Pioneer Cemetery Audio Tour

Welcome to the St Mark’s Pioneer Cemetery Audio Tour, Picton. Here you can listen to the stories of people buried in this cemetery. Click on the names below to hear their stories.

Burgess Campbell Crispe
EvansFairleyHorton & Stafford
JamesIngletonMartin
ParryShawSkellett

Much thanks goes to Elizabeth Villey for her wonderful research and composition of these stories!

We’d love to hear your comments and feedback below. Thanks for visiting!

14 Comments

  1. Trish

    What a great way to share our local history, excellent job all concerned and great research Betty Villy.

  2. Gail Algie

    Congratulations on your restoration work & research for the audio tour.

    My GGG grandfather Thomas Gillingham’s name is on a monument along with 2 other men in the cemetery which was erected by their fellow workmen. I went to Picton after the floods to check on it & thankfully it was ok.

    It was a memorial for the men who lost their lives in 1863 while working on the Viaduct, his occupation was a Stonemason. He arrived in Australia in 1853 with his wife Martha & 2 children Mary & Emily.

    I would be interested if church records have any additional information.

    Regards

    Gail Algie

    • Ben

      Hi Gail, thankyou for your comment. This is a monument and a story that we are looking to tell in the next phase of the project. Many of our church records were of course damaged in the flood, but we’ll attempt to keep you in the loop as we do the research on this monument. Blessings, Ben

      • Gail Algie

        Hi Ben,

        Thank you, I will look forward to the next phase. Let me know if I can be of any help as I have Thomas’s death certificate & shipping records. I live in Campbelltown, so not far for me to go to Picton.

        Regards Gail

  3. Tina Geist

    Do you have any info or records on Jesse selmes
    Passed away 27 September 1861 and buried in the cemetery
    My Great Grandfather
    Tina Geist

    • Ben

      Hi Tina, thanks for your enquiry. We don’t have many records (some were lost in the 2016 flood). What we do have is available at this link for you to look through: https://pwac.org.au/st-marks-cemetery-restoration-plans/. Hope you find some information there. Blessings, Ben

    • Judith Nicholls

      Hi Tina, I too am a descendant of Jesse Selmes my line is thru James & Maria. I live on the Central Coast and have not visited Picton or Jesse grave for many years. I ran into a brick wall with Jesse and Ann. Hope you have had more luck than me! Regards Judith Nicholls

  4. Cathey Shepherd

    In Picton today with my granddaughters and decided to look at the cemetery. A lovely surprise to find a number of QR code’s by the graves where I could read about some historical Picton families. Well done and congratulations to those involved.

    • Ben

      Thanks Cathey, glad you enjoyed the audio tour!

  5. Lisa

    Was passing by Picton and decided to have a look around the cemetery and was so pleased to see the QR codes. You’ve done a fabulous job of bringing the world of the people buried here to life. It was fascinating and I spent nearly an hour walking around in the cold. Amazing work and thank you so much!

    • Ben

      Thanks Lisa, so glad you were able to enjoy the Cemetery Audio Tour. We are so indebted to our past, it’s our privilege to make it accessible in the present. Blessings, Ben.

  6. Ann-Marie Marino

    We have lived in Wilton for over ten years and recently discovered this churchyard on a walking Wollondilly tour.

    I have always loved a walk around a graveyard but this one is something special with the QR codes and stories of the deceased that were significant to the area. Such a wonderful idea, I really I hope more burial sites take up this idea.

    Thanks also to Wollondilly tours who were very informative and considerate. Can’t wait to be involved in another one of their tours.

    Congratulations to the church for being progressive and allowing the history of this site be so accessible.

  7. Donna

    My husband and I visited the cemetery today to visit his Grandparents Rebecca and Otto Warters as well as other family members. I wonder what church records you might have on the family.

    The church is looking beautiful on the outside, hope to make it down on a Sunday soon.

    • Ben

      Hi Donna, the best records we have can all be accessed here: https://pwac.org.au/tag/cemetery/. We look forward to meeting you one Sunday soon. Blessings, Ben

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Sundays 9am @ Picton; 10am and 5pm @ Wilton (both with Kids Program). Also livestreamed on YouTube.