Bolton Street Memorial Park

Bolton Street Bolton Street Memorial Park

Memorial Park,
formerly known
as Bolton
Street
Cemetery, is
the oldest
cemetery in
Wellington,
New Zealand.
Dating back to
1840, many
notable people
are buried here.
[1] Situated in

the suburb of
Thorndon, the
Wellington City
View of the cemetery in Bolton Street
Council's Memorial Park, with central city high-rises in
memorial trail the background
number five
covers the
Bolton Street
Memorial Park
and visits
notable graves,
points of
interest,
lookouts and
buildings.[2]

Contents
1 History
2 Grounds
Location within Wellington
3 Architecture
4 Flora Location Wellington
5 Burials Nearest city Wellington, New Zealand
6 Notes
7 References
41°16′44″S 174°46′23″E
8 External links
Coordinates Coordinates:
History
41°16′44″S 174°46′23″E
The park's
history could 18 acres (7.3 ha) including
Area area acquired for motorway
probably be the
through the park
history of those
1840 as a cemetery and
buried there; Established
later converted to park
old pioneers are
buried in the New Parks and Recreation
Governing body Department of the
Victorian-type
cemetery.[3] Wellington City Council
Established as
a cemetery in 1840 on the outskirts of the new town of
Wellington, separate burial areas were designated for
Anglicans, Jews and Roman Catholics. Many notable people
of the town were buried there, including William Wakefield,[4]
Wellington's founder. It was closed for burials in 1892,
except for the new burials of kins; this was due to
inadequate space as the city grew.

In 1960, the City Council's urban plan established a need for

a motorway, a part of which would be routed through the
cemetery. Seven years later, the City Council passed an act
to build a motorway through the park. As a result, the
cemetery was closed as a burial ground from March 1967
through 1971. The historic cemetery, bisected by the
Wellington Urban Motorway, caused extensive controversy
at the time. The new motorway opened in 1978, and in the
same year, the Wellington City Council Parks renamed the
cemetery as the Bolton Street Memorial Park.[5][6] Though
the Friends of Bolton Street protested against the shifting of
the graves, they did not stop construction of the road but
ensured that the cemetery got a heritage status and the park
got a reserve nomenclature. In spite of protests, about 3,700
graves were exhumed and relocated,[5] most of whom were
re-interred in a large vault beneath the park's lawn. The
relocated parts of the cemetery with head stones are linked
through a foot bridge over the road. Of the 8,500 people
reported buried in the park, only 1334 headstones (made of
marble or local stones) were traced and 35 are made in
wood.[5]

Historian Margaret Alington was commissioned to write a

history of the cemetery.[5] Her book, Unquiet Earth: a History
of the Bolton Street Cemetery, was published in 1978.[5]

Grounds
The original grounds were 18 acres (7.3 ha) in size and was
segmented. Approximately 7 acres (2.8 ha) were used by the
Church of England, two roods and 37 perches were for Jews,
and 8 acres (3.2 ha) were set aside for the public cemetery.
The motorway takes up 3.7 acres (1.5 ha), encroaching
about 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) of wooded burial ground. Some of
the initial land was surrendered for the Bowen Street cutting
and to Anderson Park. The current park, about 1.85 hectares
(4.6 acres) in size, includes a land gift from Morva Williams.
[7]

The approach to the park is from Bolton Street, from a

signed pathway off Bowen Street and from Botanic Garden,
immediately after Anderson Park.[1] There are walkways in
the park on either side of the motorway, which have several
signs giving Wellington's colonial history. The trail is popular
among joggers; the Upper Trail is steep compared to the
Lower Trail which in places have steps.[1] Tutaenui creek is
located in a gulley within the park. Bolton Street Memorial
Park is now a historic reserve under the jurisdiction of the
Parks and Recreation Department of the Wellington City
Council.

Architecture
Of the initial three buildings constructed in the cemetery
area, only one remains. The Church of England's Sexton's
Cottage, a historic building built out of timber in 1857, was
enlarged in 1885 and is now being restored. The public
cemetery's Sexton's Cottage, also constructed of timber in
1857, was occupied by the sexton David Robertson and his
family before the building was demolished in 1908; only its
brick outlines are still viewable in the upper lawn. The
Mortuary Chapel, built of timber in 1866, was left to
deteriorate without any repairs and was finally demolished in
1969 to make way for the motorway. Based on recorded
drawings of it, a replica chapel was built and serves as the
visitor centre.[8] Situated in the smaller half of the cemetery,
it contains exhibits on the park's history, details of those
buried at the cemetery, along with printed lists of names.[3]
[5] A beehive centre is maintained by the Friends of Bolton

Street Memorial Park who also facilitate information on

conservation of the park's beehives.[9]
Flora
The park also serves as an extension of Wellington Botanic
Garden with areas of open lawns, undulating topography
covered by a mix of regenerating native scrub and plantings
of exotic trees, shrubs, perennials and bulbs.[6] Notable is
the heritage roses collection among the graves.[3]

Flora in the park include Rosa banksiae (left) and

mushrooms like this Amanita muscaria (right).

The park's heritage rose collection is of national

significance.[5] When land was allotted on the hillside in
1840 for the public cemetery (non-sectarian), the original
settlers planted roses. These were later supplemented by
the Wellington Botanic Garden in association with Heritage
Roses New Zealand Inc. Under the Wellington City Council
Management Plan, the rose garden is maintained by the
Wellington Botanic Garden.[10]

The "memorial roses" reported from the park are: Rosa

banksiae 'Lutea', Rosa banksiae alba plena, Rosa indica
major, 'Félicité et Perpétue, 'Climbing Cécile Brünner', and
'Souvenir de la Malmaison', which were planted by people
visiting the graves, gifts of plants by the public, members of
the Wellington Heritage Rose Society, and also from Europe
under the seed exchange programme. According to the
recorded list, the park now has 210 heritage roses of which
important cultivars and species include 'Archduke Joseph',
'Mutabilis', 'Kazanlik', 'Old Blush China', 'Viridiflora', 'La
France', 'Honorine de Brabant', 'Ispahan', 'Roseraire de
l'Haÿ', 'Alberic Barbier', R. eglanteria, 'Tuscany', 'Souvenir de
Madame Léonie Viennot', 'Cornelia', Rosa moyesii 'Fargesii',
'Blushing Lucy', 'Madame Plantier', Rosa laevigata, Rosa
altaica, Rosa bracteata, and 'Joseph Cartier'.[9]

Burials
Main category: Burials at Bolton Street Cemetery

Graves still existing:

William Beetham (1809–1888), esteemed portrait

painter and founder of New Zealand Academy of Fine
Arts in 1882.[11]
Henry Blundell (1813–1878), newspaper proprietor and
founder of The Evening Post[2]
James FitzGerald (circa 1818 – 1896), prominent 19th
century politician[2]
Harry Holland (1868–1933), leader of the New Zealand
Labour Party[2]
Kennedy Macdonald (1847–1914), 19th century Liberal
Party Member of Parliament; the Macdonald grave is
also notable for its angel statue in commemoration of
their three sons lost within one month in 1876 to scarlet
fever[2][12]
 Samuel Duncan Parnell (1810–1890), credited with the
establishment of the Eight-hour day in New Zealand[2]
[13]

John Plimmer (1812–1905), entrepreneur who is

sometimes called "the Father of Wellington"[2]
William Barnard Rhodes (1807?–1878), businessman,
pastoralist and politician; at his death, one of the richest
people in New Zealand[2]
Richard Seddon (1845–1906), longest-serving Prime
Minister of New Zealand (from 1893 to 1906) was the
first to grant voting rights to women and institute old
pension to citizens[2][14]
Christian Toxward (1831–1891), Wellington architect[2]
brothers Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796–1862) and
William Wakefield (1801– 1848), both closely involved
with the colonisation of New Zealand[2]
Jonas Woodward (1810?–1881), businessman,
educationalist, politician, congregational leader and
public trustee[2]

Reinstated monument after disinterment for motorway

Alexander Turnbull (1868–1918), New Zealand

merchant, dandy and book collector[15]

Graves moved for motorway construction:[13]

Alfred Ludlam (1810–1877), leading New Zealand

 politician, horticulturist, farmer, philanthropist, and a
founder of Wellington's Botanic Garden[16]
George Macfarlan (1837/38–1868), Member of
Parliament representing the Lyttelton electorate[17]

Notes
1. ^ a b c "Bolton Street Memorial Park - Visitor
Information". Wellington City Council. Archived from the
original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 16 November
2012.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Memorial Trail" (PDF). Bolton Street
Memorial Park. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8
February 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
3. ^ a b c Harper 2002, p. 503.
4. Maclean, Chris (20 November 2009). "Wellington
places - Western suburbs". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia
of New Zealand. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
5. ^ a b c d e f g "Bolton Street Memorial Park - History".
Wellington City Council. Archived from the original on
25 October 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
6. ^ a b McIntyre 1990, pp. 129-130.
7. "History". Friends of Bolton Street Memorial Park.
Retrieved 18 November 2012.
8. "The Friends of Bolton Street Memorial Park". Friends
of Bolton Street Memorial Park. Archived from the
original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 18 November
 2012.
9. ^ a b "History of the Heritage Roses in The Bolton Street
Memorial Park" (PDF). Friends of Bolton Street
Memorial Park. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8
February 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
10. "Wayside" (PDF). Heritage Rose Foundation
Organization. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
11. "History of the Academy". New Zealand Academy of
Fine Arts. Archived from the original on 10 January
2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
12. Alington, Margaret (1 September 2010). "Macdonald,
Thomas Kennedy - Biography". Dictionary of New
Zealand Biography. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
13. ^ a b Kimber 2007, p. 15.
14. Homes 2002, p. 209.
15. "Details for TURNBULL Alexandrina Horsburgh".
Friends of Bolton Street Memorial Park. Archived from
the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 20
November 2012.
16. "Grave of Alfred Ludlam, plot 5304, Bolton Street
Cemetery". National Library of New Zealand. 1965–
1969. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
17. "The grave of George M H R McFarlane, plot 1905,
Bolton Street Cemetery". National Library of New
Zealand. 1965–1969. Retrieved 5 January 2011.

References
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bolton Street
Memorial Park.

McIntyre, Roberta (1990). Wellington, 1800-1914.

Wellington: Victoria University Press. pp. 129–.
ISBN 9780864732002. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
Alington, Margaret Hilda (1978). Unquiet Earth: A
History of the Bolton Street Cemetery. Wellington:
Wellington City Council. ISBN 9780477062503.
Retrieved 17 November 2012.
Harper, Laura; Mudd, Tony; Whitfield, Paul (2002).
Rough Guide to New Zealand 3. Rough Guides. p. 503.
ISBN 9781858288963. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
Ellis, Kirsten; Holmes, Robert (2002). Trav Comp New
Zealand 3. Globe Pequot. p. 209.
ISBN 9780762725205. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
Kimber, Julie; Love, Peter (2007). The time of their lives:
the eight hour day and working life. Australian Society
for the Study of Labour History. ISBN 9780980388305.
Retrieved 18 November 2012.

External links
Wellington cemeteries search