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The Devonport, or Flagstaff, area was surveyed for Pakeha settlement from 1850. Parts of Section 26A from that survey were set aside by the government for three cemeteries: the Anglican section of 1 acre and 24 perches, the Catholic 1 rood and 35.8 perches and the remainder (basically Presbyterian and Wesleyan) 1 acre and eventually 24.8 perches (1.7 perches was removed for roading). Over the years they have been variously referred to as the Flagstaff, Mount Victoria, North Shore and Devonport Cemeteries.
Some say that they were approved for use as burial grounds from 1854, and that the first burial in any of the sections was in 1856. There is, however, a tombstone dating from 1852, and the Catholic section wasn't used before 1869, at least.
Churches followed the opening of the denominational based cemetery, with Holy Trinity Anglican Church dating from May 1856, the Wesleyan Chapel from 1865, St Paul's Presbyterian Church from 1866, and the Congregational Church from 1886. Having served as the Mortuary Chapel for the Catholic section of the Symonds Street Cemeteries since 1866, the St Francis de Salles building was moved into the Catholic part of the Mount Victoria Cemeteries in 1893. St Patrick's in Auckland continued to be responsible for Devonport until 1904.
The population of Devonport grew from 993 in 1878 to 2650 in 1886, but fell slightly to 2455 in 1891. There was pressure to close the Cemeteries in the 1880's, not least from the Cemeteries Act of 1882. Under that Act the Devonport Road Board was now required to provide a non-denominational public cemetery, outside of the Borough boundaries.
In 1885 an alternative site was purchased at Narrow Neck, jointly by the Waitemata County and Devonport Road Board. The N.Z. Gazette of 30 April 1885 describes it as 21 acres, 2 roods and 12 perches, on Lot 1 section 1. This is now the area by Seabreeze and Old Lake Road, by Narrow Neck Beach. It was never used, as it was inside the boundaries of the new Devonport Borough, which dates from 6 May 1886. Later, Devonport Borough bought out the Waitemata County share of the purchase, and used the land for other purposes.
After the closure of the Symonds Street Cemeteries from March 1886 there was also greater pressure on the Mount Victoria Cemeteries from Aucklanders wishing to be buried there, rather in the new Waikumete Cemetery.
An alternative site in Bayswater was purchased in 1890, and Mount Victoria was to be closed from 4 November 1890, but this closure was postponed as arrangements for the Cemetery at O'Neill's Point had yet to be finalised. The O'Neill's Point Cemetery was opened on 1 August 1891, and the Mount Victoria Cemeteries closed from 1 September 1891 (N.Z. Gazette 5 February 1891, page 195). However, widows or widowers, children, and brothers and sisters could still continue be buried in the family plot. Interestingly, O'Neill's has at least two burials dating before 1891, 22 March 1866 and 25 May 1875 - these may be re-burials from Mount Victoria.
The North Shore City Council retains a burial book for the Mount Victoria Cemeteries. The section for Anglican burials covers from 4 May 1886 (along with an entry for 1 August 1878) to 8 September 1891, the Catholic from 31 January 1887 to 22 August 1890, and the Presbyterian and Wesleyan from 10 June 1886 to 3 August 1891. There have been efforts at different times by the North Shore branch of the N.Z. Genealogical Society to transcribe and trace the tombstones in the Cemetery, and these are published by the Society in their lists of cemetery records. |
