Kathy Gandolfi
UNMARKED graves in the old section of Millicent’s cemetery are being identified with name-plates as part of a South East Family History Group (SEFHG) project.
The Millicent based SEFHG is providing the name-plates, undertaking research to identify who is buried in the unmarked graves, and installing the name-plates while also enhancing the graves, many of which were nothing more than bare earth to begin with.
Led by SEFHG President, Noel Boyle, the project began a number of years ago when a small band of volunteers began cleaning up the old section of the cemetery during monthly working bees.
While that work concentrated mainly on straightening headstones, uncovering buried railings and topping marked graves with gravel provided by Wattle Range Council, the group in more recent months has also begun delineating unmarked graves by installing borders around them with limestone ashlars, many of which have been donated for the project.
The next natural step was to put names to those graves.
Mr Boyle said the name-plates include the name and the year of birth and death of the interred person and, if possible, the maiden name of married women, along with the plot number.
He said 35 name-plates had been installed in the last 12 months with another 10 to be installed in the next month.
“There are a lot of unmarked graves in the cemetery and we want to try and give a name to them all,” said Mr Boyle.
“It’s about unearthing the history of these plots and recording that history,” he said.
With burials in the old section of the Millicent cemetery dating back as far as 1877, Mr Boyle said there were a variety of reasons why plots were not named.
“Money, or the lack of it back then, meant some families couldn’t afford to pay for a headstone, other people did not have any family to do that for them, or they moved away from the area,” he said.
With the name-plates that the SEFHG are installing costing $30, Mr Boyle said it was an affordable way to mark the graves.
“If there are any people who know they have a relative in an unmarked grave in the cemetery and would like to pay for a plaque, we would encourage them to approach us and we’ll help to put together a name-plate.”
