22 April, 2009 9:21AM AEDT

Gippsland history dead and buried for 150 years

Rich in history and the final resting place for many of Gippsland's early pioneers, Greenmount Cemetery at Yarram has marked its 150th anniversary.

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When early Gippsland pioneer Edward Buckley came up with the idea of establishing a cemetery in the region dedicated to Catholic burials, he had little idea that he himself would be first to be interred there.

In 1857, Buckley, who was a squatter on the east side of Yarram, designated four and a half acres of his land on the Tarra River to be used as a Catholic burial ground.

Just two years later, on April 27, 1859, Buckley had a fall from his horse and was killed.

"He was on his way home from an agricultural show at Tarraville in the dark. He was riding along and I believe a dog ran out and barked and frightened the horse and he was thrown from his horse," recounts John O'Callaghan, the present president of the Greenmount Cemetery Trust.

One hundred and fifty years on, the Greenmount Cemetery at Yarram is the only dedicated burial ground for Catholics in Gippsland, and one of only three in Victoria. It holds the remains of many of Gippsland's prominent early settlers.

John O'Callaghan says Greenmount, which is now maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers, is the home to the graves of many well-known early Gippsland families.

"It's quite a list of Gippsland families," John says.

"You've got to remember that this was the beginning. Down in the Yarram, Port Albert area was where Gippsland really began. As the other areas were settled they had their own cemeteries. At the time it was fairly unique."

He says Greenmount is unique in the history of early Victoria.

"I suppose this area was a bit unique, in other areas the early settlers were mainly Scottish or English. This area had a lot of Irish Catholics, so it became a very popular burial ground for all the Catholics in Gippsland.

While the Greenmount cemetery has a rich history, it still has a role today as a burial ground for Catholic residents of the area.

"We had a burial in January. We don't have them very often these days, but we still do and it's still quite alright to be buried there. We've still got permission as long as there is an active trust we are able to bury people there."

The cemetery trust is active today after being re-formed in 1983 following a period in which the cemetery had been left to deteriorate.

"A lady who was a neighbour wrote in and said what a shame it was in such a bad state, because there was so much history there," John O'Callaghan recalls.

"The parish priest at the time called a meeting and we formed a committee and it just happened to be the time when it was the 100 year celebration of the first Catholic priest that died in Gippsland in 1883 and so we had a mass out there and to our surprise about 300 people turned up for the mass."

John believes that's an indication that Greenmount still means a lot to Gippsland residents.