Beaumaris Cemetery

Beaumaris Cemetery (former), 1,2,3, & 4 Bickford Ct, Beaumaris, VIC, Australia

Photographs:None

List:Register of the National Estate

Class:Historic

Legal Status:Indicative Place

Place ID:100828

Place File No:2/17/035/0004

Nominator’s Statement of Significance:

One Australian Aboriginal is buried in the Beaumaris Cemetery, therefore the cemetery is a Sacred Site to the Aboriginal community as well as the descendants of the pioneers of the Parish of Moorabbin, Victoria. This is a site of cultural, historic and social significance of value for future generations as well as for the present community. A study of the records of the Beaumaris Cemetery, Victoria 1855-65, reveals details of life style, causes of death and the problems endured by the pioneers of the Parish of Moorabbin as they struggled to establish themselves in the district. The Beaumaris Church and Cemetery site was a focal point for social and religious interaction for the people in that part of the Parish of Moorabbin, from 1855 until 1893, when the Church building was removed.

Official Values: Not Available

Description:

In 1855 Stephen Charman donated to the Methodist Church of Victoria one and a half acres of his land for use as a Church site and cemetery. This cemetery was used by the pioneers of the Parish of Moorabbin for a period of just over ten years, 1855-65. During that period at least 126 people were buried in the Beaumaris Cemetery. Certified copies of their Death Certificates have been purchased from the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. The Methodist Church, which was erected on the land donated by Stephen Charman, was used until 1893 when it was sold to the Frankston Circuit for re-erection at Langwarrin. There were no further burials at the Beaumaris Cemetery after the 1865-66 period. In 1954, the Methodist Church applied to the Moorabbin Council for approval for a housing subdivision on the site. The Moorabbin Council gave approval. The Acts of Parliament of the State of Victoria relating to cemeteries and health required the approval of the Health Department before the disturbance of the soil of a cemetery could take place. A letter from the Minister for Health, The Honourable Marie Tehan MP, dated 19 December, 1995, states: ‘It has been confirmed that the Department of Health and Community Services holds no records relating to the Beaumaris Wesleyan Cemetery or exhumations that may have occurred from it. Extensive searches have been made at the Public Records Office, Victoria, of the records relating to exhumations, but no documents or records relating to the Beaumaris Cemetery have been found. The records of the Cheltenham Cemetery, nearby to Beaumaris, have been searched and not one name of a person buried appears on the Cheltenham Cemetery Register, which would be the case if a re-interment had taken place. I conclude that the bodies of those buried in the Beaumaris Cemetery, 1855-65, remain under the houses in Balcombe Road and Bickford Court, Beaumaris.’

History: Not Available

Condition and Integrity:

There are six privately owned houses and one vacant block of land which now constitute the site of the Beaumaris Cemetery. The residents of the six houses are aware that the land is the site of the former Beaumaris Cemetery and have displayed an intelligent and respectful interest in the matter.

Location:

300, 302 and 304 Balcombe Road, and 1, 2, 3 and 4 Bickford Court, Beaumaris.

Bibliography:

Joy, Shirley M., 1995. “The Search for Beaumaris Cemetery, Vic. 1855-1865″ . Pages 2-42.

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