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

Names in cemetery order
Names in alphabetical order

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

All the headstone photos in Old Onslow
Names in photographed order.
Names in alphabetical order.
Latitude -21.70233330564423, Longitude 114.9445762585249
Latitude -21° 42’ 8", Longitude 114° 56’ 40"