Historical information
The Nillumbik Cemetery is of historical, architectural, aesthetic and social significance at a Regional level (North-east Melbourne). The memorial arch is of State significance.
Nillumbik Cemetery, which was established in 1867, is of historical and social significance for its association with the early history of Diamond Creek and as a record of the pioneering families of the district. Significant graves include those of the famous writer Alan Marshall, author of 'I Can Jump Puddles', footballer Gordon Coventry, and William Ellis, notable early settler and benefactor. The 1897 Tudor/Gothic revival memorial arch, bequeathed by William Ellis, is a rare design in ornamental gateways and is relatively large for the size of the cemetery. It is unique in Victoria as a cemetery gateway arch. The burial ground has associated structures, such as the hexagonal timber sexton's office, post and wire fence and picket hand gate along Main Street, all probably built in the early twentieth century.
Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme.
National Trust of Australia (Victoria) - Regional significance
Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p83
Entering Nillumbik Cemetery through an ornamental gateway and shaded by the Monterey Cypress hedge helps one leave the busy world outside and contemplate yesterday’s Diamond Creek.
The gateway, classified by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria), and inscribed with ‘JANVA VITAE’ (gate of life), was a gift from a distinguished pioneer, William Ellis.
Ellis, who was an original trustee of the Nillumbik Cemetery representing the Primitive Methodists and a successful farmer, bequeathed £100 to build the red-brick and carved stone gateway in 1887.
In 1867 surveyor Edward Bage had set aside two acres (0.8ha) now 35 Main Street, for this cemetery, in what was then called the village of Nillumbik. Several earlier burials on private lands in the district might have been exhumed and re-interred in the new cemetery.
The first burials in the cemetery are thought to be of ‘a Chinaman who hanged himself from a tree behind the Church of England’ and ‘another man who was drowned in a water-hole behind the same church’.1
The 1000 or so graves in the cemetery are grouped into five denominational sections: two Anglican and one each for the Methodist (the largest), Catholic and Presbyterian Churches. It is believed that several unmarked graves are of Aborigines and Chinese miners.2
Perhaps the most famous person buried in the cemetery was author Alan Marshall, who died in 1984 and wrote, among other books, I Can Jump Puddles. Surprisingly his grave is particularly modest consisting of only a grassed plot with a tiny boulder and a simple bronze plaque. It lies about halfway down the main path, at the west and third row back.
The first European, interred at the cemetery on July 9, 1869, was Hannah, aged 13 years eight months, daughter of local orchardist John Lawrey and wife Honor.3
Each grave has a story which reflects a rich history. Phillip Cummings, who died in 1884, provided the barn for Diamond Creek’s first school, run by the Primitive Methodist Church. The barn stood at the corner of Phipps Crescent and the main road.4
Former Eltham Shire councillor George Stebbings, who died in 1896, built several prominent buildings in the district, including Shillinglaw Cottage in Eltham.5
The grave of miner James Joseph Whyte, who died in 1908, is a reminder of Diamond Creek’s gold mining history. At age 51, Whyte died from a rock fall in the Diamond Mine, Diamond Creek.
Diamond Creek’s first butcher, Patrick Ryan, became President of the Shire of Heidelberg and Chairman of the Eltham Hurstbridge Railway Trust. A former gold miner, he was grandfather of local historian Reverend Jock Ryan. He was buried in an unmarked grave halfway down the central path. His son John Lawrence, who is buried elsewhere, had been a Mayor of the City of Heidelberg.
George Martin Pizzey gave a hall, for what was to become The St John’s Anglican Church in Diamond Creek. He was a Crimean War veteran, mason and leather goods manufacturer in Melbourne, who died in 1915.
The two world wars took a heavy toll of locals with 54 personnel buried here, two thirds of whom served in World War One.
A sporting pioneer was Greensborough District Cricket Club founder, Andrew Webb, who was buried in 1971.
Politician Roy Mountford Vale (Monte), who died in 1977, was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Greensborough, and a founding councillor and president of the Diamond Valley Shire.
Modern-day residents are also remembered in this cemetery. The tragic Ash Wednesday bushfires took their toll on the district: William Marsden of Panton Hill CFA died, aged 39, fighting bushfires at Upper Beaconsfield in 1983.6
Several graves tell of those who held distinguished positions overseas, including William Constable, who died in 1989. Constable was artistic director of a ballet company, art director of more than 30 films for London-based film productions, and was awarded best Film Art Director at the Moscow Film Festival in 1960.
Significance
This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past.
Physical description
Born digital image file
