Boyanup Cemetery

Statement of Significance

Boyanup Cemetery, a working interdenominational cemetery, has vistas encompassing twentieth and twenty-first century memorials and is mainly vegetated with flora native to the area. It has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: The place has associations with Boyanup’s first non-indigenous settlers who contributed to the development of Boyanup, such as the Hurst, Trigwell, Simmons and Payne families; The place is highly valued by the people of Boyanup region for its religious, historical, familial and social associations; The place contributes to the Boyanup community’s sense of place, as a visual reminder of loved ones and their contribution to the development of Boyanup and the State; The memorials, including gates, wall and monuments, together with the open spaces and natural vegetation provide an attractive landscape and is representative of the form of cemeteries established throughout Australia; and, The place is a valuable resource for research in the present and in the future. It has the potential to provide future researchers with information on human evolution, disease and death and social customs. AESTHETIC VALUE Boyanup Cemetery is a visual reminder of individual contributions to the development of the Boyanup area and community. The memorials, including gates, wall and monuments, together with the open spaces and natural vegetation provide an attractive landscape. HISTORIC VALUE Boyanup Cemetery is the burial place of many prominent members of the Boyanup community, including those associated with the early European settlement of the area, the wine and dairy industries, social and civic activities, war, and human tragedy. SCIENTIFIC VALUE Boyanup Cemetery has the potential to provide future researchers with information on human evolution, disease and death, and burial and social customs. The place is a valuable resource for research in the present and in the future. SOCIAL VALUE The place is highly valued by the people of Boyanup region for its religious, historical, familial and social associations. It contributes to the Boyanup community’s sense of place, as a visual reminder of loved ones and their contribution to the development of Boyanup and the State. RARITY This working cemetery has operated continuously since the early 1900s and is the only cemetery in the Boyanup area. Representativeness The place is representative of cemeteries established throughout Australia and the world, with its denominational sections, plots, monuments and open spaces. CONDITION The place is in good condition. Integrity The place has a high degree of integrity. AUTHENTICITY There is a high degree of authenticity in the Boyanup Cemetery. There has been no change to the curtilage and no major alterations have occurred to the place with the exception of new burials. The majority of plots, headstones and railings remaining in-situ.

Physical Description

Boyanup Cemetery is a rectangular reserve on the northern side of Payne Road in the town of Boyanup. The reserve is enclosed by a chain link fence and contains three burial sections, roads/pathways, and native vegetation. The grounds are in good condition. The main entrance to the cemetery is off Payne Road through memorial gates formed by brick pillars with iron infill. A plaque on the gates shows that they were constructed with funds donated by the wife and family of Arnott James Payne in October 1940. To the west of the gates located outside the chain link fence is a timber seat donated in 1999 commemorating member of the Boyanup CWA, Chris Milne. Beyond the main entrance is a roadway with the Protestant, Methodist and Uniting Church section located to the east, and a large area containing the Anglican Church burials to the west. The Roman Catholic Church section is located at the south-western corner of the site and can be accessed from pathways or via a second chain link gate to the west of the main entry. Plots are numbered from south to north and are located on a grid pattern. Within the Anglican Church section at the northern end is a memorial rose garden and wall, which are both well maintained. The Anglican Church section contains approximately 140 graves. The oldest grave in the cemetery is located in this section and belongs to Eva Ellen Hurst, wife of William Hurst, who died on 17 May 1902. Located next to her grave is that of William and his second wife Isobel. The Anglican section contains a number of double burials. The Protestant etc section contains approximately 30 – 40 graves with the first grave belonging to James Bryce, who died on 18 October 1920. The Roman Catholic Church section contains approximately 20 - 25 graves with the first grave belonging to Caroline Davey, who died on 30 March 1924. The majority of grave sites are marked with head stones or slabs of marble or granite construction with the exception of temporary timber crosses on recent burials. Marble crosses, headstones in lancet form (some with elaborate carvings such as the 1902 Eva Hurst grave) and marble slabs with either decorative or plain inlay writing can be found within the cemetery. Companies responsible for the head stones include the Perth based stonemasons Wilson and Gray and Bunbury company R. Hancock & Sons Ltd. Headstones are generally in good condition although some letters are missing from the inlay. Damage to headstones and wrought iron railings has been mainly due to weathering and lack of maintenance. Vases and glass jars with flowers and candles are among some of the items laid on graves to commemorate loved ones and family members.

History

Assessment:2003 Constructed: 1900 Boyanup Cemetery was proclaimed in 1903. During its operation, it has been the burial place of many identities associated with phases in local history, including early European settlement, the wine and dairy industries, social and civic activities, war, and human tragedy. Boyanup Cemetery, is located in the townsite of Boyanup in the Shire of Capel, approximately 195 km south of Perth and 18km south east of Bunbury. In the 1830s Western Australia’s first Governor, Captain James Stirling, and later his successor, Governor John Hutt, took up land in the region following the rich coastal strip and the Capel River Valley. The Capel River was discovered by non-indigenous settlers in 1834 and plans to establish a town were first noted in 1844 when the place was given its Aboriginal name ‘Coolingup,’ a Nyungar word meaning: a swamp where spearwood grows; a watering place. Boyanup, ‘meaning place of quartz’ – ‘Boya’ means ‘rock’ or ‘stone’. Boyanup is on the main road south and shown on a road survey in 1869 as Boyinup. A railway was built in 1888 between Bunbury and Boyanup and in 1891 the government declared the ‘Boyanup Agricultural Area’ open. The townsite was surveyed in 1893 and gazetted in 1894. The 1893 survey of the ‘Townsite of Boyanup, Wellington District’ by the Bunbury Land Agency allotted a cemetery reserve on the Lot 64, bounded by Payne, Ray and William Streets and adjoining Lot 83. An area of Ti Tree Swamp and poor soil is noted. A survey map of the cemetery reserve was also registered on the 30th January, 1900. It designates sandy soil and plantings of redgum, jarrah and banksias on site. Boyanup Cemetery was proclaimed a public cemetery on the 12th August, 19037 by virtue of the provisions of ‘The Cemeteries Act, 1897’ (61st Vic, No 23) on Reserve No 6742, an area of ten acres. Capel Cemetery (formerly known as Coolingup Cemetery) had been gazetted in 1900. The establishment of a cemetery separate to Capel bears testimony to the increasing population and strengthening development of Boyanup. In 1905 the Government Gazette announced the appointment of G.A. Williams, E.T. Riley and W.J. Ecclestone as Trustees to the Boyanup Public Cemetery. The Government Gazette subsequently published the cemetery’s balance sheet and changes to its By-Laws, cemetery fees and metriculation. Bunbury Roads Board Minutes dated 29th July, 1905 record that sixteen settlers from the Boyanup area requested improvements to Cemetery Road. Payne Road may have been known colloquially as Cemetery Road. Handwriting in the Burial Register (1906-1967), held in the Shire of Capel library, resembles that of minute entries by Mr E.G. Smith, the Board’s Honorary Secretary in 1923 and the writer considers that entries in the burial register were made retrospectively. The burial of Basil Duce (No. 163) is incorrectly recorded as October, 1878. This is surprising because the Cemeteries Act of 1897 made it compulsory to give each grave a distinguishing number and to keep cemetery plans showing the situation of each grave and number. The Act also specified that books and indexes were to be kept giving the distinctive numbers in numerical order and the names and the description of the persons buried. The Minutes of the Boyanup Cemetery Board (1923-1948) and a Cemetery report for 1953/54 are also held at the Capel Council Library. The location of an earlier Minute Book is unknown, perhaps indicating that records were lost or destroyed. The Board members in January 1923 were A.J. Payne (Chairman); W.H. Smith; and E.G. Smith (Hon. Secretary). The first entry indicates that it was decided to open a post office savings account and to allocate ten pounds to employ Mr W.A. Kessell for cemetery clearing. In 1924, the Government Gazette published abstracts for Boyanup Cemetery’s Receipts and Payments for the three years ended 30th June, 1923. Cash in hand as at 1st July 1920 after receipts of burial fees, interest, cash in hand and an ‘unexpended balance of amount collected by Mr W.J. Ecclestone, who was the Anglican Church Representative on a Committee in connection with the Cemetery’, amounted to twenty two pounds, one shilling and ninepence. Payments included wages, cemetery clearing, ropes, and books. The auditor General signed the statement and reference was made to a report dated 7th November, 1923. From records of headstone transcriptions, it would appear that Eva Ellen Hurst was the first person interred at Boyanup Cemetery. Eva, who died on 17th May, 1902 aged 23 years, was the wife and first cousin of William Hurst. He was the butcher for the town of Boyanup and sold meat to homes from a horse drawn covered wagon, cutting the meat as required. William died in 1930. His second wife, Isabel, died in 1946 and they are also buried at Boyanup Cemetery. Boyanup Cemetery memorials also commemorate the loss of A.I.F. servicemen during the first and second world wars and Honour Rolls for service personnel from Boyanup and Capel are recorded in the local history, Just a Horseride Away: A History of the Shire of Capel and Its People. A Memorial Park was planned by Jock Duce and other RSL members and dedicated to those who had served the country in both wars. The ‘sporting complex was completed in 1947 and catered for cricket, football, hockey, tennis, bowling, equestrian events and a host of other activities.’ In World War I, nearly every family in Capel and Boyanup had one or more of their young men enlist. It was considered ‘a chance to travel on good pay with a bit of a stoush at the end of it.’ The headstone memorial to Verner Allan Emmett commemorates his loss at Gallipoli, aged 30 years. Thomas Fowler was killed in action at Pozieres in 1916. Many returned soldiers from the Great War died from the influenza pandemic or from the effects of gassing: perhaps the memorial to J.T. Hurst, late sergeant of the A.I.F., who died in 1923 is an example of the latter. Generations of local families are buried at Boyanup Cemetery, including the Duce family. During the 1930s the family provided employment and cushioned the effects of the Depression for locals who tended vines; harvested the crops and made wine at Duce’s vineyard. The vineyard supplied hotels all over the state and the family also ran a wine saloon in Bunbury and had plans to open another at Manjimup. ‘They even filled a large order of port for London, marking the bottles and oak casks with the Duce family crest of a dragon’s head.’ When John Duce died in 1930, Basil Duce assumed the vineyard’s management. Most locals had sampled Duces’ clarets, muscats and ports before eelworm infested the vineyard, and Eric Duce closed it down around 1957. Marcus, the great grandson of John Duce, operated a dairy farm on the old property at ‘Bidecud’ where once the grapes grew. His father Jock, one-time sportsman, community man, Councillor and JP lived in a house on the old vineyard. Boyanup Cemetery is also the final resting place for Charlotte ‘Granny’ Simmons and her husband, Thomas, who are regarded as the first non-indigenous settlers in Boyanup. In 1863 they built stables on the Boyanup side of the Preston River as a coach stop. Thomas also laid the first cricket pitch in Boyanup. He died in 1909 aged 72 but Charlotte reached the age of 91. When Charlotte died in 1935, locals held a memorial concert and dance in her honour.22 Boyanup Cemetery holds many headstones to the memory of World War II service personnel who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Charles Harris was one of thousands who lost their lives as prisoners of war at Sandakan, Borneo. He was 31 years old. The memorial to Bill Morris, records that he was a husband and father, who lost his life as a prisoner of war, though the official A.I.F. records state that he died at sea. Perhaps he was aboard a torpedoed ship carrying allied prisoners of war. Laurence Simmons was just 20 years old when he died in New Guinea in 1943. Simmons is buried at the Kokoda War Cemetery but in common with the servicemen previously mentioned, his memory is commemorated at Boyanup Cemetery. Many local identities are interred at Boyanup Cemetery. Harry Leviston is photographed at Memorial Park Trotting Track in the local history, Just a Horseride Away. Leviston, who was considered an authority on racing form, was buried at Boyanup Cemetery in 1971. Another prominent local identity interred in the Boyanup Cemetery is Hugh (Digger) Kilpatrick. His grandfather had established a home farm in 1897 and Digger was a staunch Boyanup man all his life. In the early 1980s the people of Boyanup were fundraising for a new hall. They held concerts, raffles, bikeathons, walkathons and beauty quests but could only manage to raise $30,000 of the $50,000 needed to match the government grant. Digger, decided to make it his personal project. He lent part of his land to the Boyanup Pony Club and raised $1,200 bike-riding. When he became ill, Digger sold his farm and donated $50,000 of the proceeds to the hall funds. He died before the opening in April 1983. The building commemorates his name and his bike has been mounted in a glass case, next to a history of Boyanup. In 1986 the Cemeteries Act 1897 was repealed and a new Act was proclaimed for the management of cemeteries. Under its provisions, Model Local Law (Cemeteries) 1998 was prepared. This provided a template for local government authorities or Boards to administer by-laws in respect to cemeteries. Subject to minor modifications, including the depth of graves, and the disposal of ashes, in 2001 the Local Laws Relating to the Capel and Boyanup Public Cemeteries were gazetted. The Shire of Capel District Planning Scheme Boyanup Townsite map drawn in 1997 shows that there has been no change to the area or curtilage of Boyanup Cemetery through its century of operation.

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