The first burials in Port Macquarie took place at what is now known as Allman Hill in 1821.
With the untimely death of James McMahon on 22 July, 1821 Captain Allman decided to set aside an area for a burying ground. Realising that in life there was death, he had to decide its location in the Settlement. The absence of wheeled vehicles at the time and a highly vegetated country side, was probably the determining factor that the area should be on rising ground overlooking the mouth of the Hastings. It offered convenience, easy tilling, good drainage and remoteness from the centre of the Settlement.
Allman Hill is located at the eastern end of Clarence Street overlooking the Hastings River entrance and Town Beach. Its 28 burials by 1824 saw its closure, however, four monuments remain.
With the closure of the first burying ground it became necessary to seriously plan for a new burying ground.
The topography of Port Macquarie, bounded as it is by water, determined that the most convenient place at the time was to be on a peninsular, a short distance southward of the settlement's centre at the confluence of Wright and Kooloonbung Creeks.
The site had been noted earlier by Lieutenant John Oxley, Surveyor General, in his diary of 1818 as bushy; as such, the four odd acres (1.6 hectares) would have had to be thoroughly cleared before any internments could have taken place. Whether this was done prior to the first burial of Elizabeth Murphy by the Reverend Thomas Hassall on 15 November, 1824 or whether Captain Allman had had the land prepared prior to this to cultivate the cotton seed he had been issued with has not been substantiated.
In any case the first burials commenced at the southern end of the peninsular under the rites of the Established Church.
Nearly 1500 soldiers, convicts and settlers were buried in the Port Macquarie historic cemetery, the town's second cemetery, between 1824-1886. Although the cemetery officially closed in 1886, further burials were reported after this date. Today, over 110 graves can be seen, and information on more than 1350 persons buried in this Cemetery can be found in 'Port Macquarie - The Winding Sheet', which is available from the Port Macquarie Historical Society.
The cemetery, located at the junction of Gordon and Horton Streets, is of State heritage significance and classified by the National Trust of Australia (NSW). It forms part of the Kooloonbung Creek Nature Park.
Noteworthy persons whose monuments can be seen at the cemetery are John Verge, Colonial Architect; Dr. Jean Baptiste; Charles Lamonnerie (dit Fattorini); members of the Innes family and Rev. John Cross, Colonial Chaplain.
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Port Macquarie Hisotirc Cemetery, a guide to Port Macquarie's Second Burying Ground.pdf (431KB)
