Gardens Road cemetery

The Gardens Road cemetery is situated at 191 Gardens Road and was
opened on 10 April 1919. The Cemetery served as the official cemetery for
Darwin until 11 December 1970. It’s service to the Darwin community
encompassed two world wars and catered for a fast growing multi-cultural
society including Greek, Japanese, Chinese, Malay, Northern European,
Anglos and Celts. The cemetery exists as a microcosm of Darwin's history
and social associations with representatives from each ethnic group that
made up of the culture of Darwin. The Depression years saw many of the
older, more prominent Darwin families bury their dead, with Japanese divers,
ordinary citizens and a number of servicemen interred in the cemetery. From
the outbreak of war in 1939 a number of servicemen, mainly RAAF were
buried at Gardens Cemetery, as were a number of American servicemen from
late 1941.

Despite large numbers of civilians and serviceman killed in the 19 February
1942 raids by the Japanese, only American servicemen were buried there as
a result. Exhumations of American servicemen were conducted in 1942 and
the Australians were exhumed and relocated to Adelaide River in 1944.
The cemetery has an intrinsic value to the community by virtue of its ability to
reflect cultural attitudes to burials, the use of cemeteries and the approach to
formal landscaping over the period of it's operation.

The cemetery is held in high esteem especially by the Darwin Community for
it's symbolic and social associations and generates a great deal of interest
from visitors to Darwin.

The Gardens Road cemetery provides a tangible reminder of the exploits and
lives of many who contributed to the development of the Territory, particularly
in the years between the wars, and of servicemen who were buried there in
the early war years. Many of the graves represent the last resting place of
Territorians whose contribution to the Territory is important to the
interpretation of the Territory's historical, social and cultural background.
During it's years in use, 848 adults and 83 children were recorded as being
buried at the cemetery.

This Cemetery was heritage listed in 1999.

The Cemetery is maintained by Darwin City Council and any enquiries in relation to the cemetery or burial records can be obtained by phoning 8930 0583.

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