Ethersay's Book, Ballarat Old Cemetery: Part ONE
Notes
This book is held at the Ballarat Cemeteries, and is the earliest available information about burials in Ballarat. It is handwritten presumably by the first Sexton, James Ethersay. The photographs were taken around 2002 and some are not the best quality, but they have survived and are a record so have been preserved here. The index is alphabetical and describes the burials in the pages following. The index names are entered in alphabetical order throughout. They begin in 1847, prior to the official start of the Cemetery in 1856.[1]
There is some annotating and referencing in the register such as some pencilled "known grave" or red biro or ink. It is not known who wrote or annotated this register.[2]
These photographs have been added to the wiki because they contain some names of people associated with Eureka.
Clare Gervasoni and Dr Dorothy Wickham of Ballarat Heritage Services have sourced or taken many photographs relevant to Eureka,
and allow their use on the Eurekapedia Wiki.
These photographs of the Ethersay Book were taken by Dorothy Wickham in 2002.
Page Created by Dr Dorothy Wickham March 2023.
Background
Mr James Ethersay established a cemetery in the Ballarat area when, prior to the gold rushes of 1851, he accepted fees to inter bodies around the site of the present Ballaarat Old Cemetery. Two burials were registered in 1847. The Humffray Street Burying Ground, Eureka Street Burial Ground, and the Tress-Peake Street Ground, are mentioned in Ethersay’s register but it is difficult to locate precisely the sites of these early burial grounds. By 1853 more burials were recorded in Ethersay’s register whilst in 1855, with the great influx of people because of the official discovery of gold during the early 1850s, the numbers of people dying and subsequent burials escalated.
Humffray Street Burying Ground
Welch, Sister of George, Humffray St Ground, 1853
See Barnard Welch
Short, Humffray St Ground, 1853
Short (2), Humffray St Ground,1853
Tress-Peake Street burying Ground
Hughes, Tress-Peake St Ground, December 1853
Eureka Street Burying Ground
Bodies re-interred into the Eureka Diggers monument
Some early burials in the Ballaarat Old Cemetery
Watson John, 13 December 1847 Allen James, 18 October 1847, Nankerville Jacob (stillborn), 1850, Tyrer Gore, 17 February 1852, Watson Andrew, 09 February 1852, Allen Jessie, 26 December 1852, Schnaars Derick About winter time, Ryan Daniel, 25 November 1853, Brogden, January 1853, Brogden, February 1853, Hughes Tress-Peake St Ground, December 1853, Welch, Sister of George, Humffray St Ground, 1853, Short, Humffray St Ground, 1853, Short (2), Humffray St Ground,1853, May John, 2 July 1853, Roberts, Henry 23 July 1853, Taylor Charles 9 April 1853, Balshaw William Alfred 9 April 1853, Malcolm Richardson 1853, (E 28/2/13),1853, Malcolm McKenzie, 1853, Euphemia McKenzie, 1853, Brother of Euphemia McKenzie, 1853, Hardie, 1853, Colden Alexander, 1853, Munro Dugald, January 1854, Howarth, Jane, 11 October 1853, Trainor John, 14 October 1853, Corrie William, 04 November 1853, Ward William, 19 November 1853, Morgan David, 28 December 1853.
Index of Names
This is an alphabetical handwritten index of names.
The numbers after the names refer to the entries is the following pages of the register.
These are shown in Ethersay's Book, Ballarat Old Cemetery: PART TWO.
