Cemetery project preserving Margaret River history

A small group of dedicated volunteers has created a touching tribute to the men and women of our community who served in military forces, as part of a research project to enrich and preserve local history at the Margaret River Cemetery.

Members of the recently-formed Friends of Margaret River Cemetery gathered on Easter Sunday to affix flags to the headstones and plaques of the many locally-buried and cremated people who have histories associated with military conflict.

Their research has identified 275 ex-servicemen and women, with an additional 33 ex-servicemen and women on the niche wall in Cowaramup.

Flags – Australian, Aboriginal and British – have been affixed to grave sites, while red poppies adorn the niche walls in both Cowaramup and Margaret River.

The group has been researching people interred at the Cemetery, developing the rich history of the region through shared stories, family records and more.

Now, they are calling on locals to contribute to the project and create more connections between our living and past history.

“There are 35 Australian War Graves Commission graves in the Margaret River Cemetery,” group member Pauline Graves explained.

“There are two families where three brothers served. One set of brothers in WW1 and the others in WW2.

“Seven families had a father and son serve, and thirteen families had two brothers serve.

“And there are four sets of husband and wives who served.”

The Cemetery was established when a 5 acre plot was allocated in 1909, but it wasn’t until 1920 that the first burial took place.

William Henry Percival Willmott, (better known as Percy), had been the lighthouse keeper at Cape Leeuwin.

The photographer and builder of Basildene House was buried in February 1920, the first at the Wallcliffe Road site.

His grave sits in the very middle portion of the large Anglican section of the Cemetery.

In September 1920, a new committee was formed to manage the cemetery, with Albert Ashton, Thomas Higgins, Fred Bussell, Herbert Mann and Robert Keenan sourcing materials from around the region to contribute to fencing the area.

Fred Isaacs, son of Sam Isaccs, won the tender and fencing was installed, while Mr Mann made the gates.

In December 1921, the surveyor, Mr Marmaduke Terry, of Wallcliffe House, on behalf of the Lands and Public Works Department, surveyed the cemetery. By 1928 Fred Isaccs was the grave digger.

“The only military funeral known to have occurred at the cemetery, was in February 1942, when Private John Mecklenburgh of the Volunteer Defence Corps was buried with a three-gun salute. He was disinterred in 1944 and now lies in the War Graves Section of the Karrakatta Cemetery.”

Over the decades, works including fencing, gates and paths were constructed, with locals joining the efforts to beautify and improve the Cemetery.

“In 2005, Caroline Scott received a Rotary grant and had the first niche wall built.

“This is covered in tiles made by Ian Hedley. Caroline still maintains this wall in good condition. The second niche wall was built, again by Ian Hedley, in 2008.”

New gates were installed by Rotary during the COVID-19 pandemic, while the Lions Club erected a memorial building and garden space for the public to enjoy.

Pauline said efforts to update the burial register and create new maps of the Cemetery began in 2020.

“This work is continuing, but those hand drawn maps the previous Shire Ranger, Rex Dyer, made quite some years back, still remain an invaluable reference tool today.

“And so, the life of the cemetery is still evolving. But there are many blanks in the history.”

Do you have family members buried in the Margaret River cemetery or memorialised at the Cowaramup niche wall area? The community is invited to share their family history and provide some of the missing links.

If you have information, please get in touch with Pauline Graves at amrc845@gmail.com