The Eltham Cemetery
The Eltham Cemetery, in Mt
Pleasant Road, Eltham, is of great significance for the Sweeney clan as
it marks the final resting place of many of those early Eltham pioneers
who forged new lives in what was then an untamed and wild land.
The most significant plots and oldest are the Sweeney and Murray family plots which are shown below.
The most significant plots and oldest are the Sweeney and Murray family plots which are shown below.
The
Sweeney family plot contains the remains of Thomas Sweeney (1803-1867)
who died in 1867 at age 64 and is buried with his wife Margaret and
various children.
The Murray plot contains the remains of John Murray (died 1867 aged 50) and his wife Mary Murray (died 1909 aged 76).
Another
significant plot is that of Mary Sweeney and her husband Michael
Carrucan. Michael Carrucan was the oldest son of Patrick and Mary
Carrucan. He inherited the Dalton Street farm from his father Patrick
and farmed it until his death in 1943. His wife Mary was one of the
grand daughters of Thomas Sweeney and married Michael in 1910 to unite
these two great pioneering families.
.
Jim and his wife Mary
Murray are buried in the simple plot shown below. Jim was the last of the
Sweeney relatives living in Eltham and died in 1993.
Ellen Sweeney (1845-1932), one of the daughters of Thomas Sweeney and Margaret Meehan, married John Francis Ryan in 1880 in Coromandel, NZ. Their son Francis Michael (Frank) Ryan (1887-1965) married Mary Ann (May) Smale (1889-1937) in 1916. The grave of May Ryan nee Smale is close to the Sweeney and Murray graves. May's grandson Peter Cuffley explains further:
My mother said that the North Fitzroy cousins somehow held a gravesite which they gave to Frank Ryan. I am not sure if that meant Nessie Sweeney or Patrick Sweeney's granddaughter Nellie Oliver. I am so glad that my brother Brian and I were inspired to get a properly marked grave which was made by Lodge Brothers, along with a Tynong granite ledger. Visits to the grave had been a regular trip for the family since the burial in 1937. Given that our grandmother convinced the Committee for the Shrine of Remembrance to use Tynong granite, with Lodge brothers re-opening the Tynong quarry in the late 1920s, it was good to have that firm refashion her grave. I did the wording for the headstone and first had it approved by our mum and all the cousins. We had hoped she would be able to be taken to Eltham to see the finished work but it was a long project and she got too frail by then to make the trip. She saw photos and was very pleased.
This
and much more information can be gleaned from the Eltham Cemetery
records which are accessible via the Eltham Cemetery Trust website at http://www.elthamcemetery.com/
A search on the name 'Sweeney' in https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2297436/eltham-cemetery produces a list of 14 Sweeney family members buried at the Eltham Cemetery
There are also many other extended Sweeney Family members under surnames such as Murray, Carrucan and Ryan, etc.
A visit to the Eltham Cemetery is well worth the effort.
A search on the name 'Sweeney' in https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2297436/eltham-cemetery produces a list of 14 Sweeney family members buried at the Eltham Cemetery
| Thomas Sweeney Margaret Meehan Sweeney Mary Fitzsimmons Sweeney Patrick Sweeney Margaret Sweeney John Francis Sweeney Ellen Mary Meagher Sweeney Annie Maria Sweeney Johanna Marion Sweeney Elizabeth Agatha Sweeney Agatha Margaret Sweeney Agnes Sweeney Caroline “Carrie” Sweeney Arthur Sweeney | (1802 – 1867) (1809 – 1884) (1837 – 1883) (1839 – 1919) (1841 – 1913) (1844 – 1909) (1846 – 1910) (1848 – 1869) (1850 – 1872) (1871 – 1917) (1872 – 1917) (1873 – 1881) (1878 – 1878) (1881 – 1881) |
There are also many other extended Sweeney Family members under surnames such as Murray, Carrucan and Ryan, etc.
A visit to the Eltham Cemetery is well worth the effort.