Bluff History Group to Provide Greenpoint Cemetery Tour

The Bluff History Group will conduct the first ever guided tour of the older part of the Greenpoint Cemetery on Sunday 6 November.

The tour, part of N.Z. Cemeteries Week, commences at the Lost at Sea Memorial, an area which was unveiled in August 1990 and was a project promoted by the Bluff Community Board and residents. The History Group has researched each of the people who have plaques in this area and also the origin of the anchor used. These stories will be shared with attendees. “Sadly, too many of Bluff’s residents succumb to the perils of the sea. The sea which while so beautiful can be so cruel,” says Jan Mitchell, Chairperson of the History Group.

The groups work has also delved into the origins of the Greenpoint Cemetery. A little before 1960 the property was compulsorily purchased from then owners Harold & Jessie Noble, under a land act by Southland County Council for cemetery purposes. Mrs Noble was the granddaughter of the original property owner William Parsons and his wife Catherine. The land had been farmed from day one through two generations of the family before the purchase, after which it was originally called the Greenpoint Memorial Park Cemetery.

The cemetery has been in use for 62 years with the first interment being in September 1960.

The upcoming tour has seen the History Group spend hundreds of hours carrying out research but Jan Mitchell says “those hours have resulted in some wonderful stories about families and people and some wonderful memories from the area. Of course, the other side of the coin is that it has also revealed some tragic, heart wrenching tales.” Older Bluff residents have also been very helpful, providing first-hand accounts of how some of the deaths occurred.

One story that came to light was that of a Japanese fisherman who died in southern waters. His ashes have been interred at the cemetery. There are a number of drownings as well as victims of accidents, both on the wharf or as the result of motor vehicle accidents. Mitchell says she also discovered a number of people buried at the cemetery “who have done so much for the town. You could write a book about some of them,” she says.

There are also Returned Servicemen in the cemetery, both from the 1st and 2nd NZEF, while the tour will also take in the older cremation plots as well as the older graves.

The groups previous tours of the Old Bluff Cemetery have been very popular and informative and there is so much more of the history of our area to be learned from this tour on Sunday 6 November.