| Karori Cemetery | |
|---|---|
 View of Karori Cemetery | |
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| Details | |
| Established | 1891 |
| Location | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Owned by | Wellington City Council |
| No. of graves | 95,000 |
| Website | Wellington City Council entry for Karori Cemetery |
| Find a Grave | Karori Cemetery |
| Footnotes | cemeteries database |
Karori Cemetery is the second-largest cemetery in New Zealand. It opened in 1891, and is located in the Wellington suburb of Karori.
Karori Cemetery opened in 1891 to address overcrowding at Bolton Street Cemetery.
In 1909, it received New Zealand's first crematorium, which is still in use and is Australasia's oldest.
Karori Cemetery reached capacity during the 1950s, and Mākara Cemetery became Wellington's main burial ground. Burials at Karori happen only in pre-purchased family plots, in children's plots, and in pre-purchased ash plots.[1]
The Karori Crematorium and Chapel are listed (Class I) with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.
The Friends of Karori Cemetery was incorporated as a Charitable Trust on 17 February 2021. Their stated purpose is to advocate for and develop the Karori Cemetery, and to assist with grave/plot restoration. They offer tours of the cemetery on the first Sunday of each month.
The cemetery covers almost 40 hectares (99 acres) and has seen more than 83,000 burials.[2]
The cemetery contains separate World War I and World War II services sections. Buried here are 268 Commonwealth service personnel of World War I[3] – including most deaths from the first New Zealand Expeditionary Force Reinforcement Camp and others at Trentham, and the Upper Hutt Remount Depot[4] – and 123 of the World War II, besides a Norwegian and a French war casualty.[3]
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) also erected a plaque commemorating 15 New Zealand service personnel of World War II who were cremated at Karori Crematorium and their ashes scattered. It is set into the Services Columbarium Wall in the Services section.[5]
In addition, the CWGC erected the Wellington Provincial Memorial, in the form of a marble arch connecting the two Services sections, inscribed with the names of service personnel from Wellington Province who died serving in the World Wars but have no known grave.[3]
The Friends of Karori Cemetery was incorporated as a Charitable Trust on 17 February 2021. Their purpose is to advocate for and develop the heritage and ecological values of Karori Cemetery, and to assist with grave/plot restoration.
The Friends offer tours on the first Sunday of each month and undertake working bees in the cemetery.
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Main category: Burials at Karori Cemetery |
