Tours

General tour details:

Unless otherwise indicated, all tours of St Kilda Cemetery leave from the main entrance gates on Dandenong Road, St Kilda East (Melways Map 58 – F9).

Bookings: Places are limited and pre-booking is essential by contacting 9529 7442, or use the online booking links attached to each tour.

Tours usually run for about 90 minutes.

Tours are offered in all weathers, so please dress appropriately for the conditions. There is little shelter or shade within the cemetery. Tours proceed at a leisurely pace, and keep to the safest paths, but those who may have difficulty walking on uneven ground should use their discretion.

Special tours

Special tours may be arranged, on request, for schools, clubs, organisations and individuals. Contact the Secretary for further information.

Past tours

Past cemetery tours have included the following themes:

• Alfred Deakin, Prime Minister and his colleagues.
• Artists & photographers.
• Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller and friends.
• Barristers, bobbies & beaks – lawyers, judges and other people associated with the
  law including those associated with famous legal cases such as the trials of Ned
  Kelly, the Eureka miners and the notorious Frederick Deeming.
• Epitaphs and Oddities – some of the more memorable gravestone inscriptions at St
  Kilda Cemetery as well as some of the more unusual and odd monuments and graves.
• Eureka and Gold – graves of people associated with the Eureka rebellion and gold
  mining in Victoria.
• Horticultural tour – gardeners, botanists and horticultural features of St Kilda
  Cemetery.
• Jewish sections – Jewish funerary customs and notable graves.
• Knights of the British Empire.
• Madame Brussels’ Melbourne – the seamier side of Marvellous Melbourne in the late
  nineteenth century and the story of Madame Brussels.
• Monuments and Monumental Masons – stone masons, monuments and their materials
  and the symbolism to be found on memorials.
• Murder Most Foul and Other Tragic Tales – stories of murder, mayhem and other
  tragic tales.
• Ned Kelly tour – people whose lives crossed that of Ned Kelly including lawyers
  connected with the Kelly trial.
• Notable Malvern people.
• Notable women.
• Parliament, Premiers & Politicians – St Kilda Cemetery is the resting place of
  Prime Minister Alfred Deakin and a number of Victorian Premiers and other
  Federal, State and local politicians.
• Scots at St Kilda – lives of people of Scottish descent buried at St Kilda.
• Shipwrecks, sailors & the sea.
• Sir Frederick Sargood, builder of Rippon Lea.
• Sporting St Kilda – St Kilda’s sporting notables include Wimbledon champion Sir
  Norman Brookes and the extraordinary Joan Richmond, a leading racing car driver in
  the 1930s.
• Steeplechases, Stallions and Steeds – graves with an equestrian theme including horse
  owners, racing officials and jockeys.