Camperdown Cemetery 2005
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My thanks to Camperdown Cemetery Trust for much of the information presented here.
Eliza Emily Doonithorne lies in this grave. She lived a priviliged life in a grand house in Newtown's King Street. On her wedding day, when the table was laid and the guests were all met, she waited and waited, but the bridegroom did not arrive. Eventually the guests went home. The jilted bride became a recluse and the wedding breakfast remained on the table for close to forty years until the day she died.
If that story sounds familiar it may be that you have read Great Expectations. Charles Dickens, through his friendship with Caroline Chisholm, a neighbour of the Donnithornes, is rumored to have used this sad story as the inspiration for Miss Havisham. The truth about Dickens using this story is unsure. Here is a link to the full story of Eliza Doonithorne. More
121 people perished in the disaster. Only one survived. Those who could be identified were buried separately. 22 ended up in this mass grave. The disaster touched many families in the colony.
Each year, on the Sunday closest to the 20th August a memorial service is held here and a bible recovered from the wreckage is read from.John Steane, a passenger on the Dunbar, was said to be having an affair with Hannah Watson, the wife of Captain Watson, the Harbour Master of Port Jackson. While Steane was in England, Watson heard of their affair and cursed them both. Hannah died soon after, while Steane was returning to Sydney on the ill-fated Dunbar. It is said on dark and stormy nights, the ghost of Hannah rises to meet her lover at his tomb.
One of the Dunbar's anchors. In 1910 Some artifacts were raised from the wrecksite area. In 1955 divers located her exact position in nine metres of water a little south of The Gap. Looting since 1955 has resulted in many valuable items disappearing into private collections. She was finally protected under the Historic Shipwreck Act in 1989.
On top of the tomb is a monument to Bochsa. The broken tree, which symbolises a life cut short, had a harp on it, which has been vandalised. You can still see the studs on the harp. On the right you can make out what is left of a figure portraying Anna, lamenting, and drawing us into their romance with her fervent inscription: "Mourn him ..." In her hand is a wreath.