The cemetery project for 2002 / 2003 was undertaken at the Golden Grove and Hope valley Cemeteries. The volunteers involved in the research were Carole Simmonds, Peter Buckerfield, Daina Pocius, Mike Talbot, Margaret Driscoll, Beryl Jolly, Lionel and Joyce Ellicott
Many thanks to two members of the SA Genealogy Society,
Lyn O’Brien and Margaret Kimpson for their invaluable advice and expert guidance in beginning such a project.
Preservation of Headstones
Preserving our local headstones is important. Due to various negative aspects such as erosion, vandalism and changing laws, once the inscriptions from these headstones is lost, so is a certain amount of local heritage and history.
The importance of these inscriptions to the community is the history that is virtually carved in stone. They tell of who these people were in our community, how they lived and died, their ages and on very early headstones where they came from.
The information gathered from these inscriptions can be used to assist other historical projects being done by the Tea Tree Gully & District Historical Society and for access by people in the community doing their own family history, etc.
Transcribing the headstones was done by digitally photographing each headstone. In order for the inscription to stand out, they were carefully chalked, sprayed with water and brushed. Once the digital photos were taken, the information was placed on CD Roms by Lionel and Joyce Ellicott. these disks were then downloaded to a computer at the Tea Tree Gully Library.
These CDs are available for Purchase through the TTG Historical Society ( see notice on the Home page)