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The Melbourne General Cemetery's origins date back to a period before Carlton or the colony of Victoria existed. Then a remote bushland site, it was chosen by Superintendent C.J. La Trobe and charted by Robert Hoddle in 1849. It formally opened its gates in June 1853, celebrating 150 years in 2003.

The Cemetery began to operate during the chaos of Victoria's main alluvial gold rush, whilst its first major extension - between 1858 and 1860 - coincided with the depletion of alluvial gold and the return of disillusioned 'diggers' to the colonial metropolis. It experienced another significant extension during the traumatic years of the Great Depression.

Today, the Cemetery's diverse memorials fascinate and intrigue, reflecting every wave of immigration that has occurred since Melbourne was a provincial pastoral centre in New South Wales.

Menzies' ashes are interred here. And you will not only find memorials to explorers like Burke and Wills, and politicians like John Pascoe Fawkner, William Champ (Tasmania's first premier), Sir Isaac Isaacs (our first native-born Governor-General), Prime Minister Scullin, and Peter Lalor (of Eureka Stockade fame), but also to prominent local trade unionists, writers like Marcus Clarke, and early captains of industry.

For anyone wishing to 'feel' the history of this part of Australia since European settlement, there is no better place to go.