Old Onslow WA Memorial Inscriptions


© Copyright 1996-2021 Kerry Raymond and David Horton

Old Onslow


Address: In the ruins of the town of Old Onslow.
Opened: 1885 - 1925
# graves:

The original town of Onslow was abandoned around 1925 after one too many cyclones. A new town was built on the other side of the bay. The ruins are Old Onslow, and are (apparently) accessible by car. We only reached the outskirts and found the remnants of trivia markers for some parts of town which themselves had been bleached white. There is a book in the Onslow Museum with the burial records for Old Onslow cemetery. The introduction page is below.

Old Onslow Cemetery

1885 - 1925
The information contained in this booklet is all that we were able to find relating to the people who were buried at old Onslow Cemetery; as records have been lost or destroyed over time.
Please note the following regarding dates :-
  • The handwritten cemetery records refer to "date of issue of certificate" not date of death
  • Mail sent from Onslow to Perth took a long time by today's standards. An example Jane O'Grady died 23/5/1894 but death was not registered in Perth until 17/9/1894.
  • My Aunt Thelme Mounsher (nee Clark) explained that if a person died in the morning they would be buried in the afternoon similarly if they died in the afternoon they would be buried the following morning. Often the burial took place before the death was registered.
    • The cemetery tombstones have beenand are still subjected to cyclones, salt water floods, shifting sand hills, grass and trees growing through and among the graves plus ant hills which would give you an indication of why so few tombstones remain.
    Some of the "metal" numbers which correlate to "number of entry in burial register" can still be located at the cemetery; but again the records indicate the numbering started in 1908 yet people had been buried prior to this date.
    Should you have any information that will assist in adding to this record please forward any photographic or documentary evidence to me.
    Mignonne Clark at 11 Tarongo Way, City Beach, WA 6015.

    From "edge of Empire"
    by Martyn and Audrey Webb
    Settlement of the north-west began in 1884 by Walter Padbury, which ended in 1885 with the gazetting of the townsite and port of Onslow at the Ashburton river mouth.

    More information about
    Shire of Ashburton - history of Onslow
    Warlu Way - Onslow
    Onslow
    Australian Explorer - Onslow attractions
    Travelling Oz - Onslow
    Onslow Sun Chalets Things to do in and around Onslow
    Flight Centre - Old Town Site of Onslow
    Find-a-grave: Old Onslow Cemetery
    BillionGraves: Old Onslow Pioneer Cemetery
    Australian Cemeteries: Old Onslow Cemetery
    OzBurials: Onslow Cemetery
    WA Heritage Council: Old Onslow Townsite
    CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN : OLD ONSLOW CEMETERY
    Australian Cemeteries Index: Cemetery 5901 - Old Onslow Pioneer
    In Remembrance: Old Onslow Cemetery Burials : a Tribute to the Pioneers of Old Onslow who Lie at Rest Beneath the Spinifex and Sandhills in this Near Forgotten Outpost
    sWA Here and Now: Onslow
    Trove: 9-Nov-1922 Onslow
    wikitravel: Onslow
    Australia's NorthWest : Old Onslow and Onslow heritage trail
    Lonely Graves of Western Australia
    council news: Old Onslow Conservation Works at Cemetery and Police Complex
    State Library WA: Cumming, D.A. (Denis Arthur), 1923-1995. Title Old Onslow, August 1994 [picture]
    Mary Glass
    Going With The Flow In Old Onslow...
    Tourezi: Old Town Site (Old Onslow)
    2016 Hobbitt's big lap : OLD ONSLOW, Western Australia

    Photographed: Sep 2009


    Displayed images are scaled down to fit on the screen, but full-size images can be obtained by clicking.

    All the photos   ,
    Names in alphabetical order    ,
    All the cemeteries