St Matthews Anglican Cemetery
Photo added by LLee

St Matthews Anglican Cemetery

Also known as St Matthew's Church of England Cemetery

Windsor, City of Hawkesbury, New South Wales, Australia

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St Matthew's Anglican Cemetery in Windsor, New South Wales, is one of Australia's earliest colonial burial grounds, established in 1810 on the orders of Governor Lachlan Macquarie as the designated burial place for the Hawkesbury River settlement, predating the church itself. Consecrated that same year, it began receiving interments shortly thereafter, with early burials including prominent figures such as the fifth recorded interment of emancipist Andrew Thompson, a wealthy settler, magistrate, and benefactor who died in 1810. The surrounding St Matthew's Anglican Church, designed by convict architect Francis Greenway in the Georgian style and constructed by convict labour starting in 1817, had its foundation stone laid that year and was consecrated in 1822 by Reverend Samuel Marsden, becoming the oldest Anglican church in Australia. Over the following two centuries, the cemetery has served as the final resting place for thousands of pioneers, including First Fleet arrivals like surgeon Thomas Arndell and road builder William Cox, as well as astronomer John Tebbutt and many other free settlers, emancipists, and their descendants who shaped the Hawkesbury district. Today, this heritage-listed site remains an active place of remembrance, featuring historic headstones, monuments, and a columbarium, preserving a tangible link to Australia's early colonial history amid the ongoing spiritual life of the parish.

St Matthew's Anglican Cemetery in Windsor, New South Wales, is one of Australia's earliest colonial burial grounds, established in 1810 on the orders of Governor Lachlan Macquarie as the designated burial place for the Hawkesbury River settlement, predating the church itself. Consecrated that same year, it began receiving interments shortly thereafter, with early burials including prominent figures such as the fifth recorded interment of emancipist Andrew Thompson, a wealthy settler, magistrate, and benefactor who died in 1810. The surrounding St Matthew's Anglican Church, designed by convict architect Francis Greenway in the Georgian style and constructed by convict labour starting in 1817, had its foundation stone laid that year and was consecrated in 1822 by Reverend Samuel Marsden, becoming the oldest Anglican church in Australia. Over the following two centuries, the cemetery has served as the final resting place for thousands of pioneers, including First Fleet arrivals like surgeon Thomas Arndell and road builder William Cox, as well as astronomer John Tebbutt and many other free settlers, emancipists, and their descendants who shaped the Hawkesbury district. Today, this heritage-listed site remains an active place of remembrance, featuring historic headstones, monuments, and a columbarium, preserving a tangible link to Australia's early colonial history amid the ongoing spiritual life of the parish.

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  • Added: 24 Jul 2013
  • Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2505509