M.S.C. Cemetery – St. Mary’s Towers (1907 to present)
In the MSC cemetery behind the Retreat Centre, members of the Society of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Australian Province and others are buried. This cemetery is the last resting place for most of the members of the province, just over two hundred, but those buried elsewhere are also remembered here. Many members come to pay their last respects, and visitors remember old friendships as they wander among the graves.
Scattered among the MSC are a few Lay members of the Chevalier Family, as well as one or two other non-MSC who laboured along side MSC priests and brothers.
While the cemetery was in use from an early time during the MSC ownership of the property, it was only consecrated on the 29th March 1944, by Most Reverend Francis Xavier Gsell msc the first bishop of the Diocese of Palmerston (now Darwin, covering the whole Northern Territory). The consecration stone marks the edge of the pathway into the cemetery.
The cemetery is composed of three sections; The older section, slightly raised beds with sandstone borders and white marble lead-embeded headstones, crowned with a cross of marble.
The newer section is a lawn cemetery also of three double-sided rows, begun in the year 2002, it has metal plaques on low concrete supports.
The third section is a memorial house built in the style of a Tongan Fale (meeting house) with a large pink granite memorial stone naming those buried in cemeteries elsewhere than Douglas Park. A waterfall adorns the Fale.
A rose garden punctuates the second and third sections.
The consecration stone, statues and crosses, as well as the field-stone fences (probably the labour of the apostolic school boys) were all set in place during the time of the first section. The cemetery fence encompasses a large area – future predictions perhaps that many MSC would finish their days here.
Of special significance in the older section is the grave of Rev. Father Marie Pierre Treand msc, founder of the MSC Australian Province, and a contemporary of the founder of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Fr. Jules Chevalier. Originally from France, Father Treand had been in England to establish an Apostolic School at Glastonbury, Somerset, when called by Father Chevalier to come to Sydney, to help with the new foundations in Australia.
A tragic memorial standing at the base of the central white cross is to three MSC who were killed during the hostilities of the Second World War; Fr. David McCullagh, Fr. Ted Harris, and Br. Clifford Brennan. The original memorial stone marked the entrance to the older section, but had deteriorated and needed replacing.
The present pink basalt memorial in the Fale was made when the 2002 rennovations took place.
Old Public Cemetery
Good Shepherd Hill, St. Mary’s Towers
There is an old public cemetery on the hilltop behind the buildings (now called Good Shepherd Hill due to the statue mounted there) where the grove of gum trees now stands.
It was established in the time of Major Mitchell and Dr. Jenkins, but the headstones are gone from there.
Research is currently being done on this cemetery, and a restored memorial is planned for the site.
Appin Cemetery
St Bede’s Catholic Church & Graveyard, Appin
St. Bede’s Catholic Cemetery at Appin is part of Our Lady Help of Christians Parish, Rosemeadow. The cemetery is owned and operated by Rosemeadow Parish. Copyright for information here is held by the parish. Kind permission has been granted to include information on this site, for which we are most grateful.
For all enquiries including those regarding burial or interment of ashes, please contact the Parish Office: phone: 02 4628 1385
or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
An Old Colonial Gothic style church, St Bede’s is notable for its intactness and the fact that it still retains much of its original character. The church was designed by Father John Joseph Therry and construction commenced in 1837. Bishop Polding sent Therry to Tasmania in 1838 and altered the original design of the church.
Inspection of the stonework indicates that different tradesmen built the church in stages. It has a slate roof and iron roofed square tower, which once had a timber belfry. St. Bede’s has an inscription carved over the entrance that reads “J.P. EPUS A.D. 1841” indicating that work was completed on the church in 1841. The Cemetery associated with the church has many historic headstones.
St Bede’s Catholic church and graveyard are situated on four acres of ground centrally located within the township, on the corner of Appin Road and King Street.
The graveyard has some fine examples of monumental masonry reflecting the Irish Catholic background of many of the early settlers of the district.
Index of Cemetery Headstone Names & Dates;
Surveyed in August – September, 1978, by Rev. Fr. T. J. Whitty M.S.C. Original Transcripts of Fr. Whitty’s notes held at St. Mary’s Towers.
Click here to download Fr. Whitty’s Cemetery Transcripts.
Wilton Cemetery
St. Luke’s Church of England Graveyard, Wilton
Town lots in the settlement of Wilton were first sold in 1844 and the Church of England received two acres for a church, school and parsonage in 1866. The Church and adjacent cemetery which is of great historical interest is located on Wilton Road (formerly Argyle Street).
Cemetery transcripts were kept at St Mark’s Picton (S.A.G. Reels 0195, 0196). At various times from 1839 this parish included St. Matthews, The Oaks; St. Albans, Douglas Park; St. Luke’s, Wilton; St. Stephen’s, Thirlmere; and Yerranderie C of E. Research material and cemetery transcripts held by the Picton & District Historical and Family History Society are available at Wollondilly Library – Picton Branch, Menangle Street, Picton. (http://www.stonequarry.com.au/padhfhs/)
With the introduction of coal mining in the district, miner’s homes were built in the village and more recent growth has been experienced with young families moving into the town.
Probably the most eccentric character from Wilton was James Tyson, a multimillionaire who made his initial fortune providing meat for goldminers in the Victorian goldfields. He never married, left no will and, after his death, relatives were left to fight over his assets.
