THE General Cemetery on Coleraine Road in Hamilton was looking great last Monday morning after the Hamilton Public Cemetery Trust facilitated a clean-up of the grounds.

The Trust was able to employ a part time maintenance officer six months ago to tend the grounds of the General Cemetery, which have steadily been tidied and improved.

Trust chair, Brian Jenkins, said Trust members were delighted with the result and that it was looking great for visitors, especially for the Christmas holidays.

“There was a lot of long grass but that’s all been sorted out now as well as a general clean up,” he said.

“The maintenance officer has been whipper snippering, doing some track maintenance, mowing, and weeding around the headstones.

“He’s also put in quite a bit of PVC piping to improve general drainage because it gets surprisingly very wet there - especially as we’ve had a very wet year.”

Mr Jenkins admitted that he loves cemeteries and has been on the Trust for 14 years and has acted as chair for around 11 of those.

He said the Trust raises funds through burial fees and grants which helps to pay for the maintenance.

“We were able to get a Federal Government grant to signpost the notable graves walk, which includes Charles Dickens’ daughter-in-law, the Twomeys, and some of the Henty family members,” he said.

“The Trust was also able to employ a permanent part time maintenance officer.

“We’ve had volunteers in the past, in fact, I think it was always tended by volunteers, but it’s getting more and more difficult to find people to do the work.”

Under the auspices of the Victorian Department of Health, the Trust has nine unpaid voluntary members who oversee both public cemeteries in Hamilton.

The General Cemetery had its first official burial in 1852 and the second cemetery - the Hamilton Lawn Cemetery - was opened in February 1970 on the Henty Highway opposite the Hamilton Racecourse.

They also employ a full-time sexton/maintenance officer who is responsible for grave digging and grounds maintenance at the Lawn Cemetery, as well as a part time secretary, who is responsible for the administration of the Trust, record keeping, plaque orders and public enquiries.

“There are some really beautiful and ornate monuments and headstones in the cemetery,” Mr Jenkins said.

“There are a lot of sandstone and granite headstones, they stand really well, but it’s the marble headstones that tend to crack.

“If there’s a frost, they expand and then crack and fall over, sometimes for no apparent reason.

“The General Cemetery still has plots available for burial, with several funerals held each year, and sometimes none.”