LIST 59 - BURIALS - CHRIST CHURCH NEWCASTLE

 
 
The first burial was performed at Christ Church on the 30th June 1821. During 
the remainder of the decade there were 226 more burials performed. On average 
about two burials each month. 
 
The information recorded for each burial is as follows:
 burial date
 Christian name
 family name
 age
 abode
 civil status at time of death
 year and ship of arrival
 comments
 officiating minister
 reference number
 
Various miscellaneous remarks in the register have been recorded as 'end-notes' 
at the bottom of the list.
 
The burials are listed in chronological order.
 
The Rev George Augustus Middleton was appointed the first chaplain to 
the parish in 1821 and continued until he resigned his commission in 1827 after 
a dispute with Archdeacon Scott. The Rev Frederick W Wilkinson then took over 
until he was suspended from duty in 1830. The Rev Charles Pleydell Neale Wilton 
then took over the chaplaincy. 
 
The burial register for Christ Church Newcastle began in June 1821 under 
the chaplaincy of the Rev G W Middleton, although it has been suggested that 
the Rev. Cowper may have performed a couple of burials on his visits to 
the settlement before that date. The information recorded, apart from the date 
of burial was age at death; the civil status; free, prisoner of the crown, 
ticket of leave, free by servitude etc and ship of arrival if a convict or 
former convict plus an occasional comment on the mode of death - mostly 
drowning. The Newcastle Family History Society's "Christ Church, Newcastle, 
NSW, 1804-1900" was also helpful in providing information.
 
From 1826 the information to be recorded on the new pre-printed forms for each 
burial included; reference number, date of burial, Christian name of the 
deceased, family name of the deceased, age, abode, quality or profession and 
officiating minister. The year and ship of arrival have been heavily 
researched outside the parish register.
 
In this decade the parish extended essentially to the whole of the Hunter 
Valley and it was not always possible for the minister to attend all burials. 
Thus several burials were conducted by the parish clerk, by Captain Allman, 
by Alexander Macauley the schoolmaster, by Mr Muir the chief constable and 
by Mr R Scott Esq.
 
An insight into the religious tensions in the colony at the time is revealed 
by the fact that on nine occasions a Roman Cathollic refused the services of 
the Anglican minister for the burial.
 
For the colonial born their year of birth and parents names are recorded in 
the ship of arrival column.
 
The civil status of William Chapman was recorded as "FO", the exact meaning 
of which is unclear. The burial of James Leonard is duplicated from that in Christ 
Church Castlereagh.
 
The reference number would direct the reader to the relevant entry in the 
original source document. The numbering system was re-initialized in 1826 with 
the introduction of the new printed registers. 
 
The reference numbers for Christ Church run sequentially from 0001 to 0085 
then restart in 1826 with B001 until B144 at the end of the decade. The number 
B042 was used twice and numbers B114 & B115 were omitted.
 
To locate an entry on this list; firstly an alphabetical search on the name 
would be made on List 52 using code "CCN" from which the date of burial would 
be retrieved, secondly using the appropriate date, the burial would then 
be located on this list.

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