About me

 

My name is Loraine Punch, a retiree, an amateur historian and a former tour guide (but still happy to share my findings with others on a walk through the Necropolis).

I have many family members that call Rookwood "home" and often spend hours roaming through the Cemetery drinking in it's rich history, beauty and sense of grandeur.

I've always considered myself to have been a detective in a previous life and enjoy discovering the histories of those that lie beneath a headstone or an unmarked grave or those that have had their ashes scattered within it's hallowed grounds. I am constantly astonished at the rich history contained within a cemetery and Rookwood abounds in history.

In this blog I will attempt to bring to life some of those people that may have fallen through the cracks of time.

I hope you enjoy my findings 😊

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Secrets and Scandals discovered in Section 1

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  Recently the Helping Hands Gardening Group - an offshoot of the Friends of Rookwood - have been "liberating" headstones and monuments from a forest of overgrowth in Section one of the Old Anglican area of the Cemetery. This area has many large monuments to highlight the "elite" of Sydney in Victorian times but has a sizable portion of small headstones that one might just pass by. I was tasked with finding out information about the various inhabitants in the "released" plots and I have to say the stories of the people have proved to be interesting, very interesting. Many prominent people have risen from their convict past to become pillars of society and some of the society of the day became "infamous". Today's blog is about the information I found about the inhabitants of two plots with inconspicuous headstones.   MARY ANNE BOWERMABLESON AND HER GRANDSON DAVID GRANT FORBES Mary was actually Marian Anne Willans who was born in 18
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Murder, Bloody Murder - A senseless act!

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 Today's blog is about a vicious, vindictive act that brought about the early demise of a totally innocent young lady.  A murder that is quite alarming in its action but upon reflection is a tale of desperation. A murder that still reverberates in the district where it occurred. Intrigued... Let me tell you about... THE MURDERS IN CARCOAR OF 1893. In late September 1893, Mr. John (Jack) Phillips, the Manager of the City Bank at Carcoar, had recently received a promotion to a similar position at the larger township of Young and was packing up to leave. This promotion was known throughout the district, and many were unhappy to see him leave as he was held in high esteem. His wife, Anne with their newborn daughter, Dorothy, was in residence. Arrangements had been made for Anne's younger sister, Susan with the couple's two-year-old daughter, Gladys together with Susan's friend Leticia, known by her middle name Frances, to accompany her and help with the children during the
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