CADIA CEMETERY — COMMEMORATIVE CEREMONY
Cadia Hill Gold invited CANSW Webmaster, John Symonds, to a ceremony to commemorate the new Garden of Remembrance on 2 May, 2000. The letter said that the ceremony would consist of a non-denominational religious service, followed by a lunch and talks from key consultants who were involved in the excavation of the original cemetery. There would be opportunities to talk with these consultants afterwards, along with contractors and other consultants involved in the whole program.
The Ceremony would be held at the new cemetery site and we were told that the service would proceed regardless of the weather so sturdy footwear and sensible clothing would be required. Visitors were advised to arrive at the overflow Cadia carpark by 11.00am, allowing time for them to be taken to the site.
The Gathering of Descendants
On a beautiful clear Tuesday, 2 May, about 130 people arrived from NSW, NT, QLD, TAS and VIC with many celebratory meetings amongst the descendants of those who had been living and died in Cadia and were buried in the original Cemetery. For example, there must have been about twenty descendants of Josiah Holman, the first Cadia Mine Captain. Of these, two were Queensland people with whom there had been our email contact for about a year regarding entries in the Cornish Surnames Pages.
Three coaches arrived at 11.30am, each with a Cadia Mines staff member who would accompany the visitors and brief them during the trips around the site. We were loaded and taken around the mine roads up the side of the valley. The Visitors Centre is on a small flat promontory on the ridge, from which a path runs down to the level where the Cornish Engine House stands with its Chimney. Across the Cadia valley, there is a startling view of the huge opencut Cadia Mine which extends down the valley.
From the Visitors Centre, a path leads slightly downhill along the ridge to the new Garden of Remembrance where there are 105 graves. The graves are each marked by a basalt boulder to which is attached a numbered plate. Eventually there will be a marker board with the grave numbers, against which will be the names and dates of the people interred in each. For this occasion, a temporary board showed the layout of the graves together with the Burial Register list with the names, date of death and age.
The Garden of Remembrance is placed on a flat part of the top of the ridge, about 70 metres above the level where the Cornish Engine House and the chimney stand on a lower piece of level ground. Arrangements were made for a path by which visitors could go down to the Engine House to look around that area. On the land just to the side of the garden grave area, Cadia staff had set up about 150 chairs, a small dais and a good loudspeaker system. In the photograph foreground can be seen some of the basalt boulders which were placed on the site of each grave. The size of the congregation is an indication of the interest which was taken in the Ceremony and all its attendant visits to interesting areas around the mine.
The Garden of Remembrance Opening
Mr G. Halliday, General Manager of Cadia Hill Gold Mine, opened the Ceremony. He welcomed the visitors and expressed his great satisfaction at the number of descendants and other interested people who were able to visit the Garden of Remembrance for the commemoration ceremony. He stressed that it was a tribute to them that they were able to give their approval for the exhumation of the remains from the old cemetery and their relocation in such a pleasant place. There was still much to be done to improve the grassing of the area but he pointed out that the consultants had made a nice gesture to the past. They had found many daffodil bulbs in the old Cemetery. These had been rescued and planted in the new Garden of Remembrance. In the coming Spring, it would be a pleasure to see the golden heads once more showing around the Garden.
He explained that, after the Ceremony, the coaches would do a tour around the works area where blasting and movement of ore had been stopped for this occasion. They would be able to see the new portal for the Ridgeway Mine. The environmental review papers had been submitted in the previous week, with the expectation that approval to proceed would be given in the next few months. Down in the valley, the coaches would pass the old Cemetery site. We would all go back to the carpark and return to Orange where there would be a smorgasbord lunch, followed by talks presented by the three key consultants - engineering manager, forensic archaeologist and Garden of Remembrance designer.
With the introduction completed, he asked Archdeacon F.W. Hetherington (Rector of the Orange Parish) and Rev. G. Pankhurst (Uniting Church of Orange) to conduct the Commemoration Ceremony.
The Commemorative Ceremony
Rev. Hetherington led in the service of commemoration, alternating with Rev. Pankhurst in the sections of the Ceremony that was brief and very well accepted by all present. Both made every effort to meet with the visitors before and after the Ceremony and to discuss the background of their ancestors. Both were impressed by the ready acceptance of the move from the old cemetery to the new Garden of Remembrance. They both noted, viewing the Burial Register list, how sad it was to see that between a half and two thirds of the names were for children under the age of about 4 years.
By photographing the Burial Register, it has been possible to reproduce the list of surnames, with approval from the Cadia Mines management. That Cadia Burial Register Surname list in alphabetical order can be reached from the Menu list. It has also been possible to rearrange the Names to be listed by Age, the very youngest first (use the Menu list).
A view of the basalt boulders which are over each grave site shows how much care has been taken with the design of The Garden of Remembrance. When the grass grows to cover the space between boulders, up to the pathways, it will be what Cadia Mines intended, a very pleasant place. In Spring, we all have great hopes for the reappearance of daffodils coming up through the grass.
More photographs of the basalt boulder markers can be seen by going to the Garden of Remembrance Views using the Menu list. There are also three photographs which make up the panoramic view across the valley from the Visitors Centre and the Garden of Remembrance.
After the Service, a minute's silence was observed in memory of those committed to the new Garden. Mr Halliday closed the main part of the Ceremony by suggesting that a visit around the Garden of Remembrance, inspection of the burial register and the display in the Visitors Centre, and a walk down to the Cornish Engine House could be undertaken in the next 30 minutes. Visitors were asked to return to the buses at that time for the trip around the works site to view what had already taken place in a valley that had seen so many mining families living there in the 19th Century.
From the point of view of CANSW members, it was a very different valley to the one that we had seen when our Association members were involved in the work done on the Cornish Engine House in 1995. The Engine House, the Chimney and the associated structures were there, well restored. The photograph shows the track leading down to that area from the Visitors Centre. It gives a view indicating the level of the new site above it. Cadia once more had become the site of another mining village and much more massive mine engineering operations. During the coach tour, we were able to see the site of the original village, the old Cemetery and the reasons for the exhumations. The engineering operations now had rock and soil close to and over parts of the cemetery. All those present in our coach expressed their great satisfaction that the move of the remains had taken place rather than having the old Cemetery just covered by masses of rock and gravel. From there, we were taken back to the parking area and everyone moved off to the Ex-Servicemen's Club in Orange, ready for lunch, the talks and many further interactive conversations with the Cadia Mines staff, the Consultants and other Descendants.
Talks by the Consultants
The Engineering Consultant
The Manager of the Engineering Group outlined the procedures which were undertaken for the preparation of the old Cemetery for the grave exhumations and removal. As many descendants as possible were contacted and asked whether they would give a legally appropriate approval for the exhumations. The response had been wonderfully supportive. Just as the Commemorative Ceremony had its non-denominational service, so had the exhumation operations begun with a service to mark the exhumation operations.
He gave a most interesting description of the careful procedures that had been adopted to locate and to set up a modus operandi for the uncovering of each grave. The lack of grave markings on the surface was soon explained. After skimming off the surface soil and grass, they were surprised to find what were the rotted tops of past wooden markers for most of the graves. Slides showed the progressive stages for the opening of some of the graves, often different in each case. The operations performed were quite complex for each opening, with the forensic archaeologist in attendance. Once the level at which the remains had been placed was determined, further work was passed to the forensic archaeologist, including the study of the coffin and remains. After completion of that work, the engineering group ensured that the remains were transferred to properly marked caskets to be buried at the new site. Photographs were taken at each stage of the operation for each grave to ensure that a complete record could be maintained.
The Forensic Archaeologist
The forensic archaeologist from the University of Sydney had a wide experience of ancient archaeological sites such as Pompeii. Her careful work at each Cadia grave was described though not with any slides of the actual exposure of remains. She explained the procedures that were used, by reference to similar work done on skeletal remains at Pompeii. Forensic samples taken in those instances were similar to those taken at Cadia, even though the circumstances of the events were quite different. DNA investigations would be made in the coming months. The results of those tests would only be used for reference to those descendants who wished to compare their DNA with that of their ancestors. After that work had been done, the samples would be destroyed. What she was able to show were slides of many of the coffin construction components such as lid hinges, handles, engraved plates (no names) and so on. The audience was most appreciative of her careful attention to the archival materials which had been revealed. Subsequent questions and comments gave a clear indication of their appreciation.
She explained how it was possible to interpret the age and physical condition of the person whose remains were uncovered. It was also possible that tests could reveal the cause of death though this could be difficult for the young children. She again emphasized that the samples taken will be DNA tested and, with the approval of descendants, DNA samples will be collected from them and compared. The samples and records will be destroyed once the comparison are complete. It was very clear from the response of those present that they were very willing to assist in this procedure.
The Garden of Remembrance Designer
The designer of the new site gave a description of the area he had chosen, overlooking as it does the opencut mine and the Cornish Engine House where many of the men had worked. He explained how he had arrived at the final design using the layout of the original graves in the old cemetery. Touring around the valley, he had been impressed by the rather lovely rounded, basalt boulders everywhere and of their connection with the long past history of the area. It seemed very much in keeping with the valley and its past association with mining, miners and their families that these basalt boulders should be the markers with longevity assured. It was a surprise to hear and see from his slides just how he had arrived at a design that preserved the past for future generations. The design of the Visitors Centre was selected because it gave the feeling of the past also and, with the view from it across the valley to the mines, the prospects for the future of miners and mining.
In rounding off the talks, Mr Halliday stressed that all three speakers would be delighted to talk with those present about any aspects of interest to them. Several descendants rose and expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the Company for the care and attention that had been given to the Garden of Remembrance project.
Conclusion
In discussions with Cadia Mines Management, arrangements have been made to receive copies of papers published about the move of the remains to the Garden of Remembrance and for a list of all those whose names, ages and backgrounds had been determined, something like 105 persons in total. An interesting talk with Dr Estelle Lazer, the forensic archaeologist, resulted in a request from her to have more background on the involvement of the Cornish people at Cadia and in its neighbourhood. Her interest stems from the fact that so many of those buried were of Cornish origin or were children of Cornish families. We express our gratitude to the Cadia Hill Gold Mine management that the Association could be represented at this Ceremony and the talks, as no doubt will all those descendants of mining families who were present. Many of those with Cornish ancestry were delighted to find that the Cornish Association of NSW was represented and asked for further information on CANSW operations, Web sites and Newsletters.
Prepared for The Cornish Association of New South Wales after the Ceremony on 2 May 2000 by Webmaster, Dr. J.L. Symonds.