| Waikumete Cemetery | |
|---|---|
 Waikumete Cemetery in May 2022 | |
 | |
| Details | |
| Established | 1886 |
| Location | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 36°54′04″S174°39′04″E / 36.901°S 174.651°E |
| Website | Official website |
| Find a Grave | Waikumete Cemetery |
Waikumete Cemetery, originally Waikomiti Cemetery, [1] is New Zealand's largest cemetery. It occupies a site of 108 hectares in Glen Eden, Auckland, and also contains a crematorium in the south-west corner of the cemetery.
Waikumete Cemetery was established in 1886 and is the final resting place for over 70,000 people. [2] It was established after the Symonds Street Cemetery was surrounded by residential housing, [3] and its location was decided by the proximity of the nearby Glen Eden railway station, as access by railway was desired. [1] Passengers would travel to Waikumete on the same train as their loved ones in special train services held on Sundays. The funeral carriage was separated from passengers, and used a separate platform. [4] The Chapel of Faith in the Oaks was built in 1886 as a mortuary chapel and was used until the larger chapel was built in 1952. The Chapel of Faith in the Oaks were shared between local Methodist, Anglican and Pentecostal communities for church services, until the Methodist and Anglican churches were built in Glen Eden in 1910 and 1926 respectively. [5]
The cemetery was used to bury bodies coming from the city of Auckland during the 1918 flu pandemic. [6] Glen Eden residents themselves were mostly unaffected by the flu. [6] An alarm would sound at the train station when the bodies were brought by train from the city. Most flu victims were buried in the non-denominational section of the cemetery, due to the lack of identifying knowledge about who many of the victims were. [6]
In 1929, a major fire broke out at the cemetery, burning 100 acres of native bush that had been planted in the 19th century. [4] In February 1939, the cemetery was involved in the first case of graverobbing in New Zealand, when two Australian visitors to Auckland, G R Mackey and J A Talbot, dug up the body of a recently buried soldier to use in an insurance scam, burning the body inside a bach at Piha. [7]
Waikumete is home to a number of prominent memorials, including the Mount Erebus disaster memorial, a Holocaust memorial, a New Zealand 1918 flu pandemic memorial and an ANZAC cenotaph.
In 1952, a crematorium was constructed in the cemetery, that combined aspects of art deco and modernism in its design. [8]
Two extensive areas of the cemetery were allocated for the burial of service personnel of the World Wars and post-war veterans. In total, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission register and maintain the graves of 285 Commonwealth service personnel at the cemetery, 110 from World War I and 176 from World War II. [9]
In the entrance to the cemetery the Commission erected the Auckland Provincial Memorial, commemorating the 56 service personnel from the Auckland Province who died serving in and around New Zealand in both World Wars but have no known grave. [9]
The commission also commemorates 44 World War II service personnel who were cremated at Waikumete Crematorium. In 1999, a memorial to seven personnel whose ashes were formerly stored in the chapel building was placed on the site of their final resting place in the chapel lawn. [10]
Some of the notable people buried at the cemetery include:
Waitākere City was a territorial authority in West Auckland, New Zealand; it was governed by the Waitākere City Council from 1989 to 2010. It was New Zealand's fifth-largest city, with an annual growth of about 2%. In 2010 the council was amalgamated with the other authorities of the Auckland Region to form the current Auckland Council.
Piha is a coastal settlement in West Auckland, on the western coast of the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is one of the most popular beaches in the area and a major day-trip destination for Aucklanders throughout the year, and especially in summer.
Glen Eden railway station is located on the Western Line of the AT Metro rail network in Auckland, New Zealand. The station house is a local historical landmark that was restored in 2001. A cafe is located in the old station building.
Glen Eden is a suburb of West Auckland, New Zealand, located at the foothills of Waitākere Ranges. Originally known as Waikumete, the suburb gained the name Glen Eden in 1921. The suburb is in the Waitākere Ward, one of the thirteen administrative areas of Auckland governed by Auckland Council.
The Glenora Bears are a rugby league football club based in Glen Eden, New Zealand who compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition.
The Western Line in Auckland, New Zealand is the name given to suburban rail services that operate between Waitematā and Swanson via Newmarket.
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The Mayor of Waitakere City was the head of the former municipal government of Waitakere City, New Zealand, who presided over the Waitakere City Council. The city was New Zealand's fifth largest, and was part of the Auckland region. There were only two mayors of Waitakere City: Assid Corban, 1989–92; and Bob Harvey, 1992–2010. On 1 November 2010, Waitakere City became a part of the Auckland Council.
Assid Khaleel Corban was a New Zealand local-body politician and company director. He was the first Mayor of Waitakere City and previously Mayor of the Henderson Borough Council.
The Jerusalem War Cemetery is a British cemetery in Jerusalem for fallen servicemen of the British Commonwealth in the World War I in the Palestine campaign.
Assid Abraham Corban was a New Zealand pedlar, importer, viticulturist and wine-maker. He was born in Shweir, in the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate on 25 August 1864. He founded Corbans, now one of New Zealand's oldest and largest wineries.
Karori Cemetery is the second-largest cemetery in New Zealand. It opened in 1891, and is located in the Wellington suburb of Karori.
Doreen Lumley was a New Zealand sprinter of the 1930s from Auckland.
Kaurilands is a suburb of West Auckland, which is under the local governance of Auckland Council. The area was subdivided and developed in the 1920s.
The Playhouse Theatre is a performing arts centre situated in Glen Eden, New Zealand. The building was constructed in 1937 following a fire that destroyed the Glen Eden Town Hall that was on the site at the time. The Theatre has continued to serve West Auckland, initially for civic and community functions and events, moving into cinema and theatre productions by the 1970s when the name of the building officially changed to The Playhouse Theatre. Various theatre groups that had used the venue eventually amalgamated as the Waitakere Playhouse Theatre Trust in 1997. After considerable fundraising, the building was upgraded and in 2003 reopened as a modern performing arts facility.
Waitākere Ranges is a local government area in Auckland, in New Zealand's Auckland Region, governed by the Waitākere Ranges Local Board and Auckland Council. It currently aligns with the council's Waitākere Ward.
West Auckland is one of the major geographical areas of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. Much of the area is dominated by the Waitākere Ranges, the eastern slopes of the Miocene era Waitākere volcano which was upraised from the ocean floor, and now one of the largest regional parks in New Zealand. The metropolitan area of West Auckland developed between the Waitākere Ranges to the west and the upper reaches of the Waitematā Harbour to the east. It covers areas such as Glen Eden, Henderson, Massey and New Lynn.
The Little Muddy Creek is a river of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows south from its source in Titirangi, meets the tributaries Waituna Stream and Waiohua Creek which run through the suburbs of Waima and Woodlands Park, before reaching the Manukau Harbour.
The Oratia Stream is a stream of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows north-east from its source at the township of Waiatarua in the Waitākere Ranges, before entering into the Te Wai-o-Pareira / Henderson Creek, which flows into the western the Waitematā Harbour. After beginning at Waiatarua, the stream passes through the rural locality of Oratia and the West Auckland suburbs of Sunnyvale and Henderson. Since the mid-2000s, the Oratia Stream has been forested with native flora.
