Melbourne General Cemetery (MGC) has undergone a transformation: a cemetery reborn, you might say.
I first heard about it in Nov 2025. There was a segment on Gardening Australia on the ABC showcasing the results of a project called ‘Project Cultivate’. Plantings of Kangaroo grass and Billy Buttons transformed the dry landscape back to its original form: a ‘grassy woodland’.1 The cemetery looked loved.
I was curious to see if my forebears’ graves had been ‘revived’, so I took a visit.
Here’s what I found…
‘Project Cultivate’
Project Cultivate was initiated by the Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (SMCT), the trust that manages the Melbourne General Cemetery (MGC), amongst others. The project was commenced in May 2023 and completed in late 2025. The aim was…
….to enhance the natural landscape of this historic cemetery working to revegetate areas that were previously unplanted and managed with herbicide…2
According to the website, research of the area prior to the establishment of the cemetery in 1852 shows that it was ‘a grassy woodland’. Native plants were selected to replicate and transform the site to its previous glory. In so doing, the hope was to encourage the return of wildlife, such as, blue tongue lizards and birds. I saw bees and hoverflies having a field day!
Project Cultivate added more than 500,000 native grasses, wildflowers and groundcovers to the Cemetery over two years.
Just over 50 acres of ‘previously unplanted spaces’ were converted which is half the size of the cemetery. I had no idea the cemetery was as big as 100 acres!
The project has already delivered a range of benefits, including:
- 3°C decrease in ambient air temperature around planted areas,
- Improved soil quality, reduction in erosion, run-off and water pooling,
- 95% reduction in herbicide use,
- A visible increase in biodiversity, including increased activity from beneficial insects and birds.3
Entering the cemetery from Macpherson Street…
My first impression was… Wow! The wild, waving grasses soften the harsh granite headstones and the bright yellow daisies add some joy. The scene is a vast improvement on the once dry, barren landscape.
Below are some of the photos I took…
Have my forebears’ graves been beautified?
First, I had to do quite a bit of homework. Who of my line was buried here? I concentrated on my direct maternal and paternal lines, in an attempt not to get too side-tracked.
When I first started delving into the whys and wherefores of my forebears in the 1990s, I accessed the Burial register of the MGC at the Genealogical Society of Victoria in Melbourne. It was a matter of trawling through microfiche which seems so antiquated now. The register gave me the grave number, the names of the occupants of the grave, their ages and the burial dates. A family historian’s gold mine!
Find a Grave website is a free resource that can be searched these days. But. The details are not always accurate and it doesn’t always tell you all the occupants of the graves.
My ’90s research included a visit to the front office at the MGC. The staff were very helpful. They printed off maps of the sections of the cemetery I was interested in. They then marked the exact location of the plots. Nowadays, you can locate a grave using the GPS coordinates available on the Find a Grave app. Such is the latest in technology. However, that’s only if the coordinates have been entered by some nice volunteer who was standing by the grave at the time. The office is still there at the College Crescent entrance and the staff continue to be very helpful.
After collating all the details, I was surprised to find that many of my direct line are buried in MGC, especially on Mum’s side:
- Mum’s side – 5 out of 8 of her great grandparents and 2 out of a possible 4 of her grandparents
- Dad’s side – a different story – only one – a great grandparent out of a potential of 8.
So, potentially, a total of 8 graves to investigate…although there may be a grave or two of husband and wife.
Pedigree Charts
To make it easier to visualise the relationships, I fashioned a couple of Pedigree charts for each of my parent’s forebears.
The shaded boxes below are the deceased I’ve identified as buried in the MGC. I used the burial register and the death certificates for verification. The grave number is beside their names.
(C of E = Church of England, RC = Roman Catholic, WES = Wesleyan)
Pedigree chart for Mum – Teresa Bernadette COGHLAN nee WINTER
Pedigree chart for Dad – John Leo COGHLAN
Locating the graves on a Map of the Melbourne General Cemetery
Below, is a map of the cemetery I found online, created in 2009. I’ve indicated the general locations of the plots using the grave numbers. For my purposes this map is fine. You can download a current map from the SMCT website. Not surprisingly the layout of the cemetery hasn’t changed in the intervening years!
If you are searching for a deceased person in the MGC you can use the online search tool on the SMCT website or fill out a query form. If you’re on site, you can still drop into the front office.
NB I haven’t labelled the site of the grave of William SELLERS (WES D C Public) as I’m not sure of its location. The Public Plots were common graves with no headstones.
‘Digging’ up the identities of the graves’ occupants
The burial register I accessed at the Genealogical Society of Victoria revealed that there were usually more than one and sometimes 5 or 6 occupants in these graves. An economical option perhaps, or a way of keeping the family ‘together’.
So, what are the best ways to find out the details of the occupants and their connection to each other?
Death certificates The amount of information we have on our Victorian death certificates is the envy of many countries. The details include:
- Date and place of death,
- Name of deceased and Occupation,
- Age at time of death,
- Cause of death,
- Parents’ names and occupations and mother’s maiden name,
- Name of informant and their relationship to deceased and name of residence,
- Date and place of Registration of death,
- When and where buried,
- Name of Minister and witnesses,
- Birthplace and ‘how long in the Australian colonies stating which’,
- Marriage details-where, to whom and at what age,
- Names and ages of children, including deceased.
All of these details are wonderful, but it depends on the informant’s knowledge of the deceased. He/she may not be a member of the family, but a friend or a hospital staff member with limited or no knowledge of the deceased’s past. For that matter, a family member may not know either!
Headstones These can add some extra information, for example, a town or village where the deceased was born rather than just the name of a country. The accuracy and amount of information, however, depends again on the informant.
You might think the information on a headstone is the way to go, but these are notoriously inaccurate. Reasons? They may have been erected years after the event when dates are misremembered; names and/or places are misspelt or just wrong. Perhaps the stonemason misheard the information due to unfamiliar accents. Remembering too that the folks of the period I’m looking at – the mid to late 1800s – had varying levels of reading/writing or had none at all. Things to keep in mind.
And, of course, not every grave has a headstone. Reasons? Years go by, family forget/move on; someone thought someone else did it; couldn’t afford it and/or vandalism. So, best not to judge our predecessors for the lack of giving their loved one a headstone.
Death/funeral notices These can also add invaluable additional information, such as, relationships in the family. But. Those details can be wrong too!
As a general rule, finding at least two, preferably three sources of information will verify you have the right person.
The moral of the story? Think laterally, get as much corroborating information as you can and always keep an open mind!
Now, to get onto the details of each plot…
- The following outlines the details of each grave occupant and a brief summary of their lives.
- For each plot, I’ve numbered the burials from the earliest to the last.
Edward WINTER – Mum’s great grandfather.
PLOT CofE-Comp-L- No-261
There are two occupants in this grave:
Edward WINTER and his daughter Margaret WINTER.
The grave is situated on Centre Avenue, in front of the Melbourne Mausoleum. It’s without a headstone, as it was when I initially visited in 1994. It is in front of the iron railings pictured above, and bounded by them on two sides. The ground has been mulched and planted with native grasses, a vast improvement on the weeds I saw in 1994.
2. 1869 Edward WINTER
- DIED: 12 March 1869
- AGE: 58 years old
- CAUSE OF DEATH: ‘Apoplexy 6 wks’. (Apoplexy – stroke/’sudden loss of consciousness followed rapidly by death’)
- PLACE OF DEATH: Diggers Rest, Victoria (site of Edward’s farm)
1. 1851 Margaret WINTER, Edward’s eldest child
- DIED: 27 May 1851
- AGE: 10 years old
- CAUSE OF DEATH: Unknown.
- PLACE OF DEATH: ‘Springs’ (A farm rented by Edward WINTER now in present day Tullamarine. See What’s in a name? )
There is no death certificate for Margaret as compulsory civil registration did not start until 1853. I was able to obtain her death and burial dates from the records of St Peter’s Melbourne which are available through Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria. The records do not record cause of death. Burials in the Parish of St Peter’s Melbourne in the County of Bourke in the Year 1851.
Despite Margaret’s death being recorded in 1851, the burial register states that ‘Margaret WINTER was buried in CofE L261 on 1 Feb 1854 10 years old’. That’s nearly 3 years after her death.
I searched for the death of a Margaret WINTER in 1854 but I found no record.
A possible explanation for the discrepancy in the burial dates could be that she had two burials: the first in the Old Melbourne Cemetery in 1851 and reinternment in the (New) MGC after it opened in 1853.
In 1854, the Old Melbourne Cemetery was proclaimed closed for burials except to those claiming a grave or vault there.4
Honoria WINTER (nee TANCRED) – Edward’s wife. Mum’s great grandmother.
PLOT CofE-Comp K-257
Below is a photo I took of the plot in Nov 2025. Areas around the gravesites have been mulched but no plantings. No doubt walkways need to be preserved.
The photo below is one I took in 1994. It’s taken from a different angle with the headstones in question in the middle. As you can see the area was overgrown with weeds at that time.
There are 6 occupants in this grave:
Edward’s wife, Honoria WINTER nee TANCRED, and other Winters who I’ve been unable to identify.
The 5 WINTERs in the grave are – Amelia, Arthur, Eliza x 2 and Emma.. There is no mention of Honoria on the headstone.
From the little research I’ve done, this family of WINTERs was born in England. It’s possible they were early immigrants to England from Ireland before emigrating to Australia. I’ve been unable to connect them to our WINTER family.
Like Edward and Margaret WINTER’s grave, this grave is also near the mausoleum, just a few rows back.
Honoria WINTER nee TANCRED
- DIED: 7 Nov 1856
- AGE: 38 years old
- CAUSE OF DEATH: ‘Laryngitis 4 days’ (Possible causes of laryngitis in this time period: Diptheria, TB or other bacterial infections)
- PLACE OF DEATH: Melbourne. ‘Michael Gallagher present at death’.
Death notice for Honoria WINTER nee TANCRED
On the 7th inst. at the residence of Councillor Gallagher, Melbourne, Honoria, the beloved wife of Edward Winter, Esq., farmer, of Keilor, aged thirty-eight years, much respected, leaving seven children to deplore their loss.
Honoria died many years before Edward and only five years after their daughter Margaret. She left a young family: 7 children ranging in age from 6 months to 11 years old. Two children predeceased her: Margaret and a son, James (less than 3 years old). Her husband, Edward, did not remarry and died 13 years after Honoria.
Funeral notice for Honoria WINTER nee TANCRED
As it says in the funeral notice above, Honoria was buried in the ‘New Cemetery’, the Old Cemetery being closed in 1854. It is now underneath the present day car park of the Queen Vic Market.
I was intrigued by the fact that Honoria died in Melbourne and at ‘the residence of Councillor Gallagher, Rose of Australia, corner of Bourke and King Streets’.
Michael Gallagher was the publican of the Hotel, Rose of Australia, on the corner of Bourke and King Streets, Melbourne at this time. He was also a councillor in the Lonsdale Ward of Melbourne. It’s possible Honoria was taken to Melbourne to seek further medical advice and stayed with Michael Gallagher, who was a friend perhaps.
A little about the Edward WINTER and Honoria TANCRED family…
Edward WINTER emigrated to Australia from Ireland in 1839 as a gardener. The story goes that he was following his love, Honoria TANCRED who had emigrated earlier. The families in Ireland were trying to keep the two apart on religious grounds: Edward, Protestant and Honoria, Catholic. Love prevailed, however, and Edward found Honoria on the streets of Sydney and they married in Sydney in 1840 in a Protestant church.
Edward worked for a short time in Sydney with Mary Reibey of $20 Australia note fame before moving to the Port Phillip District. later to be known as Victoria.5 There he managed a couple of properties Lucerne (Alphington) and Springs (Tullamarine) before buying his own land in Keilor (store and farm) and finally a large farm in Diggers Rest. The couple had 9 children: Margaret, born at Lucerne; Lydia, William and Edward, born at Springs; and Richard, John, James, Honoria and Susan, born at Keilor. The children were all baptised Church of England in St James Cathedral, Melbourne and later in C of E churches in Broadmeadows and Keilor.6
Edward’s wife Honoria died 6 months after their ninth child, Susan, was born. I don’t have any information as to how Edward coped as a young widower after Honoria’s death, but I do know that he stayed on the farm until his death in 1869. I suspect the older children pitched in with the running of the farm and caring for the younger ones. At the same time. there were other members of the extended WINTER clan who had emigrated to Australia so they may have lived there and helped with the farm.
Edward BOWES and his wife Catherine BOWES (nee KEEGAN) – Mum’s great grandparents.
PLOT RC-Comp-N-No-426
This grave is a sorry sight. It is also how I remember it in the ’90s. There is no headstone as was the case then.
I’ve outlined the plot in black with its approximate boundaries.
There were 5 occupants in this grave: Edward and his wife Catherine and 3 of their children:
5. 1891 Edward BOWES
- DIED: 18 Nov 1891
- AGE: 63 years old
- CAUSE OF DEATH: ‘Disease of heart. Verdict of Inquest’. (Edward was found dead hence the need for an inquest)
- PLACE OF DEATH: 376 Burnley Street, Burnley.
3. 1877 Catherine BOWES (nee KEEGAN) – Edward’s wife
- DIED: 21 Sep 1877
- AGE: 48 years old
- CAUSE OF DEATH: ‘Epilepsy. Exhaustion’
- PLACE OF DEATH: Church Street, Carlton
And 3 of their children:
1. 1871 Emily BOWES
- DIED: 8 April 1871
- AGE: 1 month old
- CAUSE OF DEATH: ‘Marasmus 1 month’*
- PLACE OF DEATH: ‘Neil Street, City of Melbourne’. (This is probably ‘Neill Street, Carlton’)
2. 1873 Ellen BOWES
- DIED: 25 Mar 1873
- AGE: 9 months old
- CAUSE OF DEATH: ‘Marasmus 3 weeks’*
- PLACE OF DEATH: ‘Neil Street, City of Melbourne’
*Marasmus is described as ‘severe malnutrition’
4.1883 Mary LUTTGENS nee BOWES
- DIED: 12 June 1883
- AGE: 21 years old
- CAUSE OF DEATH: ‘Phthisis’ (Phthisis = TB)
- PLACE OF DEATH: ‘Madeline Street, Smith Ward, City of Melbourne’. (Madeline Street was renamed Swanston Street, north of Victoria Street in present day Carlton).
Mary BOWES married John LUTTGENS just 9 months prior to her death.
Catherine left 5 children aged from 12 years old to 20 years old. 4 children predeceasing her.
A little about the Edward BOWES and Catherine KEEGAN family…
Edward BOWES emigrated from Ireland to Sydney, Australia in 1855. He followed his widowed father Edward BOWES (retired member of the RIC-Royal Irish Constabulary) and siblings who had emigrated the year before. Edward, 30 yrs old, married Catherine KEEGAN, abt 25 yrs old, (born Dublin ) in Sydney in 1855. 2 out of 9 of their children were born in Sydney: Margaret and Edward. The remaining seven children were born in inner city Melbourne – Collingwood, Richmond, Carlton – after moving from Sydney around 1860. These children were: Lawrence, Mary, Catherine, Hanora “Annie”, Charles, Emily and Ellen. Edward worked as a ‘storeman’.
At the time of Catherine’s death, four children had died, leaving 5 living. Their ages ranged from 12 years to 20 years.
NB One child, Charles, was stated as being deceased on Catherine’s death certificate, and alive on her husband, Edward’s death certificate 14 years later. I have since found out that he was alive at the time of his mother’s death. That can be the problem with informants!
Thomas SELLERS and his wife Margaret SELLERS (nee BOWES) – Mum’s grandparents
PLOT RC-Comp-X-No-337
The name SELLERS is sometimes written as ‘SELLARS’ on some certificates.
The revegetation here is a really good example of the transformation made to a once barren plot.
Below is a photo I took of the grave in 2015 and following that is one I took 10 years later in 2025. A vast improvement.
The grave is to the right of the concrete bordered grave in the foreground. This was bare ground in the 90s and it’s looking very lush with plantings of natives grasses.
There are two occupants in this grave: Thomas SELLERS and his wife Margaret SELLERS nee BOWES.
Margaret is the eldest daughter of Edward and Catherine BOWES nee KEEGAN (RC-Comp-N-No-426)
1. 1887 Thomas SELLERS
- DIED: 6 Feb 1887
- AGE: 33 years old
- CAUSE OF DEATH: ‘Morbus Brightis et Cordio Exhaustion about a year’ (Morbus brightus – kidney disease cardiorenal syndrome)
- PLACE OF DEATH: 193 Cardigan Steet, Carlton, Victoria
Another death of a young parent. Thomas left a wife and 5 children ranging from 3 years to 11 years old.
2. 1931 Margaret SELLERS (nee BOWES) Thomas’ wife
- DIED: 28 May 1931
- AGE: 75 years old
- CAUSE OF DEATH: ‘Myocarditis. Bronchopneumonia. Cardiac Failure’ (Myocarditis-inflammation of the heart muscle; Bronchopneumonia – infection/inflammation of the bronchi of the lungs; cardiac failure- heart pumping failure)
- PLACE OF DEATH: Convalescent Hospital, Kooyong Road, Caulfield, Victoria. Normal Residence: 271 Canning Street, Carlton, Victoria
One child, Alfred, predeceased Margaret.
Below is a photo of Margaret SELLERS nee BOWES. It states on the back of the photo that she is 73 years old. She looks much older. No doubt life was not easy for Margaret: widowed at 31 years old and sole parent to 5 children ranging in age from 3 years to 11 years.
A little about the Thomas SELLERS and Margaret BOWES family…
Like his father before him, Thomas SELLERS worked as a bootmaker. Thomas married the 18 year old Margaret BOWES, a brushmaker, in 1874 at St Francis RC church Melbourne. A bootmaker marrying a brushmaker, a marriage made in heaven! They were inner city Melbourne people, living their lives in Collingwood/Fitzroy, and Carlton in streets such as Cardigan, Canning and Drummond Streets. As far as I know, they never owned property. At the time of her husband Thomas’ death, the couple had only been married for 13 years. In that time they had 5 children: Alfred, Catherine (Mum’s mum) Mary Jane, Thomas and James. All survived into adulthood. Margaret did not remarry and died intestate in 1931.
A cousin told me that after her husband’s death, Margaret placed ‘the children in an orphanage for a while’. I presume Margaret worked to make ends meet. I was also told that her daughter Catherine worked as a domestic servant up near Bendigo which is probably where she met and married my grandfather, William Thomas Rupert WINTER.
Luke COGHLAN – Dad’s great grandfather
PLOT RC-Comp-H-No-19
Below are photos I’d taken 10 years apart of the headstone at the head of the plot – 2015 and 2025.
There are no new plantings at the site. The headstone is still intact – if a little weather-beaten, but in remarkably good shape for its age – and the lawn around it is well maintained. I’d say Luke paid a pretty penny for this headstone.
PLOT RC-Comp-H-No-19 Luke COGHLAN and his daughters Maria and Catherine and 3 children of his son. Patrick COGHLAN. Author’s collection.
The headstone belies the fact that there are 6 occupants in this grave. I’ve previously talked about this grave in my blog post How do we solve a problem like Maria?
Erected by
LUKE COGHLAN
of Northcote
in memory of his daughter
MARIA COGHLAN
who departed this life
November 14th 1857
Aged 11 years & 6 months.
Occupants: Luke COGHLAN and 2 of his daughters: Maria COGHLAN and Catherine COGHLAN; 3 of Luke’s grandchildren: Ellen, Victoria P. and William Luke COGHLAN, all children of Patrick COGHLAN and his wife Mary Teresa O’BRIEN.
Luke’s wife Ellen NEVIN is buried with another son, Michael, in the Malmsbury cemetery.
4. Luke COGHLAN
- Died: 31 July 1871
- AGE: 66 years old
- CAUSE OF DEATH: ‘Bronchitis. Cystic Disease 2 weeks’ (Cystic disease-cysts on the kidneys)
- PLACE OF DEATH: ‘Kangaroo Creek. Glenlyonshire, Victoria’.
It’s hard to know the exact location of Luke’s death, but I suspect it was Bullarto, Victoria where members of his family lived. Bullarto was part of Glenlyonshire in the nineteenth century. Luke also had relatives in Malmsbury which, like Bullarto, was on the Kangaroo Creek.
Luke’s daughters:
1. Maria COGHLAN
- DIED: 12 Sep 1857
- AGE: 11 years old
- CAUSE OF DEATH: ‘Influenza’
- PLACE OF DEATH: ‘Northcote. Merri Creek’.
2. Catherine COGHLAN
- DIED: 1 Jan 1859
- AGE: 8 years old
- CAUSE OF DEATH: ‘Struma’ (‘Struma’ – a goitre or enlarged thyroid gland)
- PLACE OF DEATH: ‘Pentridge’ (The suburb of ‘Pentridge’ was later named Coburg)
Patrick’s children:
5. Ellen COGHLAN (Eleanor Theresa on Victoria Birth Index)
- DIED: 20 April 1874
- AGE: 4 months old
- CAUSE OF DEATH: ‘Gastro Enteritis and Congestion of lungs and brain. 7 days’
- PLACE OF DEATH: ‘123 Little Bourke Street West, City of Melbourne’
6. Victoria P COGHLAN* (Mary Patricia on Australia Birth Index)
- DIED: May 1878
- AGE: 3 months old
3. William Luke COGHLAN*
- DIED: March 1870
- AGE: 2 years old
*I do not have a copy of these death certificates, so not able to obtain place of death or cause of death.
A little about the Luke COGHLAN family and his son, Patrick’s family…
Luke COGHLAN and his wife Ellen NEVIN and 7 of their 10 children emigrated to Adelaide, Australia in 1854. They traipsed across the land to Melbourne and settled for a while on the Merri Creek/Northcote. Three of their daughters died at young ages which left them with 7 boys only. As the boys grew up they spread their wings and ventured into many occupations: gold mining, hotelkeeping and farming. Luke and his son Patrick dabbled in many ventures together. Patrick eventually moved to Queensland and the rest of the family settled in country Victoria in Malmsbury/Bullarto/Shepparton, farming, hotelkeeping.
Daniel COGHLAN (Dad’s great uncle) – Luke COGHLAN’s youngest son.
PLOT RC-Comp-V-No-177
Daniel is not in Dad’s direct line, but I thought I’d include him as he is the only other child of Luke COGHLAN and Ellen NEVIN’s to be buried in the MGC.
He is the only occupant of this grave.
This site has been revegetated.
1891 Daniel COGHLAN
- DIED: 2 Nov 1891
- AGE: 38 years old
- CAUSE OF DEATH: ‘Cirrhosis of liver, Haematemesis, Uraemic coma. 2 days’ (Cirrhosis-irreversible scarring of liver; Haematemesis-vomiting blood; Uraemic coma-last stage of kidney failure)
- PLACE OF DEATH: ‘High Street Shepparton’
I’m surprised Daniel wasn’t buried in the Shepparton Cemetery as he lived in Shepparton for most of his life and the cemetery was open at the time of his death.
A little about Daniel’s life…
Daniel was the tenth and youngest child of Luke and Ellen COGHLAN. He doesn’t appear on the 1854 passenger list with his parents and other siblings. As his vital dates didn’t quite add up, I suspected he was born in Australia. His death certificate, however, states that he was born in Daylesford – Melbourne, crossed out. The informant, a friend, obviously wasn’t sure. Daniel’s marriage certificate gives his birthplace as ‘Ireland’ which you would think would be more reliable. It’s more than likely that he was born in Ireland and he came out to Australia with possible relatives, a Martin and Bridget Coghlan in 1855 as a 2 year old with his brother Luke, 8 years old.
At the age of 28, Daniel married Mary Jane O’BRYAN in St Patrick’s Cathedral Melbourne in 1881. He states his occupation as ‘gentleman’ on his marriage certificate, indicating he was financially secure. The couple had 5 children, three pre deceasing Daniel. Two children were buried in the Shepparton Cemetery (Marguerita Kathleen 4yrs old and Florence Adelaide 3yrs old). The other child, Lucy Ethel died a few years earlier in 1886 , at only 6 mths. According to Lucy’s death certificate she died at the O’BRYAN residence in Fitzroy and was buried in the O’BRYAN family plot in the MGC. The 2 children living at the time of Daniel’s death, Ellen May, 8 years old and Mary Jane, 2 years old, lived into adulthood.
I discovered through an obituary for Daniel that he lived a very full life, full of entrepreneurial adventures. Here’s an extract from an obituary published in the Shepparton Advertiser on 4 Nov 1891. p2
… Deceased was one of the first settlers of Shepparton. He and his brother James commenced business in Shepparton as carpenters in the early days, and after working for some time successfully at their trade they built Coghlan’s Hotel, and therein carried on a lucrative business for a number of years. On the extension to the railway to Numurkah Mr D Coghlan proceeded to that town and built the first brick hotel erected there the Victoria, in which he conducted business with his usual good fortune for a few years. Selling out at a favourable time, he realised a handsome price for his venture when he started in business in the same town as an auctioneer, acting also as a representative for the Castlemaine Brewery Company. Resigning his connection with Numurkah he returned to Shepparton and has of late been proprietor of the hotel in which he saw his last.7 (The Terminus Hotel, Shepparton)
The Terminus Hotel was in High Street, Shepparton and the Coghlan’s Hotel was on the corner of Fryer and Maude Streets Shepparton.
Daniel was also a member of the Shepparton Council, the Water Trust and the Race Club. He owned at least ten properties in and around Shepparton including a farm of over 400 acres in Pine Lodge, east of Shepparton and the Terminus Hotel where he spent his last days.
An account of the lives of Daniel and James, his brother, is worthy of a separate blog post.
PUBLIC BURIALS
William SELLERS – Mum’s great grandfather,Thomas SELLERS’ father
PLOT WES D C Public.
I don’t know the location of this public plot.
1873 William SELLERS
- DIED: 10 Jan 1873
- AGE: 73 years old
- CAUSE OF DEATH: ‘Age and Debility’
- PLACE OF DEATH: ‘Benevolent Asylum, Hotham’
The Benevolent Asylum, built in 1851, was on a 10 acre site in North Melbourne. It no longer exists. It morphed into the present day Monash University’s Kingston Centre.
The objectives of the society, formed in 1848, were to ‘relieve the aged, infirm, disabled or destitute of all creeds and nations and to minister to them the comforts of religion’.8
You can read more about it on the Hotham History Project website here
At the time of William’s death 3 children had predeceased him and 3 were living. The deceased were three babies, also buried in public plots in the MGC.
A little about the William SELLERS family…
William is a bit of a mystery. It’s highly likely that he was a convict transported from England to Port Arthur, Tasmania in 1830. Some information I have gathered regarding his age, birthplace – Yorkshire, etc, tally with the details of a convict of the same name. However, other information does not. For instance, the informant on his death certificate, a ‘messenger’ from the Benevolent Asylum, states that William lived in one Australian colony only – Victoria. William may have covered up his convict past even from his family as was often the case, or the informant may not have known all his details. I’d like to claim William as our convict, but I’m missing that one vital piece of information that would seal the deal.
What I do know is that in 1852, at the age of 53, William married a 27 year old widow, Jane ELLIS nee BLAIR originally from Dublin, Ireland. William is documented as a ‘widower’ on the marriage certificate. I haven’t found any evidence of this in Australia, but if he was the convict, that William was married before he was transported. It’s possible his wife died before he left or he learnt of her death later or he just lied. Jane had a 1 year old son, William ELLIS at the time of their marriage. Young William took the surname of his step father and so became William SELLARS Jnr.
The couple settled in and around Collingwood/Fitzroy moving a few times. William took up his trade as a bootmaker. If he was the convict, William, he could have learnt this trade in Port Arthur. They had 6 children of their own over the next 14 years. Unfortunately, Jane’s son, William, died in 1854 at the age of 3 years. Three more of the couple’s children also died young: another William in 1857, 2 years old; Mary Jane in 1864, 1 year old and John in 1868, 10 years old. John drowned in a waterhole, in Woodstock, Victoria while he was in the employ of Jeremiah Melbourne, a hawker.9 Such a young age to be sent out to work.
As was often the case, in an effort to perpetuate the names, a further two babes were named William, born 1860 and Mary Jane, born 1866. They both survived childhood. And fortunately, for me, the couple’s first born Thomas, my forebear, born in 1853, also survived childhood and went on to marry Margaret BOWES.
I have not found any details regarding the death of Jane, William’s wife. William’s death certificate states that he is ‘married’ but also ‘particulars not known’ regarding details of marriage or names of his ‘3 children’. As I’ve stated before the information on a death certificate is only as good as what the informant knows.
To recap…
This whole venture was a much bigger exercise than I anticipated: I thought I was just going to report on the revegetation, or lack of, for the plots of my direct lines, but how could I ignore the other occupants of these graves and their stories? So, instead of the 8 forebears I intended to follow up I ended up reporting on another 10 people! I shouldn’t be surprised I suppose, one thing always leads to another in family history. All in all, I identified 18 people in 8 graves with close DNA ties to me.
There were a number of sad stories: the deaths of babies and young children; the deaths of young parents leaving their partners to bring up a brood of children on their own; the death of 21 year old Mary LUTTGENS nee BOWES only 6 months after she was married; and poor John SELLERs, away from home working as a 10 year old for a hawker, drowning in a waterhole. The inner city dwellers, the SELLERS, trying to make ends meet plying their trades under difficult circumstances. It gives me a heightened sense of the difficult times they lived in.
There were also stories of adventure, especially on the COGHLAN side: Luke and his son Patrick – partners in gold mining ventures; Luke’s sons, Daniel and James, building hotels, becoming publicans and farmers in the pioneering town of Shepparton. Their lives were short lived with plenty of their own tragedy, but they had a good go.
Out of 8 graves there is only one headstone, the COGHLAN headstone in memory of Maria, Luke’s daughter. And there is only one photo of a direct ancestor buried in MGC, Margaret SELLERS, nee BOWES. So much history lost to time.
It was a delight to revisit the MGC. The mass plantings of natives is a vast improvement on the cycle of weeds/herbicide barrenness/back to weeds. The graves look loved. I enquired at the front office as to whether the two graves lacking plants, Luke COGHLAN and Edward BOWES, could be revegetated. Yes! was the reply. The cemetery will supply the plants and I plant them. A job for cooler months.
Huge congratulations to the staff and volunteers who were involved in Project Cultivate. Their efforts are much appreciated by this family historian and many others I’m sure.
According to a local historian I met on a recent trip to Ireland, I’m a taphophile.
‘A what?’ I asked.
‘A taphophile. A lover of cemeteries,’ he said.
‘I suppose I am,’ I said. ‘I wasn’t aware there was a name for it.’
He was right, of course. I do love cemeteries. And I’d say he did too as we were standing in one when he said it.
Cemeteries are peaceful. I lose myself in the imagined lives of the deceased. And as for my own forebears in the MGC, of whom I knew none, I marvel at their strength and resilience in dealing with life’s tragedies and adversities.
Much respect and peace goes to them.
- Project Cultivate, Gardening Australia 7 Nov 2025, Season 36, From 29 minutes to 37 minutes ↩︎
- Project Cultivate at Melbourne General Cemetery, SMCT ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- Old Melbourne Cemetery- Entry eMelbourne ↩︎
- Edward WINTER, Mary REIBEY and the $20 note ↩︎
- Personal information given to author by Christine Laskowski, author of Steele Creek and the Lady of the Lake ↩︎
- Mr D Coghlan Shepparton Advertiser, 4 Nov 1891, p2. Sourced through TROVE ↩︎
- The Benevolent Asylum, Hotham History Project https://www.hothamhistory.org.au/the-benevolent-asylum/ ↩︎
- John SELLERS, Inquest PROV ↩︎