A COMMUNITY group has plotted a plan to bring a little-known Broadmeadows cemetery back to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Will Will Rook Cemetery, established in 1852, is believed to be the resting place for at least 6000 people, the majority pioneers of the area. After years of neglect and vandalism, just a handful of headstones remain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But that’s all about to change thanks to the Friends of Will Will Rook Pioneer Cemetery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Group president Elaine Brogan said in 1858 five men were appointed trustees of the land, before it was taken over by the then Broadmeadows Council in November\u00ad 1962.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“(The council) took it under their wing to remove what was left and laying around and damaged and turn it into a memorial park, which I feel (was) totally out of order,” Ms Brogan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The Friends group was set up to let people know that it is a sacred site, it is a cemetery. It’s a resting place for people and it should be protected\u00ad.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cemetery closed in 1960 with the last known burial in 1956. It was designated a pioneer memorial cemetery in 1974. Now the Friends are on a mission to find out who is buried there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With backing from Hume Council, a heritage board will be installed out the front within the next few months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s a costly project because we need to get death certificates to say who they were and where they’re buried\u00ad,” Ms Brogan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They belong to someone, they’ve contributed to this district and they really deserve\u00ad to be recognised.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group aims to restore identity to each unmarked grave by using indicators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s a big project for a handful of people,” Ms Brogan said. “That area’s become heavily housed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We’ve had a lot of response from people that are really interested in showing me exactly where their loved ones are buried.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hume Council chief executive and Will Will Rook Cemetery Trust secretary Domenic Isola said records for the site were incomplete, with few details of who was buried there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The lack of accurate records prohibits the marking of unmarked grave sites,” Mr Isola said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The (cemetery) is closed to new burials and has no source of revenue.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Murray Peck’s grave:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n JOHN Murray Peck’s memory will forever live on after the recent restoration of his grave stone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr Peck was one of four partners in the Cobb and Co coach company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Born in America, he travelled to Melbourne at the age of 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr Peck became the vice president of the Essendon Football Club and councillor and mayor of the Borough of Essendon and Flemington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He died in November 1903 and was buried at Will Will Rook Cemetery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now his descendants, including great-great-grandson David Moore, are ensuring his monument lives on despite the vandalism at the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We’re worried about the history being lost but we’re slowly, slowly (edging) it back,” Mr Moore said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lead lettering on the grave was no longer in tact, but it has been restored with the help of Cameo Memorials and community donations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “They’ve repaired the lettering for us by pouring on molten lead and cutting it back so it takes the shapes of the letters,” Mr Moore said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A celebration took place at the revamped gravesite on January 26 – Mr Peck’s birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Until I started doing this, I didn’t think I cared that much but you sort of get a taste for it once you start,” Mr Moore said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ms Brogan said it was wonderful to see the family restoring Mr Peck’s grave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Everyone’s got someone in a cemetery and I just think that we really should be more respectful and look after them a hell of a lot better than we do,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr Peck is buried alongside his wife Louisa Ellen; eldest son and his wife; and grandson.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A COMMUNITY group has plotted a plan to bring a little-known Broadmeadows cemetery back to life. Will Will Rook Cemetery, established in 1852, is believed to be the resting place for at least 6000 people, the majority pioneers of the area. After years of neglect and vandalism, just a handful of headstones remain. But that’s … Continued<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.cameomemorials.com.au\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.cameomemorials.com.au\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.cameomemorials.com.au\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cameomemorials.com.au\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cameomemorials.com.au\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cameomemorials.com.au\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cameomemorials.com.au\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325\/revisions\/327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cameomemorials.com.au\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.cameomemorials.com.au\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cameomemorials.com.au\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cameomemorials.com.au\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}