Hall Cemetery

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The Hall Cemetery at Wallaroo Road was established in 1883 as the district's first official cemetery outside Queanbeyan and is the oldest public general cemetery still in use in the ACT. It was planned with sections for Church of England, Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian, Jewish, Independent and a non-sectarian section. Many of the district’s pioneering families are buried here as well as more contemporary such as Bryce Courtney who has a simple headstone of sandstone.

Twenty years after opening, the cemetery was evidently suffering from some neglect: "I am pleased to hear that the Hall Progress Committee is applying for a grant of money for the purpose of having he Public Cemetery at that place cleared and fenced. I have often felt surprised that the committee did not take this matter in hand sooner but I suppose it’s better late than never and I wish the committee every success in its effort for it is certainly a work that wants doing badly". [Wizard's Notes Goulburn Evening Penny Post 28.7.1903]. The Wizard reported again in 1908 that "the trustees have at last accepted a tender for the cleaning of the public cemetery at hall". [Wizard's Notes Post 30.4.1908]

Hall cemetery is now administered by the ACT Public Cemeteries Authority, an independent, self-funded statutory authority, which reports to the ACT Government through the Minister for City Services.

In addition to their prime purpose, cemeteries are known to be a very useful reserve for plant species. Most of the good quality woodland remnants are found in little used country cemeteries. This is because they are the only pieces of land that were fenced from livestock more than 100 years ago, when the country was being settled. Hall cemetery is home to the endangered Tarengo Leek Orchid (Prasophyllum petium) known from only this site in the ACT and two other sites in NSW - Captains Flat Cemetery and the Tarengo Travelling Stock Reserve near Boorowa. Both Hall Cemetery and Murrumbateman Cemetery are thought to contain populations of the rare grasshopper, Keyacris scurra. Regulating of the mowing of Hall Cemetery was adopted in 1994 to help the survival of the orchid.

 

Hall Cemetery, Block 301, Hall District. MISC 681 [cartographic material] / Australian Survey Office:  

National Library of Australia digitised item. MAP G8984.H3G54 1990 copy

In our Library:

History of the Catholic churches at Ginninderra and Hall, ACT
Author: Rochford, James     AA8.618/85/01

Memories of Hall    Author: Smith, Leon R   AA7/01/13

  • Bryce Courtenay Headstone
    Bryce Courtenay Headstone
  • Hall Cemetery
    Hall Cemetery
  • Harold and Nora Gillespie
    Harold and Nora Gillespie
  • George Kinlyside toolbox
    George Kinlyside toolbox
  • Keith Kendall Kinlyside Grave, Courtesy Hall Museum
    Keith Kendall Kinlyside Grave, Courtesy Hall Museum
  • Ring Tree, Hall Cemetery
    Ring Tree, Hall Cemetery