Image: Untitled watercolour by Conrad Martens (possibly St Thomas’ Cemetery, 1860s-70s), courtesy State Library of NSW
Join Council Historian Dr Ian Hoskins on this guided walk through St Thomas’ cemetery to explore the monuments of some of NSW’s most significant figures, including Alexander Berry, Captain Owen Stanley and artist Conrad Martens.
St Thomas’ Cemetery was the first European burial ground on the north shore. In 1845, Alexander Berry gave two acres of bushland from his vast estate to St Thomas’ Anglican Church so that he might have somewhere to bury his recently deceased wife. Gradually this burial ground became both a historical curiosity, because of its many esteemed interrees, and a cause of concern as it fell into disrepair.
The site was given to North Sydney Council in 1967 and reopened as a Rest Park in 1974.
When: Thursday 6 September, 10.30am – 12.00pm
Where: St Thomas’ Rest Park, 250 West Street, Crows Nest
Cost: Free
Contact: localhistory@northsydney.nsw.gov.au or 02 9936 8400
Hosted by: Stanton Library, North Sydney Council
