| In 1865 Truganina cemetery was gazetted, the second district public cemetery. This followed land being set aside in the township of Wyndham (later Werribee) in October 1864 for a public cemetery. The cemetery is located on the west side of Woods Road in Truganina. The land originally being part of the 128 acre property owned by William Doherty in 1858. It was originally fenced by stone with an iron gates. However the stone fence was removed a number of years ago. Prior to the opening of the cemetery, Truganina residents were buried within enclosures on local farming properties. The original Trustees of the cemetery were all district farmers being William Leake, John Robinson, John Stewart, Robert Faragher and Thomas Haynes (who was Shire Engineer at the time). The earliest death commemorated in the cemetery is that of Elizabeth Robinson sho died on December 16, 1866 aged 4 months. She was the daughter of John Robinson and his wife Margaret Dunlop. This second earliest death commemorated is another infant who died a fortnight after Elizabeth. He was John James Faragher and he died on December 25, 1866. There are rumours that the earliest burial took place in October 1865 before the site was officially recognised as a cemetery, but it unknown who this was. Another story has a gold miner being buried in 1851 directly in from the front gates. The cemetery is comprised of the following denominations : Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Church of England, Baptist and Other Denominations. In 1969 bushfires claimed all the cemetery records, a number of headstones and about 60 houses in the area. Burials that took place prior to the fires are only identifiable by the remaining headstones. Since the fires only 19 burials have taken place until September 1995. In February 1982, the then Trustees of the Truganina cemetery wrote to the Werribee Shire Council (as it was then) with a request that they assume responsibility of the administration of the cemetery. At a Council meeting on 22 February 1982, it was agreed and the Council took over the role as Trustee from that date. In addition to being the internment site of Truganina's early settlers, the cemetery is also the site of endangered plant species. Button Wrinklewort (Rutiodosis Leplorrhyncoides) is an endangered species that exists in few locations in Austraila. The cemetery also supports one of the best remaining examples of the original Kangaroo Grass (Themeda Triandra). The central section of the cemetery has been reserved for the preservation of these species. The area is burnt off once in three years during winter when the Button Wrinklewort is dormant. Werribee City Council. Werribee & Truganina
cemeteries: procedure manual. September 1995,
p.30-33. |