2025 - Year in review
The Trustees of the Castlemaine Cemetery would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the 65 families that have just experienced their first Christmas and New Years without their loved one. We hope you find a little bit of comfort knowing that our cemetery is well cared for and that we aim to create a place of peace and reflection where we can also nurture our unique wildlife and the biodiversity on this very special piece of land.
Once again we have had a really busy year and the volunteer team have worked incredibly hard. Here’s just a few of the things we achieved in 2025.
We successfully applied for a cemetery grant through the Department of Health to redirect the drain in the front part of the cemetery back to the original 1850’s lay out. This was done so we could reinstate over 100 graves that were desecrated in the 1970’s. For some unknown reason Row 3 and part of Row 4 of the Catholic section was desecrated and a drain was dug through these rows. Headstones were removed to make way for this drain. No care was given to those that were interred in this area. No one was charged for this destruction despite it being a breach of the Act. We are very happy that we were able to rectify this and we are in the process of returning some of the headstones back to these graves.
After getting together with the team at Maldon Cemetery a decision was made to try and organise a cemetery network for Central Vic. This was done in order to support and learn from each other. It has proved to be very successful and a number of central Vic cemeteries met every second month this year. We have had a number of cemeteries contact us asking if they could be part of the network which is great. Guest speakers at these meetings included a rep from the Department of Health and the executive officer from the Cemeteries and Crematorium Association of Victoria. We ran workshops on fee reviews and on meeting our legal requirements for the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner.
Parks Victoria contacted us after they found some headstones in storage. With the help of historian extraordinaire Jeannie Lister we were able to find where they originally came from. Read the story here
We continued to build nesting boxes and installed another 8 around the cemetery.
We made four more seats for the cemetery thanks to a donation of sleepers from Maldon Historical Railways
For Mother’s day we installed 162 solar lights on all of the children’s graves in the Primitive Methodist section. This created a poignant light display and demonstrated just how many children died during the gold rush, the majority of these children are in unmarked graves. View the video here
We cleaned and restored numerous historical graves straightening some that were at risk of falling and smashing. Our last restoration for 2025 was that of a 3 year old little boy. His headstone had fallen and lay flat on the ground for many years. We were able to stand it back up and make it safe.
We removed a huge area of invasive broom from the bushland area of the cemetery grounds.
A number of Trustees took on new roles as secretary, treasurer and assisting with office work and funeral preparation. Whilst we are still all settling into our new roles and working out processes, this will be of enormous benefit to our cemetery in the long run.
We continued to build small rock pools under a number of taps which ensure our wildlife have a permanent supply of fresh water. The dogs that walk their humans around the cemetery also enjoy these water stations.
We assisted author Lyn Cooper in locating the grave of Ah Hing so she could place a plaque on his unmarked grave. In 1883 Ah Hing experienced horrific racism as he lay dying in the Main Street of Castlemaine. Lyn Coopers great grandfather, Sergeant Henry Frood, showed him kindness and empathy and assisted Ah Hing to get to hospital. Lyn has written a book on her ancestor and Ah Hing titled “The Mystery Medal.” The event to unveil the plaque on Ah Hings grave was well attended
Our Chair Debra Tranter successfully lobbied politicians in NSW and Victoria to amend the legislation to allow pets to be buried in a human cemetery. Debra was able to create a huge amount of media on the subject to garner public support and put pressure on the Government to amend the legislation. Even the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked questions about the issue
“Asked about the issue on ABC Radio Melbourne, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese — the proud owner of a Cavoodle named Toto — says it shouldn't be illegal and "a bit of common sense should apply".
"If people feel close to their pets and they want to be buried with them, why would you stop it? Who's being hurt?"
Read the ABC article here
We thank everyone for their support this year. We already have a list of projects for 2026, it’s going to be another busy year!
If you have a comment, compliment or a complaint, our feedback form can be downloaded from this page