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Produced and published by the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne
Published July 2008
Published July 2008
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Boroondara Cemetery in Kew was founded in 1858 as a garden cemetery for the residents of Kew, Hawthorn and Camberwell. The Boroondara Cemetery Trust consisted of representatives from nine churches, and the allocation of land within the cemetery was made by a government surveyor according to the 1857 religious census figures for Boroondara. The initial design was the work of civil engineer Frederick Acheson, who divided the land with curved paths and winding roads rather than a grid of rectangular allotments. The overall planning of the lodge and office, perimeter wall and places of shelter was continued by architect and cemetery trustee Albert Purchas. The coming of the horse tram to Kew in 1887, with its terminus at the cemetery gates, made it the choice of many Melbourne citizens for a pleasant Sunday afternoon walk among the varied and interesting monuments, such as those of artist Louis Buvelot, diarist Georgiana McCrae, and the Henty family. The David Syme memorial (1908) commemorating the publisher of the Age newspaper was designed by architect Arthur Peck in Egyptian style in granite and copper. The most famous monument in Boroondara is the Springthorpe Memorial constructed after the death of Annie Springthorpe in 1897. Her husband, physician Dr J.W. Springthorpe, commissioned architect Desbrowe-Annear to design a Greek temple over the family vault with a white marble statuary group by sculptor Bertram Mackennal as the focal point of the composition.