Ballarat's New Cemetery turns 150 and wants your stories of the city's incredible women

Ballarat’s New Cemetery celebrates its 150^th anniversary today but part of its history is unwritten.

It is the history of the women whose final resting places are within the cemetery walls.

To celebrate the anniversary, the Ballarat Cemeteries Trust will today launch the 150 years, 150 stories project to gather the stories of the women whose lives have shaped the Ballarat we know today.

“This year Ballarat has potentially the highest number of significant women in leadership roles across the many spheres of industry and government and the Trust felt it was both an important and timely opportunity to recognise the women of Ballarat both past and present,” said Ballarat Cemeteries Trust chair Judy Verlin

The goal of the project is to collect 150 stories and share the lives and contributions of the female leaders, visionaries and pioneers in Ballarat’s cemeteries and learn the stories about them known only by families and friends.

“These are the women of Eureka who fought for democracy, who kept the home fires burning during the war, who marched for the right to vote, who managed families and businesses – and through their everyday lives built the foundations on which we continue to grow,” said Ballarat Community Trust chief executive Annie De Jong.

Much is known about the men buried in Ballarat’s old and new cemeteries but in many cases the women’s graves are unmarked, names unknown or burial records only tell of their role in society but not their contribution.

But there are fears that current trends in memorialisation could result in even more stories disappearing from the region’s history.

Increasing numbers of families opt to have their loved one cremated and spread the ashes at a place of significance to them rather than a cemetery where records are held.

Because the decision of where to place the remains of a loved one are often made during a period of intense grief, they might not be the right decision in the fullness of time.

“They sometimes make a decision to scatter the ashes then years later show regret as they are having problems coming to grips with their grief because they haven’t got anywhere to go that memorialises the person,” Ms Verlin said.

”People deal with death and remembrance differently, but scattering of ashes it makes it hard to memorialise a person for future generations.”

And because the final resting place goes unrecorded, so too can their history.