Rookwood Cemetery some History and Mystery

[@joconnor9256]

My father worked at a factory just across the road from Rookwood for many years , he used to take a short cut through there sometimes but stopped doing it as the fog on the headstones of a winters morning was too eerie even for a grown man

[@dianefavarato5316]

Amazing what we find, I have been watching some videos about Rookwood and ....... @ 15:38 are the graves of my great great great grandparents, James and Annie Morrison, who died in 1897 & 1913. There are 9 family members buried, including 2 of their daughters. The stone on the left of Lilliam M WIles is their granddaughter who died aged 103 in 1998. Amazing seeing them, I have photos of the graves, but seeing your film was great!! The photo's I have are more recent and the whole area has been mowed and cleared.

[@sailingelleray]

Thanks for posting this video as I really enjoyed it. I was fascinated by the footage near the end around the Paul mausoleum. It looks like it was the blue ribbon section of the cemetery once upon a time. All the best, Tony.

[@infidel202]

It does definitely

[@yapyap66]

I got lost in Rookwood Cemetery about 20 years ago it was getting dark and I thought I was going to spend the night in there lol... Thanks for the tour

[@petebegnell9480]

I lived at Lidcombe from 79' until 86'... Rookwood was an adventure for us as teenagers.. In the bushland away from the graves we hunted foxes & rabbits....

[@Chris-gp5yq]

Great work David. Love the video. Have many relatives buried here and it's a nice place to visit.

[@silasatlas3835]

the drone video's are spectacular frome the air

[@kimgee4821]

I could be wrong but Railway street at Lidcombe was built over bodies. I think the government tried to contact family but not many found, so some were relocated and others were just left there. This was what I remembered from a young child. Some of my family on both sides are buried there.

[@3tuirc3]

I'm a Land Surveyor and worked for a company at Strathfield that did a lot of work for Rookwood. The original cemetery ran up to the railway boundary. there was also a caretakers cottage that was removed with the road construction. Remnants of the foundations of the barn and original entrance are still there. I'm sure all graves that were found (?) were exhumed and relocated, but who knows

[@infidel202]

​@@3tuirc3I knew a bloke who worked on the road that went on Rookwood land and graves, because it was so old they mostly removed the headstones as no relatives could be found, from what I know when town hall cemetery was delisted a cemetery was started at Redfern but quickly closed as the trainline to Parramatta ran past crown land and with Sydney expanding Rookwood was built with a rail spur and central station built a mortuary and line, from a friend years ago who worked on the railway, the station had a reputation for being haunted and it was difficult to get station assistants/master. I remember as a kid my parents went to a funeral in the old catholic section in 1970 we kids didn't go but listened to the relatives and parents afterwards talking about how overgrown it was, for years after my mother said don't you bury me in Rookwood, I remember old vaults near the hospital that are not there now

[@johncitizen5377]

Great work David. I like your insight. Very respectful video.

[@l9685]

great video David. a few years back a scary thing happened when we were going home my dad's car actually broke down next to Rookwood cemetery at midnight pitch black near where those runned down old graves are so scary

[@ontheroadaustralia-soleman1911]

Great video mate

[@Thespiansewist]

Beautiful peaceful place to visit Found my great grandparents great aunties uncles and memorial headstone to my great uncle Alfred Russell perished SS NEMESIS shipwreck 1904 Anglican section Thanks for your video visit and music

[@lbozz7848]

Loving this video. Im in Qld but have heard alot about the cemetary and this video is wonderful as I can see what it all looks like. Gives a better understanding. Maybe 1 day I will get to come and see it in person :) thankyou for the video :) :D

[@davannaleah]

Thanks for the like. It's my first video using the mini 2.i only had it 2 days so it's a bit rough. I'll do another soon. The cemetary is so big and I only cover a small part. I did forget to mention, the part where looking towards the railway at Lidcombe, to the upper right is Sydney Olympic Park, you can just see the stadium.

[@lbozz7848]

No worries. I really enjoyed it. I thought you did wonderful with it, I had no complaints haha. Yes absolutely. I was shocked knowing its over 700 acres. I really look forward to the next 1 :) I hope you dont mind I shared the part about the Frazer family to Australian Headstone images facebook page and let them know where I got it from. I think they would enjoy the whole video so will share that aswell. It's lovely being able to see it even being quite a distance away :)

[@edwardrodgers9383]

My great-grandmother, grandmother, grandfather, aunt and two uncles are buried in a family-plot at Rookwood; it was last used in 2011 to inter the ashes of my uncle who died at 97. R.I.P ✝️

[@awesome69691]

what a great review i droned it 7 yrs ago AWESOME AUSSIE FLYOVERS are u from lidcombe i lived in lidcombe for 25 yrs

[@davannaleah]

Actually, I'm not from Lidcombe, I'm in the Parramatta area. I was out at Rookwood again today taking some more footage for a follow-up video... stay tuned!

[@MrSlitskirts]

Great footage and subject. One of the intriguing things to me was at about 1:19 where there's a winged angel atop a church/monument, if only we could have got closer and/or could have zoomed in, but I understand you are trying to fly a drone correctly. Overall it's interesting how statues are so well made and crafted but will never be seen in the way that can be shown by your drone's point of view (POV) as those on the ground can only look up at it. I also did some basic videography and stills back in in 2015 for ny Bachelor of Film (Production) group project. I took images of the 'Resthouse' (red bricked) where people visiting could sit and rest under roof when visiting, built in the 1890's I think. There's some gates that lead to it from the road and I took video on my iPhone 4 walking back to the gates as if they were the 'Gates of Heaven'. I and 3 others in a group also filmed and interviewed a priest in the Greek Orthodox Church there. It's so vast and interesting and compares well to Waverley Cemetery. Great work plus any other clips too. Kind regards.

[@davannaleah]

Actually, I could have gone in much closer to the St.Michael statue.... the things thought of after! I did a part 2 of this video too, if you want to watch it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6fJZHmNmLh6ntk

[@MrSlitskirts]

@@davannaleah No worries, thos things happen. Just saw part 2 and 'my Resthouse' and the 'Angel', great work. perhaps Waverly Cemetery next.

[@haroldmclean3755]

Good Job 👍

[@horationelson57]

Be reminded of the urgency of Socrates, reminding us that only the examined life is worth living.

[@ALITISA78]

I think we all have some1 at rookwood, I worked at the Strathfield Postal facility as a Postie which is on the one side of cemetary, I lived in Birrong on the other, Doors would open at 5am Id fly thru the cemetary to cut time off travel, You would have to dodge all the rabbits, Omg hundreds of em b4 dawn lol

[@retrospectologyrunner]

Cool

[@tompchromedome]

my dad lived local during the depression , they ate the food left after Chinese funerals

[@dominiquemayfair-katz1744]

I would like to speak with you. You talked of something in regards to the Fraser Vault. I have personally seen something I would like to discuss with you please.

[@davannaleah]

What means of communication would you prefer? I don't want to post my phone number or email publicly. I would be interested to hear about what you have seen.

[@infidel202]

Thanks for the video, do you know what happened to the vaults near the hospital that were removed in the 80s/90s

[@davannaleah]

Which hospital is that? I was unaware any vaults were removed.

[@infidel202]

@@davannaleah Lidcome hospital, it was on the south west side of the cemetery, I used to go out with a nurse who lived in the nurses residence, the 1st time I went to the cemetery was with her for a walk the vaults I'm talking about were close to the road that bypasses Lidcome, I was about 25 and it was all overgrown and the fence was down in lots of places, these vaults were very old and neglected, rusty, some had the doors slightly ajar and an old chain padlock on a few ,it was notorious for teenagers at night exploring and occasionally a grave would be dug up or a vault broken into, it was a creepy place and as you showed abandoned in some parts even today, in the early 70s I knew an old bloke who was a station master, he remembered when Rookwood station was maned, he said they paid extra for staff and they didn't stay long even though it was hardly used at the time.

[@davannaleah]

@@infidel202 I think I know where you mean, along Railway St, the old Anglican section. I have seen crumbling old vaults sectioned off by cemetery workers. I think what happens is, once the time has passed where no relatives can be contacted the crumbling vaults are removed, the occupants remains however, who knows what happens to them. There is evidence of this in other parts of the cemetery.

[@infidel202]

@@davannaleah East St, they were old and Rusty, it was about 1985 and in 1998 they were all gone, all very Gothic, I was struck by their beautiful architecture but I also remember being told all sorts of strange people hung out in the cemetery at night and a few of the crypts and vaults had been broken into in earlier years, you could tell from the old chains that had been put on afterwards, I have a few relatives buried in there and Paddington from before Rookwood was opened

[@grimreaperscreed5938]

My mum, baby sister who died at birth and other family members

[@Jimbo-v3m]

ever wondered why there is a cemetery so huge for a tiny population in that era? and why there was a huge rail network from the city to the cemetery? History is a lie my friends.

[@012245567]

Can you elaborate?

[@Jimbo-v3m]

@@012245567 take a look at the population at that time in history it was about 50,000 people! Why would they build a cemetery that huge? There is hundreds of drainage tunnels etc. this place is massive. There was CLEARLY another race there with massive cities and magnificent buildings way before the british arrived, as was the case in America also.

[@williambentley2802]

Crook as Rookwood.