The land for Springvale Botanical Cemetery, (known then as The Necropolis Spring Vale), was purchased in 1878 by the Hon Francis Longmore, after a careful inspection of available areas within a distance of forty miles of Melbourne. The site was permanently reserved for a cemetery on 10 May 1887. It was proclaimed a public cemetery in February 1901 when the first Trust was constituted.
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The First Trust – 1901
Back (L-R) Cr. F. Davenport, F.H.R. Cook Esq. (Secretary & Manager), Cr. Thos. Simmons (Chairman), Cr. C.J. Jago JP, Cr. J.A. Boyd MLA. Front (L-R) Cr. A.F. Always JP, Cr. J.H. Sheedy JP, Cr. T.G. Allen, C.E. Bolingbroke Esq. JP, Cr. D. Simpson JP. |
Original ‘Union Jack’ road layout design - circa 1901
The original plan of the cemetery was laid out on the principle of the Union Jack, with all roads leading to the centre, outlined by 8th Road, 10th Avenue, 2nd Road and 6th Avenue. Understandably changes over the years have rendered the Union Jack design unrecognisable on today’s maps.
After the preliminary work of clearing the ground, surveying, fencing, draining, and laying out the grave sites for the different religious denominations, work commenced on the construction of the railway from Springvale Station to the cemetery.
The railway line opened on 7 February 1904, with the first mortuary train operating on 16 March 1904. Mourners would pay a fare to journey by rail to the cemetery. Corpses from Melbourne and intermediate stations were usually carried free of charge in specially built mortuary carriages. If the deceased was a pauper, a fee of 10 shillings (one dollar) was charged, as those funerals were unattended by fare paying mourners.
Funeral trains left from the Mortuary Platform at Princes Bridge Station, Melbourne and travelled to the cemetery station. The service operated until January 1951, when the line was closed due to the extension of Sandown Racecourse. The former station site is now marked within our Eucalypt Garden with a commemorative plaque.
 Original design of Mortuary Carriages built at the Newport Workshops - circa early 1900’s |
 Mortuary Train Carriage - circa 1904 |
 Hearse Trollies at the Spring Vale Cemetery Station - circa early 1900’s |
 A Remembrance card issued by Spring Vale in 1912 |
Over the years the cemetery has issued various forms of documentation. A great deal of time, effort and physical space is allocated to appropriately storing all documentation ranging from the first burial in 1902 up until the present day.
1943 Scale of Fees