Sydney's Railway of the Dead - Rookwood Necropolis Railway History

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Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 41

@peterelvery 10 ай бұрын

Hi guys. Fred Lidbury's "Gothic Mansion" shouldn't be too hard to spot. It is, as stated, right across the road from the cemetary and looks... well.. like a gothic mansion 😉 Try 59 East Street, named "Glenroy" by Lidbury in 1892, now known as "The Gables". BTW, Sharath's effect on the YT algorithm must have brought me here and I'm looking forward to Denistone being renamed in his honour😂

@CuriosityMine 10 ай бұрын

Hey Peter. Magnificent, there it is! The lines about Lidbury and Larcombe were a last minute addition so I ran out of research time before heading to location - great to see it exists (and kinda looks like the Addams mansion, too; gag successful 😂). Thanks so much! #denistone

@waynegreene6405 4 ай бұрын

Beaut video you blokes. My mum and dad were kids and next door neighbours in the 1930s living at “Liddy” as the locals called Lidcombe. Mum and dad’s back fence backed onto the Chinese section of the cemetery. The Chinese used to leave a lot of food such as fruit and bread on the grave of a deceased person after their funeral. Being poor as most were in those days, my oldies and their mates would sneak into the cemetery after the mourners left and take what food they could back to their homes so the families had enough food for another day. 😢

@CuriosityMine 4 ай бұрын

Thanks so much Wayne. Really appreciate the comment. Times were rough back then - thanks for sharing.

@michaelmallal9101 7 ай бұрын

I think Sandy Hills Cemetery was on what is now the park in front Central Station?

@CuriosityMine 6 ай бұрын

Sandhills Cemetery, aka the Devonshire Street Cemetery, aka Brickfield Hill Cemetery was located right under where Central platforms 16-23 are located, to the north of the Devonshire Street tunnel between George and Elizabeth streets. There is an old map here that shows the burial ground's location: dictionaryofsydney.org/media/63758

@railwaymechanicalengineer4587 9 ай бұрын

THE LONDON NECROPOLIS COMPANY (AND RAILWAY). Brookwood Cemetary 23 miles South West of London opened in 1854, as the Worlds largest Cemetery, & was linked from the outset by the London Necropolis Railway with its own Stations alongside the London & South Western Railways Waterloo station in London, and two further stations within the Cemetery itself. Just beyond the L&SWR regular Brookwood village station. It was officially closed in May 1941, due to German Bombing. With such a History, its quite obvious the "Rookwood Necropolis Railway" & Cemetery, was a direct copy of the methods used from 1854 in Britain, even down to the name !!!!!

@jmaros15 5 ай бұрын

👍👍 been dying to go there 😉😉

@CuriosityMine 5 ай бұрын

Wahey! Someone had to say it. 😂

@margi9103 4 ай бұрын

I don’t know if it’s on this year but Rookwood cemetery has had an exhibition of sculptures around different parts of the cemetery so people interested walking through the cemetery can look for these sculptures. We have quite a few family members buried at Rookwood. The earliest is a great aunt who died at the age of 12 in 1914. Where she is buried is quite lonely for her as no other relatives are nearby. The other relatives are in the Anglican lawn section, the Chinese section and the Catholic section. In the very old Chinese section near the Lidcombe exit gate is a Chinese burning tower for offerings. A Google map view of that section shows some depressions where the graves were. It was customary in the 1800s and early 1900s for the bones to be exhumed after about 10 years sent back to China for reinterment. The Chinese who came to Australia in those early days wanted to be buried in their homeland. This didn’t just happen in Australia, but in other countries where they went such as the USA snd New Zealand, wherever those sojourners went.

@ahmadrida6528 6 ай бұрын

I was raised in Sydney and I have many family members buried in Rookwood. Thank you so very very much for this informative and entertaining video. I now feel more at one with my home city through gaining greater knowledge about its history. The next time I visit my family members at Rookwood O shall make an effort to locate and visit the train stations (or what's left of them).

@CuriosityMine 6 ай бұрын

Thanks so much for the positive feedback, I really appreciate it. The cemetery is well worth exploring, so much history in one location. If nothing else, the remnants of Mortuary Station No. 1 are definitely worth your time. Thanks again!

@RangaTurk 8 ай бұрын

20:03 Not to mention a junction for the Potts Hill Branch for a brief period.

@jamesroseby3823 4 ай бұрын

A thoroughly interesting video. My father used to point out the funeral station when we rode past on the train. I appreciated your history lesson and the tie-in with Rookwood. 👍

@CuriosityMine 4 ай бұрын

Thanks so much James, appreciate your support. 😁👍

@timhorton698 8 ай бұрын

20:40 the All Saints Church in Ainslie is 500 m from my house. I usually stumble by it on a Friday and Saturday night after a few beers in civic

@janesk1 7 ай бұрын

I was working a small gig there once (events management, my first time to Canberra as an adult) and spotted the little plaque on the wall. I thought it was a nice little connection back home to Sydney.

@tryffin478 9 ай бұрын

Sharath makes a great bodyguard 6:45 and professional head nodder

@CuriosityMine 9 ай бұрын

It’s a skill, nodding. 😂

@ontheroadaustralia-soleman1911 6 ай бұрын

Great video guys.

@CuriosityMine 6 ай бұрын

Thanks! Much appreciated. 😁👍

@daniellaugesen8355 9 ай бұрын

Great collab with Sharath! So informative ❤

@CuriosityMine 9 ай бұрын

Thanks so much! 😁👍

@davemail66 9 ай бұрын

Thoroughly enjoyable and informative viewing, thank you for putting this all together, gents.

@CuriosityMine 9 ай бұрын

Thank you so much, really appreciate the positive feedback! 😁

@dulcinealee3933 3 ай бұрын

oh so there was a cemetery at Town Hall! Some of my family are buried at Rookwood as well. I have always know it as Mortuary Station not Regent St Station. Open Sydney was the last time I viewed the Station,- very beautifully restored building. What will happen to it when Allassian and Railway Square is revitalised?

@CuriosityMine 3 ай бұрын

Sydney is built on top of a number of former cemetery sites! Not sure what will happen to Regent Street during the revitalisation, but the station building has been heritage listed since 1999 so I would hope it will be preserved and respected. Thanks for watching and commenting! 👍

@Mechengineer321 3 ай бұрын

Absolutely fascinating guys! An amazing & very informative video!👍

@CuriosityMine 3 ай бұрын

Thanks so much! Really appreciate the kind words 😁

@janesk1 7 ай бұрын

Love the video! What flower is that at ~13:10? It's eerily beautiful.

@CuriosityMine 7 ай бұрын

Thanks so much! The flower is a Bryophyllum, commonly known as “Mother of Millions”. Unfortunately it’s an invasive pest species, but that doesn’t prevent it from having its own spectacular beauty.

@janesk1 7 ай бұрын

@@CuriosityMine thanks so much. I spotted lightning ridge on the map of NSW trains and coaches a few months ago, it just stood out on the map to me and since then it's been on my mind even though I know nothing about it. Your videos have done a lot of highlight the beauty of the place and have made me really eager to pay it a visit but unfortunately I haven't got a driving licence so I assume getting around would be difficult. Thanks for making these, such a spectacularly underrated place!

@CuriosityMine 7 ай бұрын

@janesk1 really appreciate the supportive comments, part of the reason I make videos here is just to make people aware that Lightning Ridge exists and is so unique!

@mysticalmatt4130 3 ай бұрын

Hi Russell, your great great grandfather Frederick Gawthorpe (1846-1905) was the eldest son of your great great great grandparents, bricklayer Richard Gawthorpe (1822-1898) and his wife Eliza Hayes nee Daly (1812-1874) a widow. They are both at Rookwood too! They were married at Wollongong in 1845 not long after the death of Eliza's first husband James Hayes. Eliza and James were pioneer Catholic schoolteachers in Sydney, Parramatta and the Illawarra and had six children, two of whom died earlier as infants and were buried at Devonshire Street. James was buried in Wollongong Catholic Cemetery which is now WIN Stadium. Eliza married 23 year old Richard Gawthorpe who had arrived from England a year earlier on the ship 'William Metcalfe'. They had your 2x great grandfather Frederick at Wollongong, then daughters Matilda and Ellen in Sydney in 1848 and 1850 respectively. Eliza died at Glebe and was buried at Petersham/Lewisham Catholic Cemetery in 1874, which was resumed for the widening of the train line near Lewisham Station. Her remains were re-buried at Rookwood. Richard remarried and had three more children. Richard died in 1898 and was buried with his youngest son from his second marriage, William Squire Gawthorpe (1880-1891). Their grave is indeed without a headstone. So you also have your 3x great grandparents Richard Gawthorpe and Eliza Daly at Rookwood. I've been researching the Hayes family and discovered the Gawthorpe family link earlier this year. Cheers.

@CuriosityMine 2 ай бұрын

Hi Matt, thanks so much for your research! Really appreciate it. It’s always great to have new information to add to the family’s history. 😁