When the Flagstaff (Devonport) area was first surveyed in 1850, some land located in Section 26A of that survey was set aside by the government for three cemeteries; the Anglican cemetery was originally one acre, one rood and 16 perches, the Catholic two roods and the general cemetery (largely Presbyterian and Wesleyan/Methodist) 26.5 perches.
Over the years those cemeteries have been variously referred to as the Flagstaff, North Shore, Devonport and Mount Victoria Cemeteries. Approval for burials in the Anglican cemetery dates from 1854, with the first burial in 1856, but there is a tombstone in the Anglican cemetery dating from 1852.The nearby Holy Trinity Anglican Church dates from May 1856.However, the only surviving burial book for the Anglican cemetery dates from just 4 May 1886 to 8 September 1891, although the account book dates back to 1872.
In an 1869 report, the Catholic Church authorities said that there had not been as yet any burials in the Catholic cemetery on Mount Victoria. For most of the nineteenth century, Catholic burials of North Shore residents were either in the Catholic section of Symonds Street Cemeteries in Newton Gully, or in the small Catholic cemetery on land donated by Philip Callan at the top of Pupuke Road in Birkenhead. Next to that cemetery is a separate Anglican cemetery, originally based on St John's Anglican Church in Northcote. The only surviving burial book for the Catholic cemetery on Mount Victoria dates from just 31 January 1887 to 22 August 1890.
Although the local Wesleyan Chapel was opened in 1865, St Paul's Presbyterian in 1866 and the local Congregational Church in 1886, most of their burials continued to be at the Symonds Street Cemeteries in Newton and Grafton Gullies in the city. The only surviving burial book for the general cemetery on Mount Victoria dates from 10 June 1886 to 3 August 1891. As with the other cemeteries, there were obviously other burials both before and after those dates.
As with the Symonds Street Cemeteries, there was increasing pressure on the Mount Victoria Cemeteries with both limited burial space and public health concerns over the use of nearby wells for drinking water. The population of Devonport also grew from 993 in 1878 to 2,650 in 1886, with a slight fall to 2,455 in 1891.Thus, in 1885 an alternative site for a cemetery was purchased jointly at Narrow Neck, by the Waitemata County and the Devonport Road Board.
The 21 acres two roods and 12 perches site was by Seabreeze and Old Lake Road, but was never used as a cemetery. In 1886 Devonport became a borough, and under the 1882 Cemeteries Act boroughs couldn't have a public cemetery within their boundaries because of health considerations. Attempts at an exemption came to nothing, and Devonport Borough had to buy out the Waitemata County share of the purchase. The Borough then used the land for other purposes. On 12 May 1890, the Devonport Borough instead purchased an eight-acre two roods site in Bayswater. O'Neill's Point Cemetery was opened on 1 August 1891, with the Mount Victoria Cemeteries closed to any new plots from 1 September 1891.
As with the Symonds Street Cemeteries, when they were closed, widows or widowers, children and their own brothers and sisters could still be buried in the family plot on Mount Victoria. Some remains were reburied from Mount Victoria into O'Neill's, explaining why there are at least two burials there; dating from 22 March 1866 and 22 May 1875.
Control of the Anglican and Catholic cemeteries passed to the Devonport Borough Council in 1930 (now Auckland Council) and the burial area for the general cemetery was bought by Auckland Council in 2013.The O'Neill's Point Cemetery was transferred to Takapuna City in 1971 and is now also administered by Auckland Council.
By David Verran
