Welcome...

Welcome to the website of the Friends of Cheltenham and Regional Cemeteries Inc.

Pictured left is from "The Tragic '30s: Decade of Adventure" tour of the Cheltenham Pioneer Cemetery held on Sunday 21 June 2009.  There will be repeat of this popular tour on Saturday 1 August 2009 at 12:00pm.  Just another example of the work we do to research, restore and remember.

The Friends of Cheltenham and Regional Cemeteries Inc. covers three historic burial grounds in Melbourne's south-east - Brighton General Cemetery (1855), Cheltenham Pioneer Cemetery (Old Cheltenham Cemetery) (1864), Cheltenham Memorial Park (New Cheltenham Cemetery) (1933) - as well as the Bunurong Memorial Park (1996).

About the Cheltenham Cemeteries

Opened for interments on 3 October 1864, the Cheltenham Pioneer Cemetery was the first general cemetery established in Melbourne’s bayside and until 1917, was known as the “Mordialloc and South Moorabbin General Cemetery”.  A portion of the Cemetery was excised in the 1880s for the railway line to Mordialloc.

After the Pioneer Cemetery reached its capacity in the late 1920s, steps were taken to open a new burial ground and the first interment at the Cheltenham Memorial Park took place on 27 March 1933 on the 68th anniversary of the first interment at the Cheltenham Pioneer Cemetery.  The original area comprised 21.9 acres and was constructed during the Great Depression at a cost of £8,666 using local unemployed men.

A feature of the layout was the strong gridiron arrangement of roads and pathways contrasting with the serpentine layout of the Pioneer Cemetery.  The non-denominational lawn sections were introduced in 1961.

Both the Pioneer Cemetery and the Memorial Park contain the remains of many local, state and national identities. They are administered by the Cheltenham and Regional Cemeteries Trust.