Forthcoming tours
Sunday 28 February 2010 at 10.30am (Note Earlier time)
Old Favourites and New Finds
Tour Leader: Geoff Austin
Sunday 14 March 2010 at 2.00pm
Funerary Symbols and Cemetery History
Tour Leader: Kay Rowan
Sunday 11 April 2010 at 2.00pm
The Boer War
Tour Leader: Glen Turnbull
Sunday 23 May 2010 at 2.00pm
Coroners, Constabulary and Crime
Tour Leader: Elizabeth Hore
Sunday 20 June 2010 at 2.00pm
St Kilda Personalities
Tour Leader: Tina Phillips
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).
Tour cost: $10.00 for adults (except where indicated). Members of the Friends of St Kilda Cemetery and children (under 18 years) are free.
Bookings: Places are limited and pre-booking is essential by contacting 9531 6832.
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.


