Sydney Town Hall sits on the site of what was once the principal cemetery of NSW. Dating back to the 1790s, the site is commonly called the Old Sydney Burial Ground.
It is also known as the George Street Burial Ground, the Cathedral Close Cemetery and, retrospectively, the Town Hall Cemetery.
The site, on the outskirts of town, was chosen by Governor Phillip and the Reverend Richard Johnson in September 1792.
It was decided this place would not affect the health of the living and could remain a place of quiet seclusion.
In 1812, Governor Macquarie authorised the extension of the burial ground to the north and west, and granted a site for a new church, St Andrew’s, next door. With the extension, the burial ground covered just over 2 acres.
The old burial ground was used for 27 years, yet its management was ad hoc. It was not formally gazetted as a burial ground, no trustees were appointed while the cemetery was active and it was apparently not consecrated.
The Church of England clergy officiated at funerals, but according to the Reverend William Cowper, "the dead of all communions were interred indiscriminately" and no formal cemetery register or plan of the burials was kept.
The cemetery buried convicts and free people. There were no apparent denominational divisions but some social distinctions were maintained. Early Sydney residents recalled that the military were buried in different parts of the cemetery.
The corner close to Kent Street hosted graves of the non-commissioned officers of the 46th and 48th Regiment. Over in the south-west corner near the Presbyterian Church, soldiers of the 73rd Regiment were buried. And in the ground fronting George Street, near Druitt Street, some non-commissioned officers of the NSW Corps were buried.
By 1820 the cemetery was full so a new burial ground was set aside on Brickfield Hill – now the site of Central Railway Station. Some vaults and graves were opened and the corpses and sepulchre deposited in the new burial ground.
Once closed, the cemetery was neglected. By 1837 many of the headstones had been vandalised. The cemetery became “a resort for bad characters at night” and by day stray pigs, goats and horses wandered among the graves, many of which lay open.
Unpleasant smells arising from the grounds became unbearable in hot weather. Many blamed clandestine burials and grave robbers opening graves to steal leaden coffins. It was also recorded in a committee report that men utilised the old burial ground to answer the call of nature.
Source: http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/learn/history/people-and-places/old-sydney-burial-ground
This site is said to be the second burial ground in the new colony although this is the first official one where some records are kept. The first burial grounds was said to be along the ridge near where the present day Maritime Services Building is. *** FTF HONORS - "JordsAU & AlphaDeltaIndego ***