Wandering around cemeteries has turned up the most fascinating stories for Edith Medway.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It could be the extraordinary adornment on graves but most often it’s been people’s fascinating lives that has lured the Crookwell historian.
Mrs Medway has written the histories of Murrays Flat and Biala as part of a long interest in local heritage.
Now, as part of this weekend’s Our Living History event, she’ll be conducting tours of St Saviour’s Cemetery behind the jail and the nearby Mortis Street cemetery.
“Since my walk last year at St Saviour’s I have done more extensive research on these two old cemeteries and have found the most amazing history of some of our earliest pioneers,” Mrs Medway said.
At St Saviour’s, she’s found much more than the stories of explorer William Hovell, Saint Saviour’s first Dean William Sowerby, police superintendent Henry Zouch and First Fleeter, Mary Martin, who lived at Riversdale.
There’s a much-loved Goulburn doctor who married into a very important Queanbeyan district family.
There’ s the railway sub inspector, Thomas Liddon, who was in charge when a train crashed near Cootamundra in 1885, killing seven people and injuring twenty. Mrs Medway said Goulburn retailer John Knowlman was also on the train and reportedly never recovered from the trauma. Liddon died a year after the accident.
Captain Graham Gore and his father, Rear Admiral John Gore, who played an important role in the world’s naval exploration, are also buried there under a modest headstone. It belies what Mrs Medway calls an amazing and very tragic life story.
This tour of some 22 graves takes about 90 minutes and will be held on Friday, March 9 at 2pm. People should meet at the cemetery at Cemetery Road, North Goulburn.
At the Mortis Street cemetery, she will talk about pioneering families, the McDonalds and Duracks who she said achieved two of the most amazing treks in world history. There’s Goulburn’s first mayor, two prominent retailers, two tragedies, religious ministers, a wheelwright, builder, an author, Goulburn Herald editor and a well known school teacher, among others.
This tour, on Sunday, March 11 at 2pm, also comprises 22 graves and takes 90 minutes. People should meet at the facility, corner of Cemetery Road and Mortis Street.
Mrs Medway and fellow historian Heather West have compiled two booklets containing stories about the graves and rare photos, which will be available for sale on the days. Bookings are essential and people should wear good walking shoes. Contact Heather West on 4821 7672 or email Gdhsevents@gmail.com