Why photograph Cemeteries????
We are losing cemetery headstones at an alarming rate from weathering, deterioration and old age, lack of maintenance, spreading mould, reclaiming of gravesites and most distressing of all, vandalism.
This is why we are committed to preserving this heritage for future generations.
By photographing the gravestones of these ancestors, we are actively recording family history
not only for those researching now, but those in the future.
We do this work because we believe that the legacy of every person deserves to be remembered in photographic form, and that the heritage of the Pioneers of the State of South Australia should be kept for preservation
by the National Library and for future generations.
Many headstones become unreadable or damaged well before the lease expiry date.
Our Story.........
We have continually travelled about the state of South Australia photographing complete cemeteries for the benefit of the genealogy enthusiast.
With 560 cemeteries already photographed and over 250,000 photos, this is one of the largest collections available to the public.
We have made an effort to visit as many cemeteries as possible, but are limited to weekends and our 'annual holidays'. It then takes many, many hours looking at the photos to rename them by surnames. My aim is to photograph at least one cemetery per week. Something we more than achieved in both 2008 and 2009. We are already ahead of schedule for 2010.
In 2005, when we began our 'little project', it became apparent that there is a need for photos to be made available to those who are unable to travel to city, country and remote destinations.
By making available the District CD's to both the State and National Libraries, the headstones will now be a 'living memory' and not ravaged by the sands of time and lost to 'the enthusiast' of the future.
In the 2007/08 and 2008/09 financial years we travelled a total of over 20,500 klms, specifically to photograph cemeteries. All proceeds from sales go towards the costs associated with travel, however we still incur losses in the thousands of dollars.
I wish everyone well with their research.
Looking back we have certainly achieved a lot this year! With 145 more cemeteries added to the site we are now well on our way to having close to 250,000 headstones photographed - something that I would never have imagined possible when I first started this project. We travelled far and wide this year and completed all the areas in the South East of the State - Barossa and Clare Districts, Salisbury District, Wakefield District and tackled the two large cemeteries of North Road Anglican and Cheltenham Cemetery here in the Adelaide Metro Area. Two highlights were giving presentations to the Fleurieu Peninsula and South East Family History Groups.
We have purchased our own domain name - www.gravesecrets.net and www.webgenaustralia.com to assist you with your research needs on the web.
Our website has been revamped - something that took me many weeks - and I now have added the 'Local History Book' section which I will be working on over the summer months.
I hope this adds another useful aspect to your research.
The name search page appears to be another useful tool that everyone appreciates - it was my aim to be able to put in a surname and have available every cemetery where there is a headstone by that name listed - but unfortunately with permission from the Adelaide Cemeteries Authority denied for acess to West Terrace (the most historic cemetery here in South Australia), Enfield and Smithfield cemeteries, sadly this will never become a reality.
I have received numerous requests for 'thumbnails' of each photo to be put on the website. With nearly 250,000 photos on file now this would be an enourmous task uploading each photo and re-arranging the pages to suit. It would also make the website extremely large and very, very slow - this is the reason we have not done so in the past and I am sure no-one wants to wait 5 - 10 minutes for each page to download!
And what will 2010 bring?
As many of you are aware my website was 'archived' for a few months early in 2009 due to a certain individual's actions.
The person who had been harrasing and stalking me since August 2008 has once again surfaced with threats and yet another intimidating letter. With personal difficulties (caring for a disabled son 24/7 with a back injury) the emotional upset this person caused in the past, led to me being unable to continue my cemetery work for the early part of the year. Let's hope this will not happen again.
I hope later this year we will be able to travel to Whyalla and Broken Hill and some Northern Cemeteries.
Mid Murray and Light Districts will also be a priority.
I wish everyone a happy and safe 2010 and all the best with their research.
Latest Cemeteries to be added in 2010
(when colour changes from Blue to Grey this means that the cemetery is now completed and available for sale)
26th January - Truro, Dutton St. John's Lutheran, St. Kitts St. Paul's Lutheran, St. Kitts St. Petri Lutheran, Neukirch, Neukirch Pilgrim Lutheran (no headstones) and Ebenezer St. John's Lutheran Cemetery were all photographed and are now available.
6-7th February - We've passed the 250,000 photos on file!!!
Travelled to the Northern Areas Council District and photographed the following cemeteries -
Yacka, Laura, Gladstone, Jamestown, Georgetown, Narridy, Spalding and Spalding Gaelic.
It was a really hot weekend - photographing in 37C but we were able to get a lot done.
9th February - Single Photo Purchase option is again available - please note there has been a price increase.
17th February - Cheltenham Cemetery expired leases advertised 20th & 27th January 2010 uploaded.
18th February - Have commenced adding Google Map locations of cemeteries where available - some remote and most church cemeteries are not shown on Google Maps.
24th February - Downloadable list of over 200 headstones that were recently vandalized at West Terrace Cemetery
Click here for details.
3rd March - Google Maps for Cemeteries A-M have now been uploaded where available.
9th March - over 250 South Australian obituaries now available.