HISTORY

Preston Public Cemetery was established on the 21st December 1864 when local property owner Mr Malcolm MacLean donated one acre from his property Strathallan for a cemetery. The cemetery was known locally as the Strathallan Cemetery.

During the first World War the Mont Park Hospital was established to look after wounded soldiers and many who died were buried at the adjoining Preston General Cemetery which was also enlarged at that time. In 1924 the Mont Park Hospital became an insane asylum and soldier patients were transferred to the Repatriation Hospital, Heidelberg.

In November 1925 the Victorian Premier John Cain (father of later Victorian Premier also John Cain) put an expansion request on behalf of the Shire of Preston through the Victorian Parliament to increase the size of the cemetery by 22 acres and the land was acquired from Mont Park Asylum. The additional land was gazetted on the 7th November 1928.

In 1931 a fire destroyed a small timber church on the site and all cemetery records were destroyed. At that time there were between 500 and 600 interments at the cemetery.

In 1996 the first stage of the mausoleum complex was commenced. The culmination of this is the largest fully enclosed mausoleum complex in the Southern Hemisphere with capacity in excess of 3800 crypt spaces.

NORTHCOTE PUBLIC CEMETERY