History of the Wānaka Cemetery

The following was collated by Ken and Margaret Thomlinson for a cemeteries talk, November 2022.

1861 – The first European death in the Upper Clutha area was for John Gilbert, drowned when crossing the Clutha River by Robert Wilkin’s Albert Town Sheep Station. Gilbert was buried on the North Bank of the river. This then became an unofficial cemetery and was used until the last burial of Robert Norman in 1913.

1863 – Survey of the Town of Pembroke by J. A. Connell. At this time the main area of settlement was at Albert Town.

J. A. Connell’s Survey Map, 1863

1871 – W. Arthur’s Survey shows that a site for a cemetery had been pegged out previously.

W. Arthur’s Survey, 1871

1874 – First recorded burial at Wānaka Cemetery was for Theodore Russell (Jnr), who died 26 May aged five.

1877 – Earliest headstone is for Theodore Russell (Snr), who died on 14 November aged 33.

Russell Family headstone, Wānaka Cemetery

1924 – The lower area of the cemetery (about 6 acres) was exchanged with Wānaka Station, then owned by Percy Rolfe Sargood, for the equivalent area of land on the flat adjacent to the original cemetery boundary.

In this photo the original cemetery boundaries, are shown in green and the new boundaries in red.

1940 – Old Cemetery closed to new burial plots. There are 43 plots, 35 named (72 burials) and 8 unnamed.

1940 – all Pembroke Cemetery Records were lost in a house fire. This meant plot numbers and names and the position of graves of those buried in unmarked graves were lost.

1958 – The price for plots increased to 30 shillings (converts to $3.00) for singles and  £2.00 (converts to $4.00) for doubles. 

1970 – A letter from the County Clerk to the Ministry of Health informed him that the Wānaka Cemetery Trust wanted to close the old part of the cemetery, monuments, and tablets to be re-erected in a corner and the trust to maintain the old cemetery area.

1973 – the grounds were changed to a Lawn Cemetery. From now on the Committee became responsible for providing the concrete strips known as berms. The first berm in 1973 cost $650 and the price for plots was now $20 single, $10 double if on top of previous burial. When the Wānaka Cemetery Trust was asked for clarification on how many burials could take place in one plot, the only stipulation was that the top casket had to be 3ft 6in below ground.

1983 – Allan and Jean Thompson of the Dunedin Branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG) transcribed all the Upper Clutha cemeteries’ headstones including those at the Wānaka Cemetery.

They then compiled a list of all burials without headstones for which they could find records. This included Registration of Burials in District of Arrow 1876 – 1900 in the Pembroke/ Wānaka Cemetery, and Death Registrations held by the Postmaster in Wānaka.

1985 – The Thompsons sent typed results to the Wānaka Cemetery Trust and to Stan Kane for the Upper Clutha Historical Records Society (now known as the Upper Clutha History Society) which had been established that year.

1990 – First berm for ashes established with a price of $50

1996 – 2002 – Margaret Thomlinson undertook to update burial records for the Wānaka Cemetery from 1983, using Jack Lange’s death notices, Cemetery Trust records and visits to the Cemetery, for the UCHRS and recorded this information on cards. In 2002 she organized for members of the Wānaka Genealogical Group (WGG) to transcribe the relevant headstones as handwritten notes. This work was not completed as it was superseded by Lynette Duncan’s NZSG project.

2000 – Lynette Duncan found out that NZSG were bringing out a new computer program for Cemetery records designed by the St John’s Branch NZSG, Auckland and undertook to update all cemetery burial records for Upper Clutha cemeteries. She also asked Rob Facer to design a photofield that could link to the NZSG Cemeteries database. Lynette researched all new burials post 1983 using local cemetery records and visits to the cemetery to check all burials against existing records and take photos of every headstone. She also used death notices collected by the late Mr. Lange of Makarora for the years 1962 to 1993 and death notices collected by the Wānaka and Alexandra branches of NZSG. All new burials were added to the original list compiled by the Thompsons and uploaded to the NZSG Cemeteries database along with the photos of the headstones.

2005 – all responsibility for Wānaka Cemetery was handed over to Prophet Infrastructure Assets Management, QLDC. A new plan was later drawn up for Wānaka Cemetery.

2010 - 2012 - Unmarked Graves Memorial

Loris King established a committee in 2010 to raise funds and design a memorial to all those with unmarked graves in the Wānaka Cemetery. Maungatua Contracting prepared the site, Dean Weastell built the memorial wall. A list of unmarked graves was finalized and J Swann and Co., Dunedin were employed to make 11 plaques, each with nine names recorded with their age and date of death. A plaque with an explanation and a record of those who had contributed to the cost of the project was included – Central Lakes Trust, QLDC, Wānaka Lions Club, Stan and Elsie Kane and L Stewart.

The Memorial was completed in 2012.

The Unmarked Grave’s Memorial lists 99 people who are buried in the Old Cemetery but don’t have a plot recording their name.

An Infant Memorial was also established about the same time.

2012 - 2017 - Friends of Pembroke Cemetery Project
Loris King involved with a committee established to restore the headstones and surrounds of old graves in the Wānaka Cemetery.