page_title: St John's, Ashfield
section_title: Cemetery
hierarchical_section_title: St John's, Ashfield / Land and buildings / Cemetery
caption_attribution_description: English: Charles Van Treight, a citizen of Ashfield, New South Wales, Australia. At one stage he was the sexton of St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Ashfield.
context_page_description: St John the Baptist Anglican Church is an active Anglican church located between Alt and Bland Streets, Ashfield, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1840, on land donated by Elizabeth Underwood, the church building is the oldest authenticated surviving building in Ashfield, having been built at the time when subdivision increased the population density sufficiently to turn Ashfield into a town. It was also the first church built along the Parramatta Road which linked the early colonial towns of Sydney and Parramatta. The earliest remaining parts of the building are one of the first Sydney designs by the colonial architect Edmund Blacket, who later became renowned for his ecclesiastical architecture.
  The expansive church grounds contain a cemetery dating back to 1845 that contains the remains of many notable Ashfield residents. Australia's only memorial to Australian Air Force Cadets occupies a prominent position near the entrance to the church. The St John's site has been listed on the Local Environment Plan Heritage Schedule, and the Register of the National Trust of Australia.
context_section_description: The cemetery is geographically aligned with the church, and takes up a large portion of the land area.  The oldest graves are on the eastern side of the path, and typically face west.  Newer graves on the western side of the path generally face east.
  A number of notable former Ashfield residents are buried at St John's. First Fleet convict, John Limeburner/Linburner, had been transported for stealing clothing to the value of about one pound, eventually died in 1847 aged 104. His headstone was defaced by vandals in 1965. Several members of the Wilkinson and Underwood families were significant in the early European settlement of the Ashfield district. Louise Taplin (1855–1901) was matron of The Infants' Home Child and Family Services for 15 years until her death, and led the home through the 1890s depression, despite a shortage of salaried staff. Henry Halloran (1811–1893) was a poet and resident of Ashfield, and was married to Elizabeth Underwood's daughter Elizabeth.  Thomas Walker, a banker and philanthropist who owned and developed Yaralla Estate, is in a family grave with his wife Jane, and daughter Eadith's ashes.  Samuel Henry Terry, a wealthy landowner and politician is also buried at St Johns, having spent the last part of his life in an Ashfield residence named The Lilacs.  Randolph John Want was a solicitor and member of the New South Wales Legislative Council.  Edward Thomas Jones Wrench was one of the founding partners of real estate agents Richardson and Wrench.  Amy Schauer was a cookery instructor and author. The graveyard also contains members of the Taverner, Uhr and Rodd families, after whom the localities Taverner's Hill, Uhr's Point, and Rodd Point are named.  There are also graves of three former rectors: T. H. Wilkinson, W. Lumsdaine, and J. C. Corlette, and members of their families, together with a pioneer clergyman, E. Rogers.
  Beside these prominent figures, many of the St John's graves contain children.  Typhoid and whooping cough epidemics took heavy tolls in the Victorian period.  Although Ashfield was known as a healthy area, many families lost two or even three children.
  Burial rates at St John's declined rapidly around the turn of the 20th century.  The rector's notes from the time indicate that many funeral services conducted at the church now preceded burial at Rookwood Cemetery. Although the cemetery has never officially been closed, no burial plots have been sold for some years.  A memorial garden for the interment of ashes was opened in the time of J. R. Seddon, providing a popular resting place for the Ashfield community.
  Since the late 1970s day-release prisoners have assisted with maintenance of the cemetery grounds. In Australia's bicentennial year, 1988, a $16,000 grant was awarded for restoration work in the cemetery, at which time some broken gravestones were cemented together, and some illegible ones were 'cut back' and the letters repainted.
caption: Charles Van Treight, an early sexton at St John's, responsible for the operations of the cemetery[nb 1][93]
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