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The land for Springvale Botanical Cemetery, (known then as The Necropolis Spring Vale), was purchased in 1878 by the Hon Francis Longmore, after a careful inspection of available areas within a distance of forty miles of Melbourne. The site was permanently reserved for a cemetery on the 10th May, 1887. It was proclaimed a public cemetery in February 1901 when the first Trust was constituted.
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The First Trust - 1901:
Back (L-R) Cr. F. Davenport, F.H.R. Cook Esq. (Secretary & Manager), Cr. Thos. Simmons (Chairman), Cr. C.J. Jago JP, Cr. J.A. Boyd MLA.
Front (L-R) Cr. A.F. Always JP, Cr. J.H. Sheedy JP, Cr. T.G. Allen, C.E. Bolingbroke Esq. JP, Cr. D. Simpson J
The original plan of the cemetery was laid out on the principle of the Union Jack, with all roads leading to the centre, outlined by 8th Road, 10th Avenue, 2nd Road and 6th Avenue. Understandably changes over the years have rendered the Union Jack design unrecognisable on today’s maps.
Original ‘Union Jack’ road layout design - circa 1901 |
After the preliminary work of clearing the ground, surveying,
fencing, draining, and laying out the grave sites for the different
religious denominations, work commenced on the construction of the
railway from Springvale Station to the cemetery.
The railway line opened on the 7th February 1904, with the first
mortuary train operating on the 16th March 1904. Mourners would pay a
fare to journey by rail to the cemetery. Corpses from Melbourne and
intermediate stations were usually carried free of charge in specially
built mortuary carriages. If the corpse was a pauper, a fee of 10
shillings (one dollar) was charged, as those funerals were unattended
by fare paying mourners.
Funeral trains left from the Mortuary Platform at Princes Bridge
Station, Melbourne and travelled to the cemetery station. The service
operated until January 1951, when the line was closed due to the
extension of Sandown Racecourse. The former station site is now marked
within our Eucalypt Garden with a commemorative plaque. |
Mortuary Train Carriage - circa 1904
Hearse Trollies at the Spring Vale Cemetery Station - circa early 1900’s
A Remembrance card issued by Spring Vale in 1912
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Original design of Mortuary Carriages built at the Newport Workshops - circa early 1900’s |
1943 Scale of Fees
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Over the years the cemetery has issued various forms of documentation. A great deal of time, effort and physical space is allocated to appropriately storing all documentation ranging from the first burial in 1902 up until the present day. |
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