AC/DC pilgrims come to the cemetery to "have a beer with Bon" as seen in the movie Thunderstruck.{{cite news|last=Neal|first=Matt|title=Five famous rock'n'roll graves|url=http://www.standard.net.au/story/724805/five-famous-rocknroll-graves/|accessdate=27 August 2013|newspaper=The Standard|date=11 July 2008}} Scott's plaque has been stolen several times, and visitors often leave ephemera such as CDs by way of respect. The plaque, a bench and Scott's remains are an Australian National Monument.{{cite web|title=Historic Places Assessment form|url=http://www.nationaltrust.org.au/Assets/9632/1/20050908AssessmentBonScottMemorialMEL19.pdf|publisher=nationaltrust.org.au|accessdate=18 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106143828/http://www.nationaltrust.org.au/Assets/9632/1/20050908AssessmentBonScottMemorialMEL19.pdf|archive-date=6 November 2013|url-status=dead}} The third notable grave is that of Henry Briggs, a headmaster who went into politics.Toby Manford, 'Briggs, Sir Henry (1844–1919)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/briggs-sir-henry-5359/text9063, accessed 28 August 2013.

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|File:Grave of Bon Scott, Fremantle Cemetery, Western Australia - 20060218.jpg

|The grave of Bon Scott is much visited

|File:Henry Briggs Fremantle Cemetery.jpg

|Henry Briggs became president of the Legislative Council{{which? |date=January 2025}}

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Mary Ann Morrell is mentioned because of her gravestone's age, whilst the next is partially important because of the gravestone's height. The tall granite and marble memorial to Percival Mulligan was imported from Italy by the grieving parents of this young speedway star. The memorial is over 4.5 metres tall and is said to have cost the same as a house.{{cite web|title=Founders and Felons|url=http://www.mcb.wa.gov.au/Libraries/Documents_-_general_website/Founders_and_Felons_Fremantle_Historical_Walk_Trail.sflb.ashx|publisher=Metropolitan Cemeteries Board|accessdate=27 August 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130412184534/http://www.mcb.wa.gov.au/Libraries/Documents_-_general_website/Founders_and_Felons_Fremantle_Historical_Walk_Trail.sflb.ashx|archivedate=12 April 2013}}

Thomas Clarke Edwards had the largest funeral witnessed after a policeman hit him whilst he was at a protest that turned into the 1919 Fremantle Wharf riot.{{cite news | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27604305 | title=Funeral of the Late Mr. Thomas C. Edwards | work=The West Australian | date=10 May 1919 | accessdate=26 August 2013}}

Henry Vincent was at the other end of the spectrum. He was a cruel gaoler of Aboriginal prisoners on Rottnest Island. He was buried here in 1867.

George Bland Humble was a respected headmaster who was later driven from his job by a mayor. Humble stood against him at the next election but was defeated. He was a member of the Fremantle Cemetery board and is said to have spent weeks planning his own funeral.Wendy Birman, 'Humble, George Bland (1839–1930)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/humble-george-bland-3815/text6017, accessed 28 August 2013.

File:Eric Cooke, Martha Rendell, Fremantle Cemetery.jpg

Martha Rendell was infamous as the only woman in Western Australia to hang for her crimes. She was convicted of sadistically killing her own stepchildren. Eric Edgar Cooke was a serial killer who was the last person to be hanged in Western Australia. He confessed to two murders that eventually led to two innocent men being released with pardons.[http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cooke-edgar-eric-9817 Eric Edgar Cooke], Australian Dictionary of Biography, accessed August 2013

Ivan Fredericks was a humble miner known as Russian Jack. He pushed his injured mate 30 miles in a wheelbarrow. His noble acts led to him being honoured by the Russian Orthodox church after his death.{{Citation | title=Ivan Fredericks (Russian Jack) | publication-date=2000-07-18 | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/151764610 | accessdate=28 August 2013 }}

File:Russian Jack, Fremantle Cemetery.jpg, a poor but noble man]]

The eleventh notable grave is that of Bartholomew Daly who was a councillor and contractor in South Fremantle.[http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/Details/0f59fb49-bb9a-4845-953b-3c06e42dd5b8 Bartholomew Daly's stables], State Heritage Register, accessed 27 August 2013 His wake, organised by his six sons, is said to be a local legend.

John Smyth was a simple priest but he has a large Celtic cross paid for by his parishioners. He died poor whereas William Edward Marmion was a successful businessman who founded W E Marmion & Co.{{cite book | author=R. T. Appleyard | title= Marmion, William Edward (1845–1896) | chapter= William Edward Marmion (1845–1896) | publisher=Australian Dictionary of Biography | url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100407b.htm}}

Karol Tapci was hanged for murder, but there is suspicion that he was harshly sentenced for being a foreigner.

Joseph Francis Allen was an East Fremantle mayor who also designed East Fremantle's Town Hall. He died in unexplained circumstances. Elias Solomon was a politician. Lionel Samson was a successful Jewish businessman and his grandson Sir Frederick Samson was known as "Mr Fremantle". Mary Higham was a local widow who became a successful businesswoman despite having to send her sons to meetings she could not attend due to sexual discrimination.

Joseph Johnston was a clergyman who had a church named after him whereas John Bateman and his son Walter Bateman created a hardware business. Annie Jane Sheehy was a nurse and midwife whereas Ernest Alexander Ryan was just a robber who married underworld boss Kate Leigh at a wedding celebrated in Fremantle in 1950.

William Watson was a wealthy and generous man who went into politics as an independent, but was not as successful as Alexander McCallum who was a party man and became a deputy premier. He had the first state funeral in Western Australia for 40 years when he died in 1937.[http://innopac.slwa.wa.gov.au/record=b2378277#.Uh3WChvry3w State Funeral pictures], State Library of Western Australia, accessed 26 August 2013

File:Moondyne Joe, Fremantle Cemetery.jpg escaped from a number of cells.]]

William Dalgety Moore built a number of important local buildings.[http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/moore-william-dalgety-4237 William D. Moore], Australian Dictionary of Biography, accessed August 2013 The next person is an escapologist: Moondyne Joe escaped capture a number of times and died in a lunatic asylum. Brian William Robinson was the last, but one, person to be hanged for murder in 1964. James Lilly was a businessman who poisoned himself.

Fred Instone was a businessman and Fremantle councillor.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32951123 Obituary], The West Australian, July 1834 Civil engineer C Y O'Connor was driven to suicide by unfounded speculation about his integrity. He shot himself on horseback, with Australian politicians being seen as the cause.{{DNZB|Pollard|John|2o1|O'Connor, Charles Yelverton – Biography|26 August 2013}}

File:Carlisle Castle, City of York memorial. Fremantle2.jpg

Memorial 32 is to shipwrecks in general and to that of the City of York in 1899, in which two tall ships were lost on the same night.

The 33rd is to Daniel Scott who was the first chair of the Fremantle town trust, and Jane Francis Scott, his daughter who died aged two. Her gravestone had an unusual story as it was found being used as a hearth and was only returned to the cemetery years after Jane's death. The last notable burial was for William and Elizabeth Adams. Elizabeth was a midwife and William was a whaler who served as a soldier at the Battle of Waterloo.

The cemetery also houses the mortal remains of Laszlo Toth, responsible for the vandalization of the Michelangelo's Pietà.

The cemetery contains the war graves of 120 Commonwealth service personnel of World War I and 21 of World War II. The city had a major naval base served by the cemetery.[https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/14106/fremantle-cemetery/ CWGC Cemetery Report]

On 9 February 2008, following the death of actor Heath Ledger, his remains were cremated at Fremantle Cemetery; a funeral for ten members of his immediate family followed, and his ashes were scattered in a family plot at Karrakatta Cemetery, in Perth.[http://www.pleasetakemeto.com/australia/perth/fremantle-cemetery-9103726 Fremantle Cemetery Information] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130818105403/http://www.pleasetakemeto.com/australia/perth/fremantle-cemetery-9103726 |date=18 August 2013 }}, PleaseTakeMeTo.com, accessed 16 August 2013

The ashes of Royal New Zealand Air Force Group Captain Leonard Trent (1915–1986), a World War II Victoria Cross recipient, who died in New Zealand, were brought for burial in this cemetery,{{cite web |title=Summary of Record Information: Leonard Trent |url=http://www2.mcb.wa.gov.au/NameSearch/details.php?id=FO00031521 |website=Metropolitan Cemeteries Board |publisher=Government of Western Australia |accessdate=3 February 2020}} alongside those of his daughter, Judith, who had predeceased him.{{cite web |title=Online Cenotaph: Leonard Henry Trent |url=https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C131843 |website=Online Cenotaph |publisher=Auckland Museum |accessdate=3 February 2020}}

{{reflist |30em}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130412184534/http://www.mcb.wa.gov.au/Libraries/Documents_-_general_website/Founders_and_Felons_Fremantle_Historical_Walk_Trail.sflb.ashx A guide to this cemetery called "Felons and Founders" is downloadable].

{{subject bar |auto=y |portal1=Western Australia |portal2=Modern history }}

Category:Cemeteries in Western Australia

Category:1898 establishments in Australia

Category:Cemeteries established in the 1890s

Category:Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Australia