Pompallier Cemetery

Pompallier Cemetery is in Birkenhead Ave, opposite Pupuke Rd, Birkenhead. It is open 365 days a year from 6am to 8pm during daylight savings, and from 6am to 6pm during winter. Interments may still be carried out in existing plots at the cemetery.

History

This cemetery has both Catholic and Anglican interments. Bishop Pompallier gave the land for the Catholic portion in 1861. Bishop Selwyn gave the land for the Anglican portion about 20 years later. Both churchmen played a prominent part in establishing their respective faiths in early New Zealand.

In 1979 Birkenhead Borough Council began talking with the trustees of the old cemetery about taking over responsibility for its upkeep. The transfer of the Anglican portion occurred in 1981, and of the Catholic portion in 1987.

Interments of interest

The Birkenhead Historical Society and Friends of the Cemetery have also done a great amount of work at Pompallier Cemetery over the last 18 years. They help weed, plant, clear debris and restore memorials. Well-known local woman, Connie Purdue, was the instigator of the work. When she died in 2000 she was interred in the Catholic section of the cemetery.

An area of interest at Pompallier Cemetery is on the south side, where eight Maori graves were found. They were hidden for years under foliage and unfortunately only one has a date of death on it. There was a ceremony celebrating the lives of these eight people in June 1996.

View an aerial photograph of the Pompallier Cemetery PDF (134 KB)