Broome Pioneer Cemetery

Author

Shire of Broome

Place Number

00302

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Location

87 Robinson St Broome

Location Details

Other Name(s)

Seafarer's Cemetery
Seamen's Cemetery

Local Government

Broome

Region

Kimberley

Construction Date

Constructed from 1883

Demolition Year

N/A

Statutory Heritage Listings

Type	Status	Date	Documents	More information
Heritage List	Adopted	28 Aug 2014
State Register	Registered	02 Jun 1995	Register Entry Assessment Documentation	Heritage Council

Heritage Council Decisions and Deliberations

Type	Status	Date	Documents
(no listings)

Other Heritage Listings and Surveys

Type	Status	Date	Grading/Management		More information
Type	Status	Date	Category	Description	More information
Register of the National Estate	Permanent	18 Apr 1989			Heritage Council
Classified by the National Trust	Classified	07 Jun 1983			Heritage Council
Aboriginal Heritage Sites Register	Permanent				Heritage Council
Municipal Inventory	Adopted	28 Aug 2014	Grading A	Grading A A place of exceptional cultural heritage significance to Shire of Broome and the state of Western Australia, that is either in the Heritage Council of Western Australia’s Register of Heritage Places, or worthy of consideration for entry into the Register. A place worthy of recognition and protection through provisions of the Shire of Broome’s Town Planning Scheme. Recommend: Maximum encouragement to owners to retain and conserve the place. Full consultation with property owner prior to making the recommendation.

Statement of Significance

Broome Pioneer Cemetery is significant as an important historical record of seafaring and explorer pioneers and associations with Broome from 1883 to present day. The palisades and several headstones are of aesthetic importance for their design characteristics. The cemetery is picturesque on a promontory overlooking Roebuck Bay.

Physical Description

Broome Pioneer Cemetery comprises 11 graves and a number of memorial plots and commemorative sites. The pioneer graves have headstones and two graves have palisade surrounds. Installation of plaques around the site is adhoc. Retained banks of the promontory. Palisades and headstones restored in 2007.

History

The first graves on the site were of men who had died at sea. The first burial took place in 1883, the same year that Broome was gazetted as a town. Pemberton Walcott (1883), Inspector of Pearl Fisheries, Sub-Collector of Revenue and an Officer of Customs; pearler Matthew Forrest (1884) brother of John and Alexander Forrest and pearler Edward Cokayne Chippindall (1886). The cemetery was gazetted on 20 April 1890. Although there is another public cemetery in Broome, over the years, various members of old Broome families have been buried or their ashes interred at the Pioneer Cemetery and memorials have been erected. During the bombing of Broome by the Japanese on 3 March 1942, between 70 and 100 Dutch refugees from Indonesia died when the fifteen flying-boats they were occupying were sunk. They were buried in a mass grave beside the Pioneer Cemetery and after the war were disinterred for burial elsewhere. A plaque marks the place of the original grave.

Integrity/Authenticity

High degree
High degree

Condition

Good

References

Ref Name	Ref Source	Ref Date
	Conservation Management Plan L Gray & I Sauman	2004
Broome Historical Society
information provided by Kim Male; Tom Chapple, Broome	The Exciting Years	1912-1930

Other Reference Numbers

Ref Number	Description
No.32	MI Place No.

State Heritage Office library entries

Library Id	Title	Medium	Year Of Publication
7101	Broome pioneer cemetery : conservation management plan.	Heritage Study {Cons'n Plan}	2004
8907	Broome Pioneer Cemetery. Conservation works : final report.	Conservation works report	2008

Place Type

Other Built Type

Uses

Epoch	General	Specific
Present Use	MONUMENT\CEMETERY	Cemetery
Original Use	MONUMENT\CEMETERY	Cemetery

Historic Themes

General	Specific
PEOPLE	Early settlers

Creation Date

30 May 1989

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Approved

Last Update

13 Oct 2020

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.