Karori Cemetery

Story

Karori Cemetery is New Zealand's second largest cemetery, located in the Wellington suburb of Karori.HistoryKarori Cemetery opened in 1891 to address overcrowding at Bolton Street Cemetery.In 1909, it received New Zealand's first crematorium, which is still in use and is Australasia's oldest.Karori Cemetery reached capacity during the 1950s, and Makara Cemetery became Wellington's main burial ground. Burials at Karori happen only in pre-purchased family plots, in children's plots, and in pre-purchased ash plots.DescriptionThe cemetery covers almost 40ha and has seen more than 83,000 burials.War gravesThe cemetery contains separate World War I and World War II services sections. Buried here are 268 Commonwealth service personnel of World War I – including most deaths from the first New Zealand Expeditionary Force Reinforcement Camp and others at Trentham, and the Upper Hutt Remount Depot – and 123 of the World War II, besides a Norwegian and a French war casualty.BurialsAlbert Henry Baskerville (1883–1908), Organiser of the famous All Golds tour to Great Britain and AustraliaWilliam Thomas Beck (1865–1947), New Zealand Army officer and one of the first New Zealanders to land on Gallipoli on 25 April 1915John Duthie (1841–1915), businessman and politician, including Mayor of Wellington (1889–1890)John Hosking (1854–1928), judge of the Supreme CourtJoseph Kinsey (1852–1936), businessman, collector, and philanthropist from ChristchurchCharles Morison (1861–1920), New Zealand barristerMary Player, servant, midwife, welfare worker, feminist and social reformer