Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Rookwood Cemetery

Large cemetery established in 1868 on the railway line between Sydney and Parramatta at Haslem's Creek. It became known as the Rookwood Necropolis after the suburb in which it was located. The suburb's name was eventually changed to Lidcombe, but the cemetery retained the name of Rookwood. 

-33.864867433553, 151.04816244969

Milestone
Buried
Buried
03 May 1854
Opened
01 Jan 1868
Replaced
1868
Buried
23 Jul 1868
Buried
1869
Buried
17 Jul 1870
Buried
08 Apr 1872
Buried
08 Sep 1872
Buried
21 Nov 1872
Buried
21 Jun 1873
Buried
18 Aug 1873
Buried
27 Feb 1876
Buried
19 Jun 1877
Buried
07 Nov 1877
Buried
27 Jun 1878
Buried
27 Nov 1878
Buried
04 Feb 1879
Buried
19 Feb 1879
Buried
06 Jul 1880
Buried
03 Sep 1880
Buried
15 Oct 1880
Buried
04 Jul 1881
Buried
18 Dec 1882
Buried
15 May 1883
Buried
16 Nov 1883
Buried
27 Oct 1884
Buried
25 Jul 1885
Buried
28 Nov 1885
Buried
15 Sep 1886
Buried
21 Mar 1888
Buried
12 Jun 1888
Buried
26 Aug 1888
Buried
09 Jan 1889
Buried
01 Feb 1889
Buried
02 Feb 1889
Buried
29 Dec 1890
Buried
14 Sep 1891
Buried
16 Sep 1891
Buried
21 Oct 1891
Buried
22 Nov 1891
Buried
22 Jan 1892
Buried
28 Jan 1892
Buried
25 Apr 1892
Buried
25 Sep 1892
Buried
12 Nov 1892
Buried
19 Jan 1893
Buried
11 Aug 1893
Buried
07 Oct 1893
Buried
Jun 1894
Buried
Jun 1894
Buried
15 Oct 1894
Buried
18 Dec 1894
Buried
14 Jan 1896
Buried
16 Jun 1896
Buried
23 Jan 1897
Buried
18 Feb 1897
Buried
27 Dec 1897
Buried
31 Dec 1899
Buried
03 Jul 1900
Buried
09 Oct 1900
Buried
10 Nov 1900
Buried
1901
Buried
1901
Buried
1901
Buried
1901
Buried
1901
Buried
19 Jan 1901
Buried
13 Apr 1901
Buried
25 Nov 1901
Buried
13 Dec 1901
Buried
03 Mar 1902
Buried
06 Feb 1903
Buried
08 Jun 1903
Buried
28 Jul 1903
Buried
03 Oct 1903
Buried
07 May 1904
Buried
30 Jul 1904
Buried
03 Aug 1904
Buried
17 Dec 1904
Buried
02 May 1905
Buried
04 Nov 1905
Buried
06 Jul 1906
Buried
19 Jul 1906
Buried
20 Jul 1906
Buried
10 May 1907
Buried
25 Jul 1907
Buried
25 Nov 1908
Buried
08 Apr 1909
Buried
17 Jun 1910
Buried
25 Nov 1910
Buried
20 Jan 1912
Buried
18 Oct 1912
Buried
21 Oct 1912
Buried
20 Nov 1912
Buried
26 Feb 1913
Buried
23 Jun 1913
Buried
14 Jan 1914
Buried
26 Jul 1914
Buried
14 Dec 1914
Buried
24 Dec 1915
Buried
31 Oct 1916
Buried
23 Dec 1916
Buried
22 Apr 1917
Buried
22 Jun 1917
Buried
21 Jul 1917
Buried
17 Aug 1917
Buried
01 Sep 1917
Buried
02 Apr 1918
Buried
03 Oct 1918
Buried
11 Apr 1919
Buried
14 Apr 1919
Buried
12 Jul 1919
Buried
14 Aug 1920
Buried
01 Jan 1921
Buried
03 Jun 1921
Buried
03 Dec 1921
Buried
03 Dec 1921
Buried
08 Apr 1922
Buried
13 Apr 1922
Buried
07 Apr 1923
Buried
18 Jun 1923
Buried
18 Jul 1923
Buried
18 Mar 1924
Buried
09 Jun 1924
Buried
03 Nov 1924
Buried
25 May 1925
Buried
18 Jun 1926
Buried
21 Sep 1926
Buried
08 Feb 1927
Buried
03 Jun 1927
Buried
25 Jun 1927
Buried
14 Oct 1927
Buried
01 Dec 1927
Buried
04 Sep 1928
Buried
13 Mar 1929
Buried
20 Jul 1929
Buried
23 Jun 1930
Buried
06 Aug 1930
Buried
03 Oct 1930
Buried
05 Aug 1931
Buried
29 Dec 1931
Buried
16 Aug 1932
Buried
29 Apr 1934
Buried
26 Sep 1934
Buried
03 Jan 1935
Buried
14 Dec 1936
Buried
16 Feb 1937
Buried
04 Jun 1937
Buried
02 Aug 1937
Buried
15 Sep 1937
Buried
11 Oct 1937
Buried
11 Jun 1938
Buried
26 Mar 1939
Buried
23 May 1939
Buried
08 Aug 1939
Buried
16 Jul 1940
Buried
17 Jul 1941
Buried
31 Oct 1944
Buried
Apr 1945
Buried
Dec 1947
Buried
15 Apr 1952
Buried
24 Nov 1954
Buried
Dec 1973
Buried
30 Sep 1975
Buried
1999
Buried
06 Aug 2019
Name
Alternate
Rookwood Necropolis
Commemorated by
Property
Comprises
Comprises
1867 - 1957
Type

Lidcombe

CC BY-SA 2.0
,
2008

Standing on Dharug land, Lidcombe was settled by 1828 with ex-convicts and free settlers on small grants. With the railway, stockyards and abbatoirs, and the large cemetery, prosperity came to what was then Rookwood. In the twentieth century, industrial development and decline, and new migration have changed the face of the suburb.

Funeral trains

CC BY-SA 2.0
,
2016

By the 1840s, Sydney's Devonshire Street cemetery was nearing capacity so planning commenced for a new cemetery at Haslems Creek. From 1867 through to 1948, a branch from the Parramatta to Sydney line brought mourners and coffins into the Rookwood Necropolis, with grand sandstone mortuary stations at both ends.