We are aware that for every family, the people close to them are the most notable interments at St Kilda Cemetery. You would understand that we cannot include everyone within this section. However, if you know of someone interred at St Kilda Cemetery who has held an important place in history or was a community identity please let us know.

Throughout its long history St Kilda Cemetery has become the final resting place for some of Australia’s most notable identities. Personalities from all walks of life, including early pioneers and politicians through to famous sporting and media identities, rest within the cemetery’s grounds.

Matilda Ann (Tilly) Aston was born at Carisbrook on the 11th December 1873, the daughter of Edward and Ann Aston. Vision impaired at birth, Tilly was totally blind by the age of seven. Learning to read braille at an early age, she enrolled soon after at the Victorian Asylum and School for the Blind in St Kilda.

After matriculating in 1889, Tilly Aston became the first blind Australian to attend university, enrolling for an Arts Degree at the University of Melbourne. Due to a lack of braille text books and illness, she was forced to withdraw half way through her second year. She tried to earn a living as a music teacher and it was at this stage she realised the plight of blind people.

With assistance from friends, Tilly established the Victorian Association of Braille Writers in 1894, an organisation which would eventually become the Victorian Braille Library. In 1895 she founded the Association for the Advancement of the Blind, now known as Vision Australia. The efforts of the Association quickly won voting rights for the blind, free postage for braille materials and transport concessions for the blind. In 1913, Tilly Aston was appointed the head of the Victorian Education Department’s School for the Blind and she embarked on a career of educating and administrating.

Tilly Aston died on the 1st November 1947 at the age of 73, after a lifetime of achievements in promoting the rights of vision impaired people.

Alfred Deakin was born in Fitzroy on the 3rd August 1856, the son of William and Sarah Deakin. He was educated at Melbourne Grammar School before moving on to study law at the University of Melbourne.

Alfred Deakin entered the world of politics in 1879 when he successfully ran for the seat of West Bourke in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. He served in various capacities over the following years including those of Commissioner for Public Works and Water Supply, Minister of Public Works, Minister for Health and Solicitor-General.

Deakin played an important role in the lead up to Federation and entered Federal politics in 1901. He served in the ministry led by Edmund Barton, Australia’s first Prime Minister. Upon Barton’s retirement, Alfred Deakin became Australia’s second Prime Minister on the 24th September 1903.

Alfred Deakin retired from Parliament in 1913 and withdrew from public life. He died on the 7th October 1919 at the age of 63.

William Clark Haines
(Church of England, Compartment B, Grave 414)

William Clark Haines was born in London in 1810, the son of a physician. He followed in his father’s footsteps and graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in medicine. William Haines and his family migrated to the Port Phillip district in 1841 and settled in the Geelong area where William farmed and also practised as a surgeon.

He entered the political arena in 1851, becoming a member of the Victorian Legislative Council. In 1853 he became the member for the Grant Province and served as Colonial Secretary in 1854 and 1855.

In 1855 William Haines was elected to the Legislative Assembly, representing South Grant and was commissioned as Victoria’s first Premier and Chief Secretary in 1855. He served in this capacity until March 1857 and again from April 1857 to March 1858. In 1860 he moved to the Portland district which he represented until 1864, before serving again in the Legislative Council from 1865 until his death a year later.

William Clark Haines died in South Yarra on the 3rd February 1866 at the age of 55.

Captain Albert Jacka

Grave of Albert Jacka

Captain Albert Jacka VC, MC and Bar
(Presbyterian, Compartment B, Grave 31)

Albert Jacka was born on the 10th January 1893 on a farm near Winchelsea, Victoria.

He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1914 and completed his training in England. After serving in Egypt, Jacka fought in the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915. On 19th May 1915, the Turks attacked Courtney’s Post where Jacka was positioned and captured a part of it. During the ensuing conflict, Jacka and three others moved to outflank the Turkish position. He was the only one to succeed, charging through the Turkish position and jumping into a Turkish held trench. He held the trench alone for the rest of the night and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions.

Following Gallipoli, Albert Jacka was reassigned to Egpyt before travelling to France and fighting in the battle at Pozieres. An intense battle on the morning of the 7th August 1916 saw many of Jacka’s men killed and injured. Jacka himself was wounded seven times, but managed to find the strength to keep fighting on. Albert Jacka was awarded the Military Cross for his actions at Pozieres.

After serving in several locations, Albert Jacka was seriously injured by a mustard gas attack in May 1918 near the village of Villers Bretonneux in France. Evacuated to England, he underwent surgery on two occasions to save his life. He was still recovering when peace was declared on the 11th November 1918.

Upon returning to Australia in 1919, he worked importing and selling electrical goods before being elected to the St Kilda Council in 1929 and becoming Mayor of the town.

Albert Jacka died on the 17th January 1932 at the age of 39 as a result of the injuries sustained while fighting for his country. His funeral was a grand affair, with nearly 6,000 people filing past the coffin which was lying in state at Anzac House. One thousand returned soldiers led the funeral procession and eight Victoria Cross winners served as pallbearers.

Christina Rutherford MacPherson
(Presbyterian, Compartment D, Grave 250)

Christina Rutherford MacPherson, of Scottish descent, was born on the 19th June 1864.

In January 1895 while visiting her brother’s property, Dagworth Station near Winton in Queensland, the famous poet A. B. (Banjo) Paterson heard a tune played on a zither by Christina. It was a tune remembered from her earlier years and is thought to be an adaptation of the Scottish folk song, ‘Thou Bonnie Wood of Craigielea’. Paterson asked her to copy the music down and he began to write lyrics for the music. This collaboration became known as the universally recognised Australian song, ‘Waltzing Matilda’.

Christina Rutherford MacPherson died on the 27th March 1936 and was buried in a grave that remained unmarked for 50 years. A commemorative plaque was placed at the grave by her niece after Australian Television discovered where she was buried while undertaking research for a documentary on ‘Waltzing Matilda’.

George Turner was born on the 8th August 1851 in Melbourne. He commenced work as a clerk in a law office and was eventually admitted to practise as a solicitor in 1881. He was a founding member of the Australian Natives Association, an influential lobby group of Australian-born political figures who campaigned for Australian federation and other causes.

Turner was a member of St Kilda Town Council and served as Mayor of St Kilda from 1887 to 1888. He was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly for St Kilda in 1889 and served as Minister of Health and later as Solicitor General. He became leader of the opposition in 1893 and in 1894, George Turner became Victoria’s first Australian-born Premier. While in this capacity, he also served as Treasurer, Minister for Defence, and Vice-President of the Board of Land and Works.

George Turner resigned as Premier in 1901 to contest the first federal election after Federation. He was elected to the first Australian House of Representatives and served as Australia’s first Federal Treasurer in the ministry of Edmund Barton. He retired from politics in 1906 and upon retirement served as Chairman of the Commissioners of the State Savings Bank of Victoria.

Sir George Turner died in Hawthorn on the 13th August 1916 at the age of 65.

Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich Von Mueller

Grave of Baron Sir Ferdinand Von Mueller

Ferdinand Von Mueller was born on the 30th June 1825 at Rostock in Germany, the son of Frederick and Louisa Von Mueller. Originally trained as a chemist, he then studied botany, receiving a doctorate from Kiel University in 1847.

Von Mueller arrived in Adelaide in December 1847, and worked initially as a chemist before travelling through South Australia discovering and describing a large variety of previously unknown plants. In 1851, Ferdinand Von Mueller moved to Melbourne and was appointed Government Botanist for Victoria in 1853. This position saw him travel extensively throughout the state examining and detailing all forms of flora.

Ferdinand Von Mueller was responsible for the establishment of a number of institutions in Victoria, including the National Herbarium of Victoria and the Royal Society of Victoria. He was an active member of that society’s ‘Exploration Committee’ which established the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition. In the early 1850’s Von Mueller worked in conjunction with Albert Purchas to design and create a new style of cemetery in Victoria, the Melbourne General Cemetery.

As director of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, from 1857 to 1873, he was responsible for the introduction of many plants into Victoria. Throughout this time he successfully introduced the blue gum (eucalyptus globulus) to overseas areas including Europe, North and South Africa and California.

Baron Sir Ferdinand Von Mueller died on the 10th October 1896 at the age of 71, leaving an everlasting legacy, in particular to the state of Victoria.

Ross Warneke, born on the 5th April 1952, was a well known Australian journalist and broadcaster in Melbourne.

In 1995, Warneke joined radio station 3AW as a television commentator on Neil Mitchell’s morning program. He was at the helm for a number of big news events in recent years, including the Port Arthur massacre and the September 11 terrorist attack on New York City.

Ross Warneke died on the 25th August 2006 at the age of 54.