CHARLESTON
REGISTRARS OF BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES.
Charles Broad, 1st September, 1868; George Henry, 8th May, 1873; Thomas Dollman, 1877. From 1878 to about 1894, postmasters undertook the duties. Later again, Mr. R. J. Powell was appointed.
CEMETERIES.
The old Cemetery was on Public Reserve No. 5, at Constant Bay, being Sections 96 to 102 with some land adjoining them. It was not in use for long, owing to sea-encroachment and being overwhelmed by tailings from the Town Lead workings. The site proved unsuitable for the purpose, as funeral processions could reach it at low tide only, the hours of which did not always suit. It was inaccessible at high tide. Furthermore, the water-courses (from tailraces) that flowed across the beach, made crossings unpleasant, even difficult. It was abandoned in 1873 or 1874 and no trace of it now remains, beyond one solitary mound with a battered, iron railing around it; believed to be the resting-place of the victim of a shipping disaster. The sea and tailings have claimed the remainder of this sacred ground, wherein lay, or lie, the ashes of now-forgotten pioneers.
Of those laid to rest in this old burial-ground, the following names have been ascertained: Elizabeth Meredith, 22nd May, 1869; John Fraser, 3rd September, 1869; Mrs. Dale; Mrs. Salter; Charles Woodriff; Caroline Laing, 9th March, 1872; Lucretia Marris, 7th December, 1872; Miss Rosenberg; Rev. W. D. Rusz, 9th April, 1873. Of these, the remains of several, perhaps all, were removed to the Nile Hill Cemetery when it was opened.
In 1868 a grant of £101 was made by the Provincial Council for the “fencing of cemeteries at Charleston, Brighton and Westport.”
Roman Catholic Cemetery. This cemetery (or, strictly speaking, burial-ground, seeing that it was within a churchyard) was part of St. Patrick’s Chapel Reserve (No. 3) and in use from the date of opening of that Church.
Nile Hill Cemetery, of an area of three acres, was
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