Eltham Cemetery - Artistic Recollections Booklet

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CemeteryAND VICTORIAN
CHRISTMAS BUSH The Eltham Cemetery Trust, established in 1858,
selected the existing burial site on about six
acres of high ground on Mount Pleasant Road
overlooking the village of Eltham. Much can be
discovered about the developing community of
Eltham on a walking tour through the cemetery’s
historic grounds. Initially the cemetery was
divided into Christian denominations and the
first recorded burial took place in 1861 in
the Church of England section. In the 1970’s
a non-denominational lawn section was
established and since then all new areas have
been non-denominational to accommodate the
increasingly diverse local community.
Headstones depict the names of many
pioneering and well-known local families
including Thomas Sweeney, a former convict,
David Clark, Eltham Primary School’s first
headmaster and Sir William Irvine, a former
Victorian Premier. Other prominent local artists
and environmentalists include Justus Jörgensen,
Alistair Knox and Gordon Ford. Significant
women in the area’s history include Pauline
Toner MP, educator and Politician and Nina
Christesen, Lecturer and Academic.
The native plant featured in this panel is the
Victorian Christmas bush or Prostanthera lasianthos.
These beautiful large shrubs are a member of the
mint family and bloom with delicate white flowers
in late spring and summer, and specifically around
Christmas time inVictoria.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Eltham Cemetery
Eltham Cemetery Trust Collection
Photographer Matthew Price;
Transformation by Design
INFORMATION
Marshall, Marguerite.
Nillumbik Now andThen (2008)
Women Australia
accessed at http://www.
AWE0110b.htm
PaulineToner Biography
accessed at
au/biography/toner-pauline-
therese-15814