Stories behind the Stones: Wilcannia

The Wilcannia cemetery is located on the Wilcannia-Menindee Road. From the Barrier Highway, turn at the post office towards Menindee, go past the cafe and keep following this road approximately 1km out of town. You will find the Wilcannia cemetery on your left. When you turn off the main road you will notice an unsealed road on your right, ignore this and keep following the sealed road until you see the main entrance that is marked by a blue gate with an arch. This will be your starting point.

Wilcannia cemetery contains elaborate monuments and time eroded grave markers belonging to the local pioneering families. Some are from the earliest days of Wilcannia, when the wealthy port-side town was known as ‘The Queen City of the West’ and others are more recent.

As you follow our guided walk of the cemetery, you will notice that infant mortality was tragically high and drowning was also common amongst both children and adults, as waters in the Darling River, creeks, and billabongs often proved fatal to fully clothed people unable to swim. Many ladies also died due to complications of childbirth and some members of society perished during horrific heatwaves.

Wilcannia cemetery also contains a number of people tragically killed in relation to animals, such as the rabbiter who was suffocated under a load of dead rabbits, the bullock driver who died after a bull sneezed in his face, the husband who died of a heart attack after hearing his wife had been attacked by a ram and Dr Butcher who died from complications after being kicked by a horse.

Like other remote pioneering cemeteries, Wilcannia cemetery contains many unmarked graves. We know the names of some of the people buried in these, due to the early record keeping, however, many inscriptions have been lost over the years.

There are many notable Barkandji buried in the cemetery and you will notice many modern graves with colourful decorations, belonging chiefly to the Aboriginal families of the area.

Please walk through this special site with respect to the individuals who lived their lives in the Central Darling and are buried by the might Darling Barka. Be careful where you place your feet and treat all monuments, new and old, with reverence. We have only touched on a few of the stories in this large cemetery - you might like to look up some of the other names yourself!

While you walk around, learning the Stories behind the Stones, you will be given directions to the next stop. To simplify these directions we suggest that you start the tour at the MAIN gate (the one that is painted blue and has Wilcannia Cemetery written in an arch overhead) and then navigate your way through the various sections in a clockwise manner. We will begin with the General section, which is on your left as you walk through the main gate. This will be followed by the Methodist and Presbyterian section (heading along the left-hand side towards the back, then across the back continuing in a clockwise direction we will arrive at the Roman Catholic section on the right and return to the main gate via the Church of England section. To help with the directions we will refer to the river (which is at your back when you enter through the gates), the main road (which refers to the Wilcannia/Menindee road that you turned off, it runs parralel to the back of the cemetery) and the central pathway (which is the pathway you enter he cemetery on).

You can visit each stop on our tour if you like, or if you prefer a shorter visit, just select the people you wish to learn more about from the list function (at the top right of the user interface) and make your own way directly to their grave.

Like all regional cemeteries, the rows are a bit hiddledy piggledy, so while we endeavour to give you clear instructions, and the information for each stop should appear automatically using the GPS function, if things are unclear, just use the directions and photos and enjoy your stroll around the cemetery while you are searching for the next stop!

Please be aware that our stories may contain information that some people find upsetting, they may also contain photographs of deceased people, including Aboriginal people.

We have tried to present all information in a respectful manner, and we hope that you enjoy learning more about the individuals who shaped the town of Wilcannia.

Your first stop is Michael Charters, who you will find to your left as you enter through the main gate.