Rookwood Cemetery

I get lots of enquiries about looking up names of people buried in Rookwood Cemetery. Many have been told that you can search on-line. This is true up to a point. Rookwood Cemetery is actually managed by five separate denominational Trusts and an independent Crematorium. It has been operating since 1867, and is one of the largest cemeteries in Australia. There are a total of 8 offices at Rookwood and five have their own websites! Each Trust looks after a portion of the cemetery.
The Joint Committee of Necropolis Trustees
Anglican & General Cemetery Trusts (http://www.rookwoodcemetery.com.au/)
Australian War Graves

Catholic Cemetery Trust (http://www.catholiccemeteries.org.au/)
Independent Cemetery Trust (http://www.rookwoodindependent.com.au/)

Jewish Cemetery Trust (http://www.rookwoodjewishcemetery.com.au/)
Muslim Cemetery Trust

Rookwood Memorial Gardens & Cremetorium (http://www.rookwoodcrem.com.au/driver.asp)

The Anglican and General Cemetery Trusts are responsible for burial, care and maintenance of 92 hectares of Rookwood, approximately one third of the cemetery. The communities looked after include, for the Anglican Trust; Assyrian Christian, Serbian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Macedonian Orthodox, Mandaen, Maori, Armenian and Christian faiths. The General Trust looks after the Chinese, Vietnamese, Khmer, Indochinese, Hindu, Druze and Islamic Faiths. Other religions are buried with the four Denominational Trusts that manage the rest of Rookwood Cemetery.


On the Anglican and General Website you will find extensive resources including; a map of the cemetery, photographs and videos of the different burial sections, information on burial options and the purchasing of grave sites and memorials. There is also advice on understanding grief, useful links, and fascinating historical details. However you are not able to search names and locate plots at this point. There are plans to eventually get this on-line. Luckily Manly Library does have the Rookwood Cemetery Transcriptions on CD, which you can use in the library.


You are able to search on-line, names of those buried in the Catholic, Independent and Jewish Sections on their websites. So it is important to know the religion of your ancestor or you will need to check each section.